Ganwyd Cybi Sant yng Nghernyw ddiwedd y 5ed ganrif, ac yn ôl rhai achresi roedd yn gefnder i Dewi Sant ar ochr eu mamau. Gwnaeth waith cenhadol yn Ne Cymru ac Iwerddon, cyn cael y Gaer Rufeinig yng Nghaergybi yn rhodd gan Maelgwn Gwynedd, ac yno sefydlodd ei fynachlog neu’r ‘clas’. Un o’r straeon mwyaf adnabyddus am Cybi Sant yw’r un amdano’n cerdded ar draws Ynys Môn i gyfarfod â Seiriol Sant – rhywbeth a ddigwyddodd yn ddigon aml iddo ennill y llysenw ‘Cybi Felyn’.
Credir i’r eglwys wreiddiol ar y safle gael ei hadeiladu tua 540 AD, ond cafodd ei dinistrio gan y Llychlynwyr yn y 10fed ganrif. Adeiladwyd yr eglwys bresennol yn y 13eg ganrif ond cafodd ei difrodi’n sylweddol gan filwyr Saesnig yn ystod gwrthryfel Owain Glyndŵr yn 1405.
Ger yr eglwys saif ‘Eglwys y Bedd’ – gweddillion corff eglwys fechan neu gapel o’r 14eg ganrif a gredir iddo ffurfio rhan o’r sefydliad colegol ar y safle ar y pryd. Ni wyddys beth oedd ei bwrpas gwreiddiol (er mae’r enw’n awgrymu ei fod yn gapel angladdol o ryw fath), ond yn ddiweddarach cafodd ei ddefnyddio fel ysgol, ac yn fwy diweddar fe’i defnyddiwyd fel festri eglwys Cybi Sant.
O fewn prif ran yr eglwys, ymysg y pethau o bwys mae’r cerfiadau uwch ben y drws Deheuol yn y porth, a chofeb Fictoriaidd Stanley yn yr ystlys Ddeheuol, a’r ffenestri William Morris sydd o’i gwmpas a hefyd cloc haul canoloesol wedi ei osod ar y tu allan ar y mur Deheuol.
Saint Cybi was born in Cornwall in the late 5th century, and according to some genealogies was the cousin of Saint David through their mothers. He carried out missionary activity in South Wales and Ireland, before being given the Roman fort at Holyhead by Maelgwm Gwynedd, where he founded his monastery or ‘Clas’. One of the most enduring stories of St Cybi is that of him walking across Anglesey to meet with St Seiriol - something that happened with enough regularity to result in the nickname ‘Cybi the tanned’.
The original church on this site is believed to have been constructed around 540 AD, but was destroyed by Vikings in the 10th century. The current church was built in the 13th century but was significantly damaged by English troops during the uprising of Owain Glyndŵr in 1405.
Near to the church stands ‘Eglwys y Bedd’ - the remaining nave of a small 14th-century church or chapel believed to have formed part of the collegiate foundation on the site at the time. Its original use is unknown (though the name suggests it was a funerary chapel of some kind), but it has subsequently been used as a school, and more recently as the vestry for St Cybi’s church.
Within the main church, the carvings above the South door in the porch are particularly of note, along with the Victorian Stanley monument and the surrounding William Morris windows in the South aisle, and a medieval sundial mounted on the outside of the South wall.
