Llanelieu (English ''Llaneleu'') is a small settlement and former civil parish (

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

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 on the northern edge of the Black Mountains within the Brecon Beacons National Park. It lies within the historic bounds 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 ...

. The settlement is now part of the community of

Talgarth Talgarth is a market town, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in southern Powys, Mid Wales, about north of Crickhowell, north-east of Brecon and south-east of Builth Wells. Notable buildings in the town include the 14th-century ...

. The nearest town is Talgarth some to the west.

The settlement

Prehistoric settlement of the area is evidenced by Ffostyll Long Cairns, two

neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

burial chambers just to the north of Ffostyll Farm.

St Ellyw's Church

St Ellyw's Church is the main feature of the scattered settlement as well as being the source of its name (Llan-Ellyw). Saint Ellyw is said to have been one of the many saintly offspring of

Brychan Brychan ap Anlach of Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales. Name variations Brychan had Irish ancestry and came from Ireland to Wales, therefore his original name ...

, legendary 5th-century king of

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans ...

who ruled from nearby

. The church of St Ellyw dates from the 13th century and, unusually, escaped Victorian modernization so that it preserves many of its medieval features. It is now redundant, but is cared for as a

Grade I listed 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 ...

building. Near the church is a

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

yew that was believed to have been used as the parish

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

in the 17th and 18th centuries. Natural holes in the tree took the miscreant's arms which were then secured by an iron bar. The tree was subject to restoration in 2010.

Llanelieu Court

In 1845, Samuel Lewis' topographical entry for Llanelieu noted that "there were formerly several ancient mansions, but they have been all abandoned as family residences by their proprietors, and are at present occupied as farm-houses". Chief among those that survive is Llanelieu Court, a 17th-century house which was formerly the home of one of the branches of the Aubrey family. In recent years it has housed a craft pottery, the Black Mountains Pottery, and is now a

Grade II listed 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, H ...

building.

The parish and community

Llanelieu was a civil parish from 1837 until 1974, when it was re-termed a

. The community included the settlement of Llanelieu and extended to the south east as far as Mynydd Du Forest. As such, it included a substantial upland area of the Black Mountains, principally along the valley of the Grwyne Fawr where a reservoir was completed between 1908 and 1928. A temporary village, including school, was built on site to house construction workers and remains of this village are still visible. Lewis in 1845 described the "surrounding scenery as bold, and in some parts romantic", whereas the 1868 National Gazetteer dismissed it as "somewhat of a gloomy cast". Despite its size, Llanelieu was one of the least populous communities in Brecknockshire containing just 15 houses and 72 people in 1961. In 1985, it was split up, the settlement merging with the community of Talgarth, whilst the northernmost part was transferred to the new community of Gwernyfed and the extensive southern part to the new community of the Vale of Grwyney. Proposals: Community No. B31 - THE VALE OF GRWYNEY

References

{{authority control Villages in Powys Talgarth