Allt yr Esgair is a hill in the

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 (range), Black Mountain ...

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 ...

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

. It is commonly referred to locally as simply 'The Allt'. The

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

signifies 'wooded slope of the ridge'. It takes the form of a northwest-southeast aligned ridge which rises to a height of 393m (1289 feet) and which overlooks the valley of the

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

to the west and south. To the northeast are panoramic views across

Llangorse Lake Llangorse Lake ( cy, Llyn Syfaddon, variant: ) is the largest natural lake in Mid and South Wales, and is situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park, near the town of Brecon and the village of Llangors. The lake is famous for its coarse fishin ...

to the Black Mountains There is a viewfinder on the summit erected as a monument to Eirene Lloyd White, Baroness White of Rhymney. It is a Marilyn with a prominence of 199 metres (653 feet).

Geology

The hill is formed from sandstones and mudstones of the Senni Formation (formerly the Senni Beds) of the

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

laid down during the

Devonian period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

. The lower slopes are formed from mudstones and sandstones of the slightly older St. Maughans Formation. A number of small sandstone quarries, now disused, adorn the slopes. The hill probably stood out above the Usk Valley glacier ice during the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. At a late stage in de-glaciation, the cols at either end of the ridge at the villages of Pennorth and

Bwlch Bwlch (meaning ''a pass'' in Welsh) is a small village and an electoral ward in Powys, southern Wales. The settlement is strung out along the A40 road which crosses a low col above the Usk Valley at this point on its route between Brecon and C ...

are believed to have conveyed water from a greatly enlarged Llangorse Lake into the Usk catchment.

Access

Several

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

s run along the length of the hill giving access to

walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

, horseriders and mountain-bikers. The summit area and the woodland to the northeast are open access for walkers. A car park off the A40 road immediately south of the hill provides a convenient starting point for many walkers.

Archaeology

Allt yr Esgair's summit is crowned by an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, one of several in the Usk Valley. The

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

road between the Roman fort of CICVCIVM at

Y Gaer, Brecon Y Gaer () is a Roman fort situated near modern-day Brecon in Mid Wales, United Kingdom. Y Gaer is located at (Landranger 160). History Y Gaer was built around AD 75 and sits on a crossroads of Roman roads in the valley of the River Usk a ...

and

Gobannium Gobannium was a Roman fort and civil settlement or Castra established by the Roman legions invading what was to become Roman Wales and lies today under the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales. Documentary evidence Gob ...

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

runs along the ridge and is followed by a modern-day bridleway.

References

External links

images from Geograph website of Allt yr Esgair and surrounding area
{{Authority control Black Mountains, Wales Brecon Beacons Hillforts in Powys Mountains and hills of Powys Hillforts in the Brecon Beacons National Park Mountains and hills of the Brecon Beacons National Park Marilyns of Wales

Geology

Access

Archaeology

See also

References

External links