Fan Llia is a subsidiary summit of

Fan Fawr Fan Fawr ( Welsh 'great peak') is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, in Powys, Wales and over 734 m (2,408 ft) high. The summit overlooks the steep eastern face and is marked by a cairn. Un ...

in the

Fforest Fawr Fforest Fawr is an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the Great Forest of Brecknock in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water cat ...

section of 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 ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. In common with other peaks in the Fforest Fawr uplands it lies within the county of

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

. The hill has the form of a broad ridge aligned south-south-west to north-north-east peaking at an altitude of 632 m. It has a subsidiary top to the north which is known as Fan Dringarth and which attains a height of 617 m. Its broad northern ridge is eventually truncated by the cliffs of Craig Cwm-du. A number of features of archaeological interest are to be found on its flanks including several house platforms.

Geology

The hill is formed largely from sandstones of the Brownstones Formation 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 ...

dating from 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, w ...

. Its southernmost slopes (around Cefn Perfedd) are formed in Plateau Beds Formation sandstones and an area in the north-east is underlain by sandstones and mudstones of the Senni Beds Formation. Rock exposures are infrequent − the hill being draped with glacial till and accumulations of peat. The most significant feature is a post-glacial landslip which extends from near the summit of Fan Dringarth down its eastern slopes almost to the

Afon Dringarth The Afon Dringarth (or simply ''Tringarth'') is a river in Powys, Wales and wholly contained within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its headwater streams drain the eastern slopes of Fan Dringarth (which is probably named after the river), the ...

and which may be responsible for the name of this subsidiary peak. Craig Cwm-du to the north hosted a small glacier in the ice age. The hill is drained to the west by a number of streams flowing into the Afon Llia and to the east by streams flowing into the Afon Dringarth, part of which has been impounded directly to the east of the hill as

Ystradfellte Reservoir Ystradfellte Reservoir is a water storage reservoir on the Afon Dringarth in the upland area of Fforest Fawr within the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales. It lies just north of the village of Ystradfellte in the county of Powys at OS ...

. The hill is within the

Fforest Fawr Geopark Fforest Fawr Geopark is a Geopark in the Brecon Beacons National Park, south Wales. It is the first designated Geopark in Wales having gained membership of both the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO-assisted Global Network of National ...

designated in 2005 in recognition of the area's geological heritage.

Access

The entire hill is designated as open country so walkers may wander at will though most choose to ascend the hill from the

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Coun ...

car park at Blaen Llia (OS grid ref SN 926165) just off the minor road between the villages of

Ystradfellte Ystradfellte is a village and community in Powys, Wales, about north of Hirwaun, with 556 inhabitants. It belongs to the historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) and the Fforest Fawr area of the Brecon Beacons National Park, beside the A ...

and Heol Senni. This ridge route is also followed by the

Beacons Way The Beacons Way (Welsh: Ffordd y Bannau) is a waymarked long distance footpath in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. It is a linear route which runs for east to west through the National Park, and passes many of the most important lan ...

long-distance footpath.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area'

References

{{reflist

External links

images of Fan Llia on Geograph website
Mountains and hills of Powys Hewitts of Wales Nuttalls Fforest Fawr