The River Honddu ( i.e. ''hon-thee'') is a river in the county of

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, mid

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Early recorded versions of the name are of the form ''Hothenei'' and ''hodni'' which are believed to contain the Welsh adjective 'hawdd', meaning 'pleasant' or 'easy', together with a suffix -ni. Later forms such as ''Honddey'' and ''Honthy'' have undergone metathesis whereby -''ddn''- became -''ndd''- (or -''thn''- to -''nth''- in anglicised form). It rises on Mynydd Epynt and flows southwards to join the River Usk at

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

, which takes its Welsh name (''Aberhonddu'') from the river. The river has no major

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

but acquires numerous streams during its 11-mile course. The valley of the Honddu is followed by the B4520 road which runs north from Brecon to Builth Wells. The road serves the hamlets of Upper Chapel, Lower Chapel, Pwllgloyw and Llandefaelog each of which, Pwllgloyw apart, sit at bridging points of the Honddu. Brecon Castle, now a hotel, sits at the lowermost crossing of the river at its confluence with the Usk. For the last of its course, it lies partly or wholly within

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...

and

Fforest Fawr Geopark Fforest Fawr Geopark is a Geopark in the Brecon Beacons National Park, south Wales. It is the first designated Geopark in Wales having gained membership of both the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO-assisted Global Network of National ...

.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honddu Epynt Rivers of the Brecon Beacons National Park Rivers of Powys