Crai, also spelled as Cray, is a village and

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 ...

in the county of

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 ...

, Wales. It is within the

Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (), is a National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (), the mountain range at its centre. The national park ...

and historically in

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 ...

. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 241, and includes the village of Crai, the hamlet of Felin-Crai, and many dispersed farms around the valley of the

Afon Crai The Afon Crai is a river in Powys, Wales rising in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park and flowing north into the River Usk. The headwaters known as Blaen-crai flow north from Bwlch Bryn-rhudd, a col between the Crai va ...

. The river is dammed 2 km / 1.5 mi southwest of the village to form Crai Reservoir. Crai means fresh, raw water.Owen, H.W. & Morgan, R. 2007 'Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales' Gomer Press, Ceredigion The famous Llywel Stone (see

Llywel Llywel () is a small village and Community (Wales), community located on the A40 road, A40, about west of Sennybridge in Powys, Wales. The Afon Gwydderig runs through the village, not far from its source. The main settlement in the community is ...

) was found close to the Crai/Trecastle boundary. A history of the village is contained in Lewis, D. Craionog: Hanes plwyf Defynog : yn cynnwys y rhanbarthau cynlynol; Crai, Glyntawy, Senni, Glyntarell, a Maescar. Merthyr Tydfil : H. W. Southey a'i Feibion, Cyf, Argrffwyr, 1911.

References

External links

Images of Crai and surrounding area on Geograph website
{{authority control Cray, Powys Communities in Powys Villages in Powys Villages in the Brecon Beacons National Park