Fan Fawr ( Welsh 'great peak') is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

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 ...

, in

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 ...

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 ...

and over 734 m (2,408 ft) high. The summit overlooks the steep eastern face and is marked by a cairn. Unusually, the

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

on this hill does not sit at the summit but 600 m to the south-west on a subsidiary spur. The hill is drained to the west by streams flowing into 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 to the east by streams draining into the Taf Fawr. The Dringarth is dammed to the west to form

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 ...

as is the Taf Fawr east of the hill to form Beacons Reservoir. To the north-east water flows into the Afon Tarell, a tributary of the River Usk whilst to the south the headwaters of the Afon y Waun conduct water to the

Afon Hepste The Afon Hepste is a river in Powys, Wales, though partly forming the county's border with Rhondda Cynon Taf. It runs wholly within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its headwaters, the Afon y Waun, Nant y Cwrier and Nant Hepste Fechan, rise ...

and eventually to the

River Neath River Neath ( cy, Afon Nedd) is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Ba ...

Geology

The hill is largely formed 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 ...

which were 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, w ...

. On the southern slopes of the hill, sandstones of the overlying Plateau Beds Formation occur. In common with other hills in the Brecon Beacons National Park Fan Fawr was subject to glacial action in the ice ages. The western cwm contains a fine late-glacial moraine known as Cefn Bach.British Geological Survey 1:50,000 map sheet 231 'Merthyr Tydfil' & accompanying memoir 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 open country, enabling walkers to wander at will, although most choose to take a line up from the car parks beside the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigat ...

at Storey Arms and Pont ar Daf.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Fan Fawr and surrounding area
{{coord, 51.8635, N, 3.4988, W, type:mountain_region:GB, display=title Marilyns of Wales Hewitts of Wales Nuttalls Fforest Fawr Mountains and hills of Powys