The Elvis Rock is a rock alongside the

A44 A44 may refer to : * A44 road (Great Britain), a road connecting Oxford, England and Aberystwyth, Wales * A44 motorway (Germany), a road connecting Aachen at the German-Belgian border and Kassel * A44 motorway (Netherlands), a motorway in the Nethe ...

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 ...

, near its border with

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

. It is one of the most well known pieces of

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

in Wales, with the word "ELVIS" written on it. The rock is located beside the main trunk road through the country, and appears out of context with the surrounding landscape.

History

The graffiti on the rock allegedly originally read “Ellis” and was written in 1962 by

John Hefin John Hefin MBE (born John Hefin Evans; 14 August 1941 – 19 November 2012

and David Meredith in support of a local

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

candidate,

Islwyn Ffowc Elis Islwyn Ffowc Elis (; 17 November 1924 – 22 January 2004) was one of Wales's most popular Welsh-language writers. Born Islwyn Ffoulkes Ellis in Wrexham and raised in Glyn Ceiriog, Elis was educated at the University of Wales colleges of Bangor ...

, but misspelt. The rock has been repainted several times, and at one point the text was obliterated. However the word "Elvis" has again reappeared on the rock and is still visible today.

References

External links

Photos of the Elvis Rock from the BBC website.
{{coord, 52.4409, -3.7654, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Landmarks in Wales Buildings and structures in Powys Graffiti in the United Kingdom 1962 works