St Cynog's Church in Defynnog contains an ancient stone with Ogham inscriptions. Though most of the attractive building we see today is 15th century, the origins of St Cynog's go back to at least the Norman period if not earlier. There is 11th century stonework in the north vestry wall, and the font and holy water stoup may be 11th century or possibly even pre-Norman. The richly carved font is inscribed with Runic letters, the only example in Wales of a Runic inscription.
The churchyard contains several yew trees, of which the largest has a girth large enough for it to be 1300–3000 years old. An adjacent yew was reported in 2014 to be genetically identical to the largest, leading to conjecture in the popular press that the two trees were remnants of a single 5000-year-old tree; but this conjecture has been disputed on the grounds that layering is a more plausible origin for the adjacent tree. The crown of the largest tree is 60 ft in diameter.
References:Dryburgh Abbey on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders was founded in 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place in 1152.
It was burned by English troops in 1322, after which it was restored only to be again burned by Richard II in 1385, but it flourished in the fifteenth century. It was finally destroyed in 1544, briefly surviving until the Scottish Reformation, when it was given to the Earl of Mar by James VI of Scotland. It is now a designated scheduled monument and the surrounding landscape is included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan bought the land in 1786. Sir Walter Scott and Douglas Haig are buried in its grounds.