Llanfechan is a small church settlement in the community of

Treflys Treflys is a community in the county of Powys, Wales, and is 49.9 miles (80.4 km) from Cardiff and 154.4 miles (248.5 km) from London. In 2011 the population of Treflys was 484 with 15.1% of them able to speak Welsh. It is in the histori ...

, consisting of a church and a farm, and the surrounding area, it is beside the A483 on the north side of the Irfon Valley near

Cilmeri Cilmeri is a village and community in Powys, mid-Wales, United Kingdom in the historic county of Brecknockshire, two and a half miles west of Builth Wells on the A483 to Llandovery. The village is served by Cilmeri railway station on the Heart ...

, about west of

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 ...

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 ...

Name

The community was originally known as Llanafan Fechan (

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 ...

for the "Lesser" ''fechan'' "Parish" ''

llan Llan may be: * Llan (placename), a Celtic morpheme, or element, common in British placenames ** A short form for any placename . * Llan, Powys, a Welsh village near Llanbrynmair * Llan the Sorcerer La Lunatica Lacuna Lady Bullseye Lady De ...

'' of Saint Afan) to distinguish it from the larger one nearby,

Llanafan Fawr Llanafan Fawr is a village and community and ecclesiastical parish in the former cantref of Buellt (Builth) and historic county of Brecknockshire in Wales. It is now part of Powys. The community includes the former parish of Llanfihangel Bryn Pa ...

. The settlement was referred to as ''Llanavon vechan'' in 1543. A third Llanafan also exists in

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. Cer ...

, near the Trawsgoed Estate.

The settlement

The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72) describes the settlement as follows:

LLANAFAN-FECHAN, or LLANFECHAN, a parish in Builth district, Brecon; on the river Irvon ... Acres, 2,783. Real property, £927. Pop lation 163. Houses, 25. The surface is hilly, and the rocks include slate. Gwarafog, an ancient mansion, is now a farm-house. The living is a p rpetualcuracy, annexed to the vicarage of Llanafan-Fawr, in the diocese of St. David's. The church is small.

The population fell from about 170 in 1801 to less than 90 in 1961, peaking in 1831 at nearly 190. In 1881, agriculture dominated male employment (64% of 39) and apart from a schoolmaster all the rest had manual jobs of various kinds.

Church

The present church dates to a refurbishment in 1866. The church is of typical medieval size and plan and this probably reflects the footprint of its predecessor. The 14th century font inside the church presumably comes from this earlier building. The church stands on an unnatural mound, assumed to be the debris of the earlier church, and within a raised churchyard about 45m across. It was probably attached originally to the church at

('Llanafan the Greater'), records of both churches during the 18th and 19th centuries show that curates from Llanafan Fawr also served Llanfechan. It was attached to the church at

Llanganten Llanganten is a small village in the community of Cilmeri, Powys, 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 ...

by the early 20th century. St Afan was a 5th or 6th century Welsh bishop, who was usually known as Afan Buallt, indicating a connection with the Buallt area. It is not known where or when he was a bishop, but the name by which he was referred suggests his diocese was around

Builth 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 ...

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Norman ...

with his seat at Llanafan Fawr.

References

{{reflist, 30em Populated places in Powys