Llanwrthwl
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Llanwrthwl is a village and
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
in
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 ...
, mid Wales, and the historic county of Brecknockshire. Llanwrthwl lies off the
A470 road 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 navigate ...
, north by road from Builth Wells and
Newbridge-on-Wye Newbridge-on-Wye ( cy, Y Bontnewydd-ar-Wy) is a small village in Powys, Wales. It lies, as its name suggests, on the River Wye, just downstream from the market town of Rhayader, and in the community of Llanyre. Location Newbridge-on-Wye is lo ...
and south of
Rhayader Rhayader (; cy, Rhaeadr Gwy; ) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, within the historic county of Radnorshire. The town is from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains, and is locate ...
. It lies on the River Wye and
River Elan The Afon Elan ( en, River Elan) is a tributary of the River Wye which runs through the wide expanse of upland moors, traditionally known as Elenydd, in central Wales. Its valley is the Elan Valley. The name probably arises from ''elain'' meani ...
and the village is accessed by a bridge over the Wye. In 1833, its population was 517; its population in 1841 was 568; in 1845, its population was 563. At the 2011 census the population was only 191.


Etymology

Llanwrthwl, composed of an Upper and a Lower division, derives its name from the dedication of its church.


History

St
Gwrthwl Saint Gwrthwl is a Pre-Congregational Saint of Powys in Wales. He was said to have been a hermit and to have founded a church in the village of Llanwrthwl. The site of his church yielded artefacts form the Bronze Age and Roman Empire The R ...
, a
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
whose date is uncertain, founded the
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...
at Llanwrthwl; he is commemorated on 2 March.
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
gold work was discovered at Llanwrthwl in the 1950s, including a four-flanged bar
torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...
, a circular sectioned bar torc, a square sectioned bar torc and a twisted ring. A commemorative stone, from the precincts of the extinct chapel of Llanwrthwl, was found at Maes Llanwrthwl (Llanwrthwl Field) with a Paulinus monument and the epitaph: Talorm , Adventvh , MAQVERIGH , FIUIVS. It was in several pieces, and at least one of those pieces was missing. It was later preserved and housed at the residence of the Jones family at ''Dolau Cothi'',
Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...
. The parish was a prebend in the Collegiate Church of Brecknock and the church was dedicated to St Gwrthwl. In 1840s there was a day school in the upper part of the parish, attended by about 30 children. There was also a Sunday School. A sum of £16 was divided among the poor in January of each year, arising partly from a 1648 bequest by Edward ab Evan of the farm ''Cae'r Llan''.


Geography

In the 19th century, Llanwrthwl was in the county of Brecknockshire, and was a parish in the hundred of Buallt. The village is situated upon the River Elan, near to its union with the River Wye, about three miles, south by east, from
Rhayader Rhayader (; cy, Rhaeadr Gwy; ) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, within the historic county of Radnorshire. The town is from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains, and is locate ...
. Llanwrthwl parish is situated at the northern extremity of the county, bordering upon Radnorshire, from which it is separated on the north and north-east by the River Wye, and on the west and north-west by the streams of the Claerwen and Elan, which fall into that river, on the northeastern confines of the parish. The rivulets Runnant and Dulas are the principal of the smaller streams that intersect the parish. It comprises about of extremely irregular surface, rising in some parts into lofty hills, alternated with large tracts of level ground, forming extensive commons and bogs. The soil on the higher grounds is rocky, and in the lower generally of a marshy nature, but on the banks of the Wye and Elan there are some fertile meadows. The surrounding scenery is diversified, and in many parts highly picturesque.
Copper ore Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical proces ...
has been found near the junction of the Elan with the Wye. On the hills are several cairns, especially on the height named Drygarn, or ''Derwydd Garn'', implying "the Druid's rock, or mount," part of which is in the adjoining parish of Llanfihangel Abergwesyn. There are also some cairns on an eminence of less elevation, designated ''Gemrhiw''. On ''Rhos-Saithmaen'', or "the Seven Stone common," which is partly in this parish, and partly in that of Llanafan, are some stones very irregularly placed. Near this common is another, called ''Rhos-y-Beddau'', or "the common of the graves," the name of which would appear to commemorate some great battle, probably that of Llechrhyd.


Notable landmarks

St. Gwrthwl's Parish Church churchyard has a
prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
standing stone about high near the south porch. Its upper part appears to have been broken, though it may be the shaft of a cross, or of Druidical origin. On ''Rhôs Saith-maen'', or the "Seven Stone Common", in Llanwrthwl parish, are some very irregularly placed stones, though it has not been determined if they are of military, sepulchral, or Druidical remains. Penuel
Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
Chapel is located just south of the main village. The chapel was built in 1832 and rebuilt in 1890 in the Vernacular style with a long-wall entry plan. A register of baptisms for the years 1834-1837 is held by the National Archive. The
Living Willow Theatre The Willow Globe Theatre ( cy, Glôb Byw, formerly known as the Living Willow Theatre) is an open air community theatre in Powys, Wales. It is a scaled-down version of the Globe Theatre in London, about a third of its size in diameter and simi ...
(in
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 ...
, Glôb Byw) is at Penlanole near the village. It is an open-air theatre constructed of living
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
trees and occasionally outdoor performances of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
are staged. In the early 1800s, engineer James Watt retired to Doldowlod House, about a mile south of Llanwrthwl on the
A470 road 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 navigate ...
, when he left Birmingham. By 1891, the grand Glan-Rhos House had been built to the north of the village with surrounding grounds laid out stretching down to the river.


Flora

''Alchemilla arvensis'', '' Chrysanthemum segetum'', and '' Galeopsis versicolor'', have been found in Llanwrthwl, while ''
Euphorbia helioscopia ''Euphorbia helioscopia'', the sun spurge or madwoman's milk, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is a herbaceous annual plant, native to most of Europe, northern Africa, and eastward through most of Asia.''Flo ...
'' has been found nearby.


References


External links


Llanwrthwl Community Council

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanwrthwl and surrounding area


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110928183717/http://www.urc.org.uk/church/view?church_id=1585 Penuel Chapel at urc.org
Llanwrthwl at genuki.org

St Gwrthwl's Standing Stone information at megalithic.co.uk
{{authority control Villages in Powys