Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BRECKNOCKSHIRE, Breconshire, or Brecon

BRECKNOCKSHIRE, Breconshire, or Brecon, an inland county of South Wales. It is bounded on the NW by Cardigan; on the N and NE by Radnor; on the E by Hereford and Monmouth; on the S by Monmouth and Glamorgan; and on the W by Carmarthen. Its outline is not far from being roughly triangular, with the sides toward the NE, the S, and the W. Its length, from N to S, is 38 miles; its greatest breadth, from E to W, 32 miles; its circumference, about 108 miles; and its area, 460,158 acres. The greater part of the surface is mountainous and wild. A region of hills, coming in from Cardigan, occupies most of the NW and the N, to the vicinity of the Irvon river; culminating in Drygarn, 2,071 feet high, and many of them well clothed with wood and heather. A barren chain, called MynyddEpynt, commences at the western boundary, 3 miles above Trecastle, and extends north-eastward, across the county, to Builth; presenting abrupt acclivities to the NW, and gradual ones to the SE. A series of mountain masses and ridges, intersected by narrow valleys, occupies all the southern half of the county; culminating successively, from W to E, in the Talsarn mountain, the Capellante mountain, the Brecknock beacons, and Peny-cader-fawr, respectively 2,596, 2,394, 2,862, and 2,545 feet high; and exhibiting a great variety of form and character. The valleys are larger and more level than in some other parts of Wales; and, together. with the slopes of the hills and the skirts of the mountains, give a great aggregate of ground to decoration and the plough.

The chief rivers are the Usk, the Wye, and the Irvon; and the minor ones, the Tawe, the Taf, the Cilieri, the Brem, the Yskir, the Hepste, the Honddû, the Cray, the Senni, the Tarrell, the two Grwyneys, the Prydain, the Llech, the Dulas, the Comaick, and the Wevesey. Picturesque falls occur on the Hepste, the Prydain, and the Llech. The chief lake is the Llyn-Savaddan, the largest in South Wales; and the chief others Llyn-y-Fan-fawr and Llyn-y-Carw. Mineral springs are at Builth and Llanwrtyd. A large tract in all the NW, to within 5 miles of Builth, consists of lower silurian rocks. A tract in the N, around Builth, together with two narrow belts thence to the SSW, are upper silurian. A very great tract across all the centre of the county, and filling more than half of its area, is old red sandstone. A narrow belt along all the southern border of this tract, is carboniferous limestone and shale; and some parts intermixed with that belt, and S of it to the boundary, belong to the coal measures, which extend thence into the great coal-field of Monmouth and Glamorgan. Limestone is singularly scarce in the silurian regions. Excellent fireclay is worked at Penderyn. Chert is quarried for hearths and millstones; and pennant-stone for roofing. Limestone, coal, and iron are worked in the S. Some lead, copper, and tripoli are found.

The soils are exceedingly various; and range in fertility from the poorest to the richest. That in the best parts of the N is stiff clay loam; that of the vale of Usk, a sandy loam; that of the vale of Wye, a good, brown, gravelly loam. About 210,000 acres are in cultivation; and about 166,000 are waste. Great improvements have been effected through the exertions of the Brecon Agricultural Society. Field crops are raised in sufficient quantity for home consumption; butter, cheese, timber, wool, and cattle are exported; and some hops and orchard produce are grown. The leases are various; and the farmhouses are better than in most other parts of Wales. The Hereford cattle have generally superseded the old Welsh black breed in the lowlands; and a hardy race of small mountain sheep depasture the uplands. Leather and coarse woollens are manufactured, to a small extent, for the English market; and the iron-works, in the SE, do a large business. The Brecon canal assists traffic eastward from the centre of the county. One railway goes from Brecon to Merthyr-Tydvil; another goes from Brecon towards Hereford; another goes from the latter at Talgarth, past Builth, toward Llanidloes; another goes from Brecon toward Neath; and two others were in course of formation in 1869 from the last at Devynnock toward Llandovery and toward Garth.

The county contains sixty-five parishes, part of another parish, and three chapelries; and is divided into the six hundreds of Builth, Crickhowell, Devynnock, Merthyr, Penkelly, and Talgarth. The registration county includes part of Hereford and Radnor, but gives off larger parts to Radnor, Carmarthen, and Glamorgan; amounts to 443,133 acres; and is divided into the districts of Builth, Brecknock, Crickhowell, and Hay. The markettowns are Builth, Brecknock, Crickhowell, and Hay; and the chief seats are Brecknock Priory, Dinas, Buckland, Llwynmadog, Llangoed Castle, Gwernyfed, CastellMadog, Ynyscedwyn, Pen-bont, Pennoyre, and Abercamlais. Real property in 1815, £146,539; in 1843, £198,472; in 1860, £261,350. The county is governed by a lordlieutenant, a high sheriff, and about forty-five magistrates. It is in the Home military district, and the South Wales judicial circuit; and it forms an archdeaconry in the diocese of St. David's. The assizes are held at Brecknock in Lent and summer; and quarter sessions on 1 Jan., 9 April, 2 July, and 15 Oct. The police force consists of 34 men for the county at large, and four for Brecknock burgh. The number of crimes committed in 1864 was 65; and of persons apprehended, 64; of known depredators or suspected persons at large, 140; of houses of bad character, 53. The only prison is the county jail at Brecknock. One member is sent to parliament for Brecon borough, and one for the rest of the county; and the number of county electors in 1868 was 2,409. Pop. in 1801, 32,325; in 1821, 43,826; in 1841, 55,603; in 1861, 61,627. Inhabited houses, 12,913; uninhabited, 534; building, 55.

The Romans gained possession of Brecknockshire after the defeat of Caractacus; and made it part of the province of Britannia Secunda. It was once called GarthMadryn; and it took its present name from a Welsh prince called Brychan, who lived in the 5th century. Most part of it came under the power of the Normans after the overthrow of Bleddyn, prince of Brycheiniog, in a great battle in 1088; but parts of it among the mountains maintained resistance, two centuries longer, till the fall of Llewelyn. Most of it was long swayed by the fortunes of Brecknock Castle; and all of it, more or less, was harassed by the predatory attacks of Owen Glendower. The antiquities in it include a cromlech at TyIlltyd; British camps at Cefn-y-Gaer, Pen-y-Crug, Ponmuarth, Alltfillo, Lamhamlwch, and Benni-wood; Roman camps at Caer-Bannan, and Caer near Cwm-Du; traces of the Via Julia Montana and of two vicinal roads from Caer-Bannan; remains of castles at Brecknock, Cart-y-Carw, Crickhowell, Penkelly, Builth, Brynllys, Brynllyfn, and Tre'r-twr; and several old churches, or parts of churches, and some old seats.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "an inland county of South Wales"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 2nd order divisions")
Administrative units: Brecknockshire AncC
Place names: BRECKNOCKSHIRE     |     BRECKNOCKSHIRE BRECONSHIRE OR BRECON     |     BRECON     |     BRECONSHIRE
Place: Brecknockshire

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