Felindre (also known as Velindre) is a village in southern

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

. The village is a part of the

Gwernyfed Gwernyfed is a community in Powys, Wales, centred on the village of Three Cocks (). It takes its name from Gwernyfed Park, a medieval deer park within the community. The community of Gwernyfed was established in 1985 through the merger of the ...

community which also includes Three Cocks and

Glasbury Glasbury (), also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village and community in Powys, Wales. The village lies at an important crossing point on the River Wye, connecting the historic counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, and is located just outs ...

, and is in the UK parliamentary constituency of

Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe () is a List of UK Parliament constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament, first contested at the 2024 United King ...

Location

Felindre is in southern Powys. Three Cocks is a mile north-west of the village, with

Talgarth Talgarth is a market town, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in southern Powys, Mid Wales, about north of Crickhowell, north-east of Brecon and south-east of Builth Wells. Notable buildings in the town include the 14th-century ...

2.5 miles to the south-west and

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay (; or simply ), is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a book town, "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the s ...

4.5 miles to the north-east. The village lies next to Felindre Brook. Felindre is the nearest village to

Old Gwernyfed Old Gwernyfed () is a house dating from the medieval period in the community of Gwernyfed, Powys, Wales, close to the village of Felindre. It remains a private home and is a Grade I listed building. The gardens are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Reg ...

, a mansion house rebuilt in the 17th century which is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The name 'Felindre' comes from the words 'melin tref', meaning 'mill farm'. By the 17th century, Felindre was a part of the parish of Tregoyd and Felindre, which the Gwernyfed estate extended into. Water from Felindre Brook was used to fill fishponds in Old Gwernyfed manor. The

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

for Felindre, a chapel for the parish church in Glasbury, closed in the 1690s, and it is believed that the archway from the church was incorporated into the entrance porch of Old Gwernyfed. In 1862, Thomas II Wood, the owner of Old Gwernyfed, donated a piece of land in Felindre village to be used as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

chapel. The chapel held services in both English and Welsh. In the 1870s, John Marius Wilson described Felindre in his

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

as 'a hamlet in Glasbury parish'. Felindre School, a

voluntary controlled school A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy th ...

managed by the Church, was opened in 1877; a reservoir, fed by water from Felindre Brook, was later built above the school. In 1937, a celebration took place in Felindre to mark the coronation of

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

, involving a horse-drawn procession through the village. The Felindre

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

was founded in 1947. Additional council houses were built in the village by E.T.D Lewis, vicar of St Peter's Church, Glasbury between 1946 and 1984, and Felindre village hall was built in 1976. Felindre School was closed by

Powys County Council Powys County Council () is the local authority for Powys, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act ...

in 1993.

Amenities

Alongside the Village Hall, Felindre contained a pub named The Three Horseshoes which had been present in the village since the 19th century. In 2022, after an offer to allow the community to acquire the building was turned down, the pub was listed for sale. Felindre was previously home to a

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

centre known as Cadar Hall. It is the nearest village to Tregoyd Mountain Riders riding centre.

References

{{authority control Villages in Powys Black Mountains, Wales