Llanvihangel Crucorney ( cy, Llanfihangel Crucornau) is a small village in the

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, t ...

(parish) of Crucorney,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...

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 ...

. It is located north of

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wit ...

and south-west of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

on the

A465 road The A465 is a trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in South Wales. The western half is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section from Abergavenny to the Vale of Ne ...

Setting

Llanvihangel Crucorney lies on the eastern edge of the Black Mountains in 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 ...

. The village sits at the entrance to the

Vale of Ewyas The Vale of Ewyas ( cy, Dyffryn Ewias) is the steep-sided and secluded valley of the River Honddu, in the Black Mountains of Wales and within the Brecon Beacons National Park. As well as its outstanding beauty, it is known for the ruins of Ll ...

(also known as the

Llanthony Llanthony (, cy, Llanddewi Nant Honddu ) is a village in the community of Crucorney on the northern edge of Monmouthshire, South East Wales, United Kingdom. Location Llanthony is located in the Vale of Ewyas, a deep and long valley with ...

valley). The sweeping hill the village sits on is a

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...

, deposited during the last Ice Age, that marks the maximum advance of a glacier that once flowed down the valley. The

Skirrid Ysgyryd Fawr ( en, Skirrid) is an easterly outlier of the Black Mountains in Wales, and forms the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The hill is often referred to locally as just The Skirrid. The smaller hill of Ysgyryd Fac ...

is located just to the south; its distinctive peak forms an imposing local landmark. The village is surrounded by farmland with a mix of pasture, for

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

and

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

grazing, and arable crops. The area is popular with hill walkers and the long-distance trails the

Beacons Way The Beacons Way (Welsh: Ffordd y Bannau) is a waymarked long distance footpath in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. It is a linear route which runs for east to west through the National Park, and passes many of the most important landm ...

and

Offa's Dyke Path Offa's Dyke Path ( cy, Llwybr Clawdd Offa) is a long-distance footpath loosely following the Wales–England border. Officially opened on 10 July 1971, by Lord Hunt, it is one of Britain's National Trails and draws walkers from throughout th ...

pass close by.

History, amenities and architecture

Amenities

In the centre of the village is a church, village shop and garage as well as

The Skirrid Mountain Inn The Skirrid Mountain Inn is a public house in the small village of Llanvihangel Crucorney, approximately north of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales. Claims to fame The inn is one of a number of pubs claiming to be the oldest in Wales. Work unde ...

, which claims to be the oldest

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in Wales. There is a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and village hall located in nearby Pandy. The nearest railway station is

Architecture

The village is characterised by its stone built architecture, with many historic properties interspersed with more recently built homes. Notable buildings include: * St Michael's Church standing at the historic centre of the village. The church is of Norman origin and has surviving medieval features. *

Llanvihangel Court Llanvihangel (or Llanfihangel) Court, Llanvihangel Crucorney, is a Tudor country house in Monmouthshire, Wales. The architectural historian John Newman, in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of ''The Buildings of Wales'' series described the court ...

. A historic,

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

with landscaped gardens, located a short distance away from the village centre. Dating from the 16th century, it has been described as "the most impressive and richly decorated house of around 1600 in

".The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire, page 287, accessed 7 February 2012 The house opens to the public several days a year. * Llwyn-Celyn Farmhouse, in the nearby hamlet of Stanton. A

, late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples w ...

considered to be one of the most remarkable surviving stone houses in Wales. Having been occupied continuously from 1480 until 2014, it is now in the care of the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headqua ...

who are repairing and restoring the house so that it can be let out for holidays and short breaks. * Pen-y-Clawdd Court, to the southwest of the village. A

Tudor manor house thought to date from circa 1625, on the site of a Norman motte and bailey castle.

Railways

The gauge

Llanvihangel Railway The Llanvihangel Railway was an early horse-drawn railway line in Monmouthshire which operated over a 6.25 mile route between the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal and Llanvihangel Crucorney from 1814 until 1846. The Act of Parliament for the railway ...

opened in 1814 between

Govilon Govilon ( cy, Gofilon) is a small Welsh village located between Llanfoist and Gilwern near Abergavenny in north Monmouthshire. It is part of the community of Llanfoist Fawr. the population was 1,447 in 2011. Attractions The Monmouthshire a ...

on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal and Llanvihangel Crucorney. Here it joined with the Grosmont Railway, thence via the Hereford Railway to Hereford. The railway was abandoned in 1846. The Grosmont Railway was constructed as an extension of the Llanvihangel Railway from its terminus at Llanvihangel Crucorney to

Monmouth Cap The Monmouth cap (Welsh: ''Cap Trefynwy'') was an item of woollen headgear fashionable between the 15th and 18th centuries, and associated with the town of Monmouth in South East Wales. The knitted round caps were used by both soldiers and sa ...

on the border with

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

. With a length of approximately seven miles (11 km), it was engineered by John Hodgkinson as a

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

plateway A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange ...

, and was horse drawn throughout. The

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...

for the railway received the

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 20 May 1812, and the line opened in 1819. The

Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between P ...

opened the standard gauge Llanvihangel railway station in 1854. It closed in 1958.

Governance

The village falls in the 'Crucorney'

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

. This ward includes Grosmont in addition to this village. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 2,121. Th
Crucorney Community Council
has 11 seats over 5 wards. The Llanvihangel Crucorney Ward has 6 seats, Forest and Ffwddog Ward has 2 seats, and there is one seat each in Bwlch, Trewyn and Oldcastle Ward, Lower Cwmyoy Ward and Upper Cwmyoy Ward.

Notable people

John Arnold of Monmouthshire John Arnold, widely known as John Arnold of Monmouthshire ( – 1702), was a Welsh Protestant politician and Whig MP. He was one of the most prominent people in Monmouthshire in the late 17th century. A stark anti-Catholic, he was a notable f ...

(c.1635-1702), Protestant and MP *

Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contrib ...

(1921-1988), academic, novelist and critic

Notes

External links

Aerial photo, map and basic info from UK Villages

Crucorney Community Council
{{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire