Pen-y-crug is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys, south Wales. It is commonly referred to locally as simply 'The Crug' (''pronounced cree-g''). The Welsh

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

signifies 'top of the mound'. It slopes are moderately gently on three sides; only to the west do they steepen somewhat. Its flat trig point adorned summit at 331m overlooks the valley of the

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

to the south. To the southeast are panoramic views over Brecon whilst eastwards are the Black Mountains and south the

Brecon Beacons The Brecon Beacons ( cy, Bannau Brycheiniog, ) are a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of Old Red Sandstone peaks which lie to the south of Brecon. Sometimes referred to as "the central Beacons" t ...

Geology

The hill is formed from sandstones and mudstones of the St. Maughans Formation of the Old Red Sandstone laid down during the Devonian period. The lower slopes are formed from mudstones and sandstones of the Raglan Mudstone Formation of late

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

age. A number of small sandstone quarries, now disused, adorn the upper slopes. The hill probably stood out above the Usk Valley glacier ice at times during the ice age.British Geological Survey 1:50,000 map sheet 213 'Brecon' & accompanying sheet explanation

Access

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

runs northwestwards over the northern and eastern slopes of the hill from the

B4520 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Gr ...

on the northern edge of Brecon giving access to walkers, horseriders and mountain-bikers. A

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

also leads to the summit from the edge of Brecon via Maen-du Well. The upper slopes are

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

for walkers. A small car park off the minor road to its north provides a convenient starting point for many walkers.

Archaeology

The summit is crowned by an impressive Iron Age hillfort, one of several in the Usk Valley. There are the remains of a brick and tile works dating from Victorian times on its southeastern flank.

References

External links

images from Geograph website of Pen-y-crug and surrounding area
{{coord, 51.9627, -3.4142, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Hillforts in Powys Mountains and hills of Powys Hillforts in the Brecon Beacons National Park Mountains and hills of the Brecon Beacons National Park

Geology

Access

Archaeology

See also

References

External links