Afon Irfon (the River Irfon) is a river in
Powys,
Wales. It flows from the upper slopes of Bryn Garw in the
Cambrian Mountains
The Cambrian Mountains ( cy, Mynyddoedd Cambria, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales.
The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales. Since the 1950s, its application has becom ...
, through the Abergwesyn Valley, past the
Nant Irfon National Nature Reserve
Nant Irfon National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve (United Kingdom), national nature reserve located high in the hills above the Afon Irfon valley near the village of Abergwesyn in Powys, Wales. It is surrounded by vast moorlands and ...
in the hills above the village of
Abergwesyn, and through
Llanwrtyd Wells to its confluence with the River Wye at
Builth Wells
Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...
. The source of the Irfon is in the so-called '
Desert of Wales
The Desert of Wales, or Green Desert of Wales, is an area in central Wales, so called because of its lack of roads and towns and its inaccessibility. The term was coined by English travel writers in the nineteenth century and has no equivalent i ...
'.
Afon Irfon is the listed name of the
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
in the upper reaches of the river Irfon
Powys,
Wales.
Description
From its source at 540 metres
AMSL
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
on the upper slopes of Bryn Garw in the
Cambrian Mountains
The Cambrian Mountains ( cy, Mynyddoedd Cambria, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales.
The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales. Since the 1950s, its application has becom ...
the Irfon flows southwards past the foot of the Devil's Staircase, along the Abergwesyn Valley, through the scenic Camddwr Bleiddiad (Wolves' Gorge), and into the Wolves' Pool. It then flows past a forest of
sessile oak
''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...
''(
Quercus petraea)'' to join the Afon Gwesyn at Abergwyesn where it passes beneath the Irfon Forest and the Nant Irfon National Nature Reserve towards Llanwrtyd Wells. Lastly, overlooked by the scarp of
Mynydd Epynt
Mynydd Epynt () is a former community and upland area in Powys, Wales.
The Ministry of Defence controversially evicted the community of Mynydd Epynt in 1940, creating what is now the core of the Sennybridge Training Area (SENTA), the largest mil ...
to the south, it flows eastward through
Llangammarch Wells, and
Garth
Garth may refer to:
Places
* Garth, Alberta, Canada
* Garth, Bridgend, a village in south Wales
:* Garth railway station (Bridgend)
* Garth, Ceredigion, small village in Wales
* Garth, Powys, a village in mid Wales
:* Garth railway station (Powy ...
to join the
River Wye
The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...
at Builth Wells (Llanfair ym Muallt) approximately 28 winding miles from its source.
[UK Rivers Guidebook - Afon Irfon - Camddwr Bleiddiad Gorge to Llanwrtyd Wells](_blank)
/ref>
The name 'Irfon' may be identical in its origin to the River Irvine in Scotland,
History
The river is famous in Welsh history for the fact that it was on its banks, in the vicinity Cilmeri, that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, was killed on 11 December 1282.
Literature
The Abergwesyn Valley and the legend of the boy failing to safely leap the Wolves' Gorge ('Camddwr Bleiddiad') were described by George Borrow in his 1862 travel publication Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery.
Gallery
File:Nature Reserve in the Irfon Valley - geograph.org.uk - 391585.jpg, The Irfon flowing down the Abergwesyn Valley, dropping into the 'Wolves' Gorge' in the middle-ground of the picture
File:Wolves' Pool - geograph.org.uk - 701043.jpg, Afon Irfon flows through the narrow Wolves' Gorge into the Wolves' Pool in the Abergwesyn Valley
Image:Island in river Irfon at Llangammarch Wells - geograph.org.uk - 157546.jpg, Afon Irfon at Llangammarch Wells
File:Camddwr Bleiddiad or Wolves' Gorge - geograph.org.uk - 701038.jpg, Wolves' Gorge
See also
*List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Brecknock
SSSIs in the UK are notified using the concept of an Area of Search (AOS), an area of between and in size. The Areas of Search were conceived and developed between 1975 and 1979 by the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), based on regions create ...
References
{{Authority control
Irfon
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Brecknock