Llanbrynmair () is a village,

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

, on the

A470 road The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate ...

between

Caersws Caersws ( cy, Caersŵs; ) is a village and community on the River Severn, in the Welsh county of Powys (Montgomeryshire) west of Newtown, and halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. It has a station on the Cambrian Line from Aberystwyth ...

and

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

. Llanbrynmair, in area, is the second largest in Powys. In 2011, it had a population of 920.

Description

The community includes several hamlets:

Talerddig Talerddig is a village in Powys, mid Wales, located on the main A470 road between Llanbrynmair and Carno. It is part of Llanbrynmair community. Talerddig cutting Although the village no longer has a railway station, it is on the route of the ...

Dolfach Dolfach is a village in Powys, Wales, located on the main A470 road between Llanbrynmair and Talerddig Talerddig is a village in Powys, mid Wales, located on the main A470 road between Llanbrynmair and Carno. It is part of Llanbrynmair commu ...

Bont-Dolgadfan Bont Dolgadfan is a small village off the B4518 road in Powys, Wales. It is part of the community of Llanbrynmair and forms a community ward for elections to the community council. There are two major estates in Bont Dolgadfan, Dolgadfan itsel ...

, Pandy, Cringoed,

Dylife Dylife is a former mining settlement in Powys, Wales, located at the head of Afon Twymyn in the Cambrian Mountains, one mile west of the road between Llanidloes and Llanbrynmair ( B4518). It is in the historic county of Montgomeryshire. The near ...

and Pennant. The original centre is at

Llan Llan may be: * Llan (placename), a Celtic morpheme, or element, common in British placenames ** A short form for any placename . * Llan, Powys, a Welsh village near Llanbrynmair * Llan the Sorcerer La Lunatica Lacuna Lady Bullseye Lady De ...

, on the road to

Llanidloes Llanidloes () is a town and community on the A470 and B4518 roads in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn), Wales. The population in 2011 was 2,929, of whom 15% could speak Welsh. It is the third ...

, where the local parish church of St Mary is located. The current centre (formerly called "Wynnstay") at the junction of the A470 and B4518 rose to local prominence with the building of the new turnpike road in 1821 and the arrival of the railway line between Newtown and

in 1861. Geographically, the community includes the valleys of three rivers –

Afon Twymyn The Afon Twymyn ( en, River Twymyn, italic=yes) is a river in Powys, Mid Wales. From its source at the 40-metre high Ffrwd Fawr waterfall and head of the Pennant Valley near Dylife the river flows through Llanbrynmair before joining the Rive ...

, Afon Iaen and Afon Rhiw Saeson – and the surrounding uplands. The three rivers join around the main village and flow westwards as the Afon Twymyn towards the Afon Dyfi and

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geograp ...

. The Cambrian railway line, built in the 1860s, runs through Llanbrynmair and for a time provided an outlet for the mines at

, 8 miles south. The village station closed in 1965 as part of the "

Beeching closures The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

". There was a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

next to the station but, following the accidental death of an American visitor in October 1999 and its description as a "blackspot", the crossing was closed and the road diverted. The area is predominantly Welsh-speaking and reliant upon livestock farming. It was fortunate to escape the

foot and mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

outbreak in Britain in 2001. A bilingual book was published in 2005 reviewing the history of the parish of Llanbrynmair in the twentieth century compiled by the Llanbrynmair Local History Society. ().

History

Much of the area was part of the large

Wynnstay Wynnstay is a country house within an important landscaped park 1.3 km (0.75 miles) south-east of Ruabon, near Wrexham, Wales. Wynnstay, previously Watstay, is a famous estate and the family seat of the Wynns. The house was sold in 1948 and ...

Estate owned for generations by the families of Sir Watcyn Williams Wynne. The connection is noted in the "Wynnstay Arms", a prominent local

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. The parish of Llanbrynmair played prominent roles in both the "

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

Revolution" of the late 18th Century and the emigration to America during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This cultural revolution was the movement of Welsh religious independents to break from the established Church of England. The parish is reputed to have been the source of the most emigrants, per capita, to America of any in Wales. The first of them departed Llanbrynmair in 1796. A large proportion of these emigrants settled in western Ohio, particularly in the rural farming communities of Paddy's Run (now Shandon),

Gomer Gomer ( he, ''Gōmer'', ; el, Γαμὲρ, translit=Gamér) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10). The epo ...

and Venedocia. The two most prominent emigrants were Edward Bebb and Ezekiel Hughes, who settled in

Butler County, Ohio Butler County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 390,357. Its county seat is Hamilton. It is named for General Richard Butler, who died in 1791 during St. Clair' ...

near Paddy's Run. Edward Bebb's son, William, became governor of the State of Ohio. Josiah Jones, hymnologist under the pen name Josiah Brynmair, emigrated to and is buried in Gomer, Ohio.

Governance

Llanbrynmair has a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

representing the interests of the community. Ten councillors are on the council, with six representing the Wynnstay community ward and four from the Bontdolgadfan ward. Llanbrynmair also forms a ward for

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Govern ...

and elects one county councillor

Notable people and former residents

* John Breese (1789-1842) Independent Minister. *

Aled Wyn Davies Aled Wyn Davies (born 3 August 1974) is a classical tenor from Llanbrynmair, in Powys, Mid Wales. He is a member of the Three Welsh Tenors with Rhys Meirion and Aled Hall. Early life Davies's family were evicted from the farm run by Davies's g ...

(born 1974), a classical tenor singer. *

Richard Davies (Mynyddog) Richard Davies (Mynyddog) (10 January 1833 – 14 July 1877) was a popular Welsh language, Welsh-language poet, singer, and Eisteddfod conductor. The original source of the name Mynyddog is from Newydd Fynyddog, a hill near his home. Another sub ...

(1833–1877), poet. * Julines Herring (1582–1644/5), a Puritan clergyman, a staunch proponent of

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

* Richard P. Howell (1831-1899), American politician, carpenter, and businessman.'Wisconsin Blue Book 1882,' Biographical Sketch of Richard P. Howell, pg. 557 *

Iorwerth Peate Iorwerth Peate, also known as Cyfeiliog, (27 February 1901 – 19 October 1982) was a Welsh poet and scholar, best known as the founder, along with Cyril Fox, of St Fagans National History Museum. Born in Llanbrynmair into a family of carpent ...

(1901–1982), founder, National Folk Museum of Wales, St. Fagan's *

Abraham Rees Abraham Rees (1743 – 9 June 1825) was a Welsh nonconformist minister, and compiler of ''Rees's Cyclopædia'' (in 45 volumes). Life He was the second son of Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and her husband Lewis Rees, and was born in L ...

(1743–1825), compiler of ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'' was an important 19th-century British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minister and scholar w ...

''. * Samuel Roberts (1800–1885), political & economic writer. * Eirug Wyn (1950–2004), satirical novelist. Llanbrynmair Station, Cambrian Railway - geograph

References

External links

Llanbrynmair Community Council

Llanbrynamir Community Site

Teachers Llanbrynmair School 1898
{{authority control Communities in Powys Villages in Powys Wards of Powys