Llanwrtyd is a small settlement in

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, mid-

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, in the historic county of

Brecknockshire Brecknockshire ( or ), also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was created in 1 ...

(Breconshire), through which flows the River Irfon. It lies 1.5 miles north of the town of

Llanwrtyd Wells Llanwrtyd Wells ( "church of St Gwrtud") is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, in the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) on the Afon Irfon. The town is on the A483 road, A483 ...

. Llanwrtyd was historically the centre of a much larger parish which included Llanwrtyd Wells. The name Llanwrtyd is shared with the ancient parish, and is also sometimes applied to Llanwrtyd Wells (particularly in Welsh). The current community is called Llanwrtyd Wells, and includes Llanwrtyd, Llanwrtyd Wells and Abergwesyn.

Origin of the name

The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) survey suggests that the name Llanwrtyd is a combination of church ("llan") and a name "Gwrtud" or "Gwrtyd", ("Gwrtyd's Church"). The present dedication to

Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...

, in whose diocese the church stands, is likely later. The earliest documented reference, to "Llanworted", dates from 1543. The traditional derivation of the name is given in the Reverend Thomas Morgan's ''Handbook of the Origin of Pace-names in Wales and Monmouthshire''. This suggests the name comes from "Llanddewi wrth y rhyd" (David's church by the ford). Again, tradition says that the church was founded by St David in the 6th century and the CPAT survey notes the curved boundary around the churchyard and its siting by a river, both features which indicate that the church was established before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. The church was a chapel attached to Llangammarch.

History

Llanwrtyd was an ancient parish, a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

attached to the vicarage of Llangammarch. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St David dates from the 11th century and is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Theophilus Jones, in his ''A History of the County of Brecknock'', was fairly disparaging of the parish; when describing the church he states "there is nothing deserving of notice in this miserable fabric, unless it be an inscription on the wall, to the memory of an old woman of the name of Jones." In 1740 the curate in the parishes of Llanwrtyd, Llanfihangel Abergwesyn and Llanddewi Abergwesyn, was Wales' most famous hymn-writer

William Williams Pantycelyn William Williams, Pantycelyn (c. 11 February 1717 – 11 January 1791), also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn or simply Pantycelyn, was generally seen as Wales's premier hymnwriter, hymnist. He is also rated among the great litera ...

. The population in 1801 was about 500 which had risen to 854 by the 1901

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

. After the coming of the railway in 1867 the parish played host to at least 12,000 visitors annually to drink the mineral waters at the sulphur springs about a mile and a half down river from the church, and the small town of Llanwrtyd Wells at the springs became the main population centre of the parish. In 1897 the church of St James was built in Llanwrtyd Wells. Thomas Powel (1845–1922) was born in Llanwrtyd. He became a Welsh Celtic scholar and Professor of Celtic at University College, Cardiff from 1884 to 1918. The parish became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

(sometimes known in English as Llanwrtud). In 1907 the parish was split when Llanwrtyd Wells was made an urban district. The parish of Llanwrtyd was reduced to cover the same area as the Llanwrtyd Wells Urban District, and the remainder of the old parish became a separate civil parish called Llanwrtyd Without. When civil parishes and urban districts were abolished in Wales in 1974, the former urban district became a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

called Llanwrtyd Wells and Llanwrtyd Without also became a community. The two were merged into a single community called Llanwrtyd Wells in 1986.

References

External links

Photos of Llanwrtyd and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{Powys Llanwrtyd Wells Church parishes in Wales cy:Llanwrtyd