Llanbadarn Fawr is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

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 ...

, within the historic boundaries of

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

, mid

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Consisting of a tract of undulating land directly north east of

Llandrindod Wells Llandrindod Wells (; ; ; ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powys County Council, and is therefore the administrative centre of Powys. The town was Historic counties of Wales, historically in ...

, the community consists of the settlements of Crossgates and Fron and in 2001 had a population of 654, increasing to 701 at the 2011 Census. The community name comes from the local church.

History

Llanbadarn Fawr was once a parish, much larger than its present-day community. In John Marius Wilson's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' published in the 1870s, he states that "Llanbadarn Fawr", a parish in Rhayader district, Radnor; ... is divided into the townships of Brinhyfedd and Cellws; and it contains the village of Penybont". Today the village of Penybont lies outside the local council jurisdiction of Llanbadarn Fawr being a community in its own right. The

River Ithon The River Ithon ( Welsh: Afon Ieithon) is a major left-bank tributary of the River Wye in Powys, mid Wales. It rises in the broad saddle between the western end of Kerry Hill and the hill of Glog to its west and flows initially southwards to L ...

flows through the community, passing the village of Crossgates. The community is served by Pen-y-Bont railway station which is closer to the villages of Fron and Crossgate than its namesake Penybont.

Governance

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 t ...

with the same name exists. This ward includes Penybont and at the 2011 census had a population of 1,129.

Buildings of note

The most notable building in the community is Llanbadarn Fawr church. The River Ithon flows a hundred metres from the church, and this fact, along with the addition of the affix "fawr" to distinguish it from nearby Llanbadarn Fynydd, has led one authority to state that the church may be pre-

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

and the mother church of the area. The earliest mention of the church is in 1304, and the name ''Llanbadarn Vaur'' appeared in texts in 1374. The church name translates as the Great Church of Saint Padarn, after who the church is dedicated. The church, like many in the area, was rebuilt during the Victorian Era. The architect who carried out the restoration was S. W. Williams of

Rhayader Rhayader (; ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Radnorshire. The town is from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambri ...

, described as having "built at least five rather ugly churches ... in Radnorshire". Despite this, the Romanesque tympanum above the south door remains, one of only two in Wales. The carving depicts a lion and lioness facing each other either side of a tree with a cat head and sun beneath them. The porch also contains an inscribed centurial stone, dated 1171, from a Roman fort at Castell Collen. The church is also significant for containing a figure described by historian Malcolm Thurlby as a

Sheela Na Gig A sheela na gig is a figurative carving of a naked woman displaying an exaggerated Human vulva, vulva. These carvings, from the Middle Ages, are Grotesque (architecture), architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe on Architecture ...

. In 1176

Geraldus Cambrensis Gerald of Wales (; ; ; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He w ...

, the archdeacon of Brecon, sought sanctuary in the church. In Fron is Coedgwgan Hall, a grade II listed building. Originally dated as a 16th-century manor house, the hall was rebuilt in the 19th century though the lateral chimney, dated as 1581, still exists in part.

References

External links

Llanbadarn Fawr Community
Map showing the boundaries of the community {{Powys Communities in Powys