Although its origins are obscure, the site of the present ancient church has been used for Christian worship since it was settled in the early sixth century, probably by Saint Padarn,[1] after whom it was named.

Following the general custom of Europe in the late classical and early Middle Ages, he was popularly recognised after his death as a saint, along with several hundred other Welsh men and women.

Sarn Helen passes close to Strata Florida and Llanddewi Brefi[21] which, along with Llanbadarn Fawr, were the three most important ecclesiastic places in mediaeval Ceredigion.

The anonymous author tells us that Padarn's parents were nobly born Armoricans (Bretons), and that he sailed to Britain with 847 monks to settle and build a monastery.

The clas church remained important after 601, although the "Gwentian" version of the Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicle of the Princes) records that the diocese of Llanbadarn was ravaged by the Saxons in 720.

[52] However, in 1038 the church was reduced to ashes by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who wrested it from the hands of prince Hywel ab Edwin, whilst subjugating Ceredigion.

[62] In about the year 1106, Ithel and Madoc, who were in alliance with King Henry I, ravaged all the county of Cardigan, as Ceredigion was called by the Normans, with the exception of Llanbadarn Fawr and Llanddewi Brefi.

In light of earlier activities at Llanbadarn, it is worth noting that the forty-eighth rule of Saint Benedict prescribes extensive and habitual holy reading for the brethren.

[73] One of the key Benedictine practices was copying sacred texts, so it might be expected that the monks created a scriptorium, if indeed one hadn't survived from the time of Sulien and his sons and grandsons.

Gerald tells us further that a Breton knight had come to the church for Mass and found a band of about twenty young men, all armed and equipped according to the local custom.

But Gerald disapproved of married clergy (which had been declining generally though only finally abolished by Rome in the eleventh century[82] and deplored in principle the inheritance of church office.

If one accepts the evidence of the inquisition taken before Rhys ap Gruffydd, lieutenant of the Justiciar, at Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, 1 September 1326 (which conflicts with Gerald's account), as early as 1212 there were apparently only two monks (from St Peter's, Gloucester) in residence.

[101] There was, at this time, a comparatively small amount in tithes, but the rector was nonetheless equivalent in substance to an abbot, owing to the ownership of extensive lands by Frankalmoin tenure.

The parish continued largely if not wholly a sinecure for its rector, with the work actually done by a resident vicar; in Bradwardine's case he was concurrently prebend and the dean of Lincoln,[105] and chaplain and confessor to the King, and probably never visited Llanbadarn Fawr.

Wharton included in Anglia Sacra a continuation of the history of Lichfield by William Whitlocke, which describes Stretton as "eximius vir" – an exceptional man – and goes on to make probably exaggerated claims for his attainments in jurisprudence.

[109] In 1359 the Black Prince gave the advowson to four patrons (or feofees), who, on 7 November 1360 appropriated the church to the Cistercian Vale Royal Abbey,[110] Chester, founded by King Edward I in 1270.

[116] As corporate rector, Vale Royal Abbey was responsible for appointing a vicar and for the care of the chancel, leaving the rest of the church to be maintained by the parish.

This is, however, unlikely, as stone church construction in Wales has been conventionally dated to the twelfth century and later,[148] and the earlier buildings were probably wooden, although we know that a new tower and porch were built around 1115.

[161] The wagon roof over the chancel was boarded or plastered, as slots in the principals show, in 1491 by William Stratford, DTh, Abbot of Vale Royal Abbey (in post 1476–1516, with gaps);[162] the exact dating was derived from the timbers, which retain complete sapwood.

[163] The original ceiling can still be reached from the ringing chamber in the central tower, and includes an arch-braced collar-beam truss, with traces of five cross-ribs equally spaced on the soffit of the four-centred moulded arch.

This is a slight lean-to structure, with timber glazing to the roof in two levels, and is built, none too elegantly, between the east end of the north transept and the original priests' vestry.

It includes Teilo, Padarn and Dewi (David) at the top, a healing by St Samson, Maelgwn, Arthur and Caradog, two kings of Ireland on horseback and a figure with the Virgin and Child.

In the chapel itself, which has a low slate altar stone and seat, is a porcelain relief sculpture by Gillian Still showing a story from the Life, the ordeal by boiling water.

The first chamber, to the left and the smallest (the counterpart of the chapel of St Padarn), is Sulien's room, which has an incised slate floor slab and lettered text around wall from the Elegy of Rhygyfarch, both by Ieuan Rees.

[159] The west door, actually in the south side of the church, is an elegant ornamented Decorated Gothic pointed arch, traditionally said to have come from Strata Florida Abbey.

[180] According to the History and Antiquities of the County of Cardigan (1810) by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick: The chancel and north transept are separated from the rest of the church by light and elegant carved screens, which, from the elaborate workmanship they display, were probably erected about the time of Henry the Seventh.

In poor condition in the mid-nineteenth century, the nave walls were leaning outward and the roofs decayed, so restoration was proposed in 1848 under R. K. Penson, but not actively pursued until the Reverend John Pugh became vicar in 1861, when new plans were made by William Butterfield.

Seddon thought that the church had once been much more elaborate, like the South doorway, and proposed inserting a matching West crossing arch, and also more a complex spire, but this was opposed by Bishop Basil Jones,[186] and was abandoned.

Evans was awarded the VC when, as an acting lieutenant colonel in The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), on 4 October 1917, near Zonnebeke, Belgium, he was Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment: For most conspicuous bravery and leadership.

While a strong machine gun emplacement was causing casualties, and the troops were working round the flank, Lt.-Col. Evans rushed at it himself and by firing his revolver through the loophole forced the garrison to capitulate.