Fforest Fawr
Encyclopedia
Fforest Fawr is the name given to an extensive upland area in the county of Powys
, Wales
. Formerly known as the 'Great Forest of Brecknock' in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water catchment and recreation. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
in the west eastwards to the A470
Brecon
to Merthyr Tydfil
road, just west of the Brecon Beacons
themselves. It includes the peaks of Fan Fawr
(734m), Fan Frynych
(629m), Craig Cerrig-gleisiad
(629m), Fan Llia
(632m), Fan Nedd
(663m), Fan Gyhirych
(725m), Fan Bwlch Chwyth
(603m) and Cefn Cul
(562m). Traditionally Fforest Fawr also included the peaks of Fan Hir
and Fan Brycheiniog
though the modern recreational use of the name tends to be restricted to east of the Black Mountain of which they form a part.
, the more resistant sandstone beds of the Brownstones Formation give rise to the major peaks.
To the south of the main peaks are two more broken north-facing scarps, that of the Carboniferous Limestone
and, to its south, that of the Millstone Grit
. These three suites of rock all dip southwards into the regionally important South Wales Coalfield
basin.
The area is criss-crossed by faults which fall into two groups. Two major faults which are closely associated with tight folding of the rocks through which they pass, constitute one group. These are known as the Cribarth
and Neath Disturbance
s. They run north-east to south-west through the area and are usually associated with the Variscan orogeny
though the origins of these weaknesses in the Earth's crust can perhaps be ascribed to the earlier Caledonian Orogeny
. The second set of faults form something of a swarm which run north-northwest to south-southeast and are most apparent within the limestone and Millstone Grit outcrop.
The area was glaciated during the ice ages and at least three glacial cirques are evident, of which Craig Cerrig-gleisiad
is the most dramatic. At both this location and on the eastern slopes of Fan Dringarth are spectacular landslips.
in 1521. It was sold by the Crown in 1819 to raise funds depleted by the cost of the Napoleonic Wars
. The entrepreneur John Christie purchased some of this land and subsequently constructed a tramroad across the area from Sennybridge
to Ystradgynlais
in an effort to improve agricultural production though the venture ran into financial difficulties.
Parts of the area, notably on the flanks of Cefn Cul above Cray Reservoir
, were set aside during the 19th century for rabbit breeding for both fur and meat. 'Pillow mounds' remain as the most obvious sign of this venture. These long low earth mounds were constructed to allow the animals to burrow in what were otherwise thin soils.
Since October 2005 it has formed the core of the Fforest Fawr Geopark
, the first Geopark
in Wales and one of several areas in the UK designated for their outstanding geological heritage.
have been impounded between Fan Fawr and Fan Llia as Ystradfellte Reservoir
. The headwaters of the northerly-flowing Afon Crai
are stored in Cray Reservoir
immediately west of the A4067 Ystradgynlais to Sennybridge road.
There are numerous conifer plantations on both the northern and southern slopes of Fforest Fawr.
Fan Frynych and Craig Cerrig-gleisiad are protected as a national nature reserve
which is owned and managed by the Countryside Council for Wales
for its arctic-alpine
flora.
Almost the entire area is open access for walkers. A major long-distance path, the Beacons Way, runs east-west through Fforest Fawr.
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Formerly known as the 'Great Forest of Brecknock' in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water catchment and recreation. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Extent
The area extends from the edge of the Black MountainBlack Mountain (range)
The Black Mountain is a mountain range in Mid and West Wales, straddling the county boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys and forming the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its highest point is Fan Brycheiniog at 802 metres or 2,631 ft. The Black Mountain also forms a part...
in the west eastwards to the A470
A470 road
The A470 is a major long-distance connective spine road in Wales, running from Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. It covers approximately 186 miles , over a zig-zagging route through the entirety of the country's mountainous central region, including the Brecon Beacons and...
Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
to Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
road, just west of the Brecon Beacons
Brecon Beacons
The Brecon Beacons is a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of popular peaks south of Brecon, including South Wales' highest mountain, Pen y Fan, and which together form the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park...
themselves. It includes the peaks of Fan Fawr
Fan Fawr
Fan Fawr is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales and over 734 m high....
(734m), Fan Frynych
Fan Frynych
Fan Frynych is a subsidiary summit of Fan Fawr in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales. It makes up half of the Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych National Nature Reserve with its sister peak Craig Cerrig-gleisiad....
(629m), Craig Cerrig-gleisiad
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad is a subsidiary summit of Fan Fawr in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales. It makes up half of the Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych National Nature Reserve with its sister peak Fan Frynych....
(629m), Fan Llia
Fan Llia
Fan Llia is a subsidiary summit of Fan Fawr in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. In common with other peaks in the Fforest Fawr uplands it lies within the county of Powys....
(632m), Fan Nedd
Fan Nedd
Fan Nedd is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. In common with the rest of the Fforest Fawr uplands it is within the county of Powys....
(663m), Fan Gyhirych
Fan Gyhirych
Fan Gyhirych is a mountain in the Fforest Fawr section of Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales. It lies within the county of Powys, formerly Brecknockshire....
(725m), Fan Bwlch Chwyth
Fan Bwlch Chwyth
Fan Bwlch Chwyth is a peak in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park and within the county of Powys.Its summit at 603m is marked by a trig point at OS grid ref SN 912217. - Geology :...
(603m) and Cefn Cul
Cefn Cul
Cefn Cul is a hill in the Fforest Fawr sector of the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys, south Wales. It is a broad north-northeast to south-southwest aligned ridge whose summit reaches a height of 562m above sea level...
(562m). Traditionally Fforest Fawr also included the peaks of Fan Hir
Fan Hir
Fan Hir is a peak at the eastern end of the Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales. It is a subsidiary summit of Fan Brycheiniog. It falls within the county of Powys and is also a part of the traditional area of Fforest Fawr...
and Fan Brycheiniog
Fan Brycheiniog
Fan Brycheiniog is the highest peak in the Black Mountain region of the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales. It is just inside the county of Powys, and also within the Fforest Fawr Geopark designated in 2005 in recognition of the area's geological heritage.The Beacons Way, a waymarked long...
though the modern recreational use of the name tends to be restricted to east of the Black Mountain of which they form a part.
Geology
The area is almost exclusively underlain by sandstones and mudstones of the Old Red SandstoneOld Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...
, the more resistant sandstone beds of the Brownstones Formation give rise to the major peaks.
To the south of the main peaks are two more broken north-facing scarps, that of the Carboniferous Limestone
Carboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
and, to its south, that of the Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
. These three suites of rock all dip southwards into the regionally important South Wales Coalfield
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...
basin.
The area is criss-crossed by faults which fall into two groups. Two major faults which are closely associated with tight folding of the rocks through which they pass, constitute one group. These are known as the Cribarth
Cribarth Disturbance
The Cribarth Disturbance is a geological structure forming a lineament which stretches across south Wales from Swansea up the Swansea Valley then northeastwards to Brecon and beyond. It comprises both a series of faults and associated folds which were active during the mountain-building period...
and Neath Disturbance
Neath Disturbance
The Neath Disturbance is a geological structure which stretches across south Wales from Swansea Bay northeastwards as far as Hereford in western England. It comprises a series of both faults and associated folds which were active during the mountain-building period known as the Variscan orogeny...
s. They run north-east to south-west through the area and are usually associated with the Variscan orogeny
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
though the origins of these weaknesses in the Earth's crust can perhaps be ascribed to the earlier Caledonian Orogeny
Caledonian orogeny
The Caledonian orogeny is a mountain building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occurred from the Ordovician to Early Devonian, roughly...
. The second set of faults form something of a swarm which run north-northwest to south-southeast and are most apparent within the limestone and Millstone Grit outcrop.
The area was glaciated during the ice ages and at least three glacial cirques are evident, of which Craig Cerrig-gleisiad
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad is a subsidiary summit of Fan Fawr in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales. It makes up half of the Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych National Nature Reserve with its sister peak Fan Frynych....
is the most dramatic. At both this location and on the eastern slopes of Fan Dringarth are spectacular landslips.
History
Following the Norman Conquest the area was owned by the Lord of Brecon, Bernard de Neufmarche, eventually passing into the possession of the CrownThe Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
in 1521. It was sold by the Crown in 1819 to raise funds depleted by the cost of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. The entrepreneur John Christie purchased some of this land and subsequently constructed a tramroad across the area from Sennybridge
Sennybridge
Sennybridge is a village in Powys, Mid Wales, situated some from Cardiff and from Swansea. It lies west of Brecon on the A40 trunk road to Llandovery, at the point where the River Senni flows into the Usk...
to Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais is a town on the River Tawe in south west Powys; it is the second largest town in Powys, Wales. The town grew around the iron-making, coal-mining and watch-making industries....
in an effort to improve agricultural production though the venture ran into financial difficulties.
Parts of the area, notably on the flanks of Cefn Cul above Cray Reservoir
Cray reservoir
Cray Reservoir is a storage reservoir located in the Brecon Beacons National Park for the water supply to the city of Swansea in South Wales and was built between 1898 and 1906 by Swansea Corporation....
, were set aside during the 19th century for rabbit breeding for both fur and meat. 'Pillow mounds' remain as the most obvious sign of this venture. These long low earth mounds were constructed to allow the animals to burrow in what were otherwise thin soils.
Since October 2005 it has formed the core of the Fforest Fawr Geopark
Fforest Fawr Geopark
Fforest Fawr Geopark was the first Geopark to be designated in Wales having gained membership of both the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO-assisted Global Network of National Geoparks in October 2005. The Geopark aims to promote and support sustainable tourism and other opportunities to...
, the first Geopark
Geopark
A Geopark is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its UNESCO Geoparks International Network of Geoparks programme as follows:...
in Wales and one of several areas in the UK designated for their outstanding geological heritage.
Modern land use
The waters of the southerly-flowing Afon DringarthAfon Dringarth
The Afon Dringarth is a river in Powys, Wales and wholly contained within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its headwater streams drain the eastern slopes of Fan Dringarth, the southern slopes of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and the western slopes of Fan Fawr...
have been impounded between Fan Fawr and Fan Llia as Ystradfellte Reservoir
Ystradfellte Reservoir
Ystradfellte Reservoir is a water storage reservoir on the Afon Dringarth in the upland area of Fforest Fawr within the Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales. It lies just north of the village of Ystradfellte in the county of Powys at OS Grid ref SN 946178.The embankment is long by high...
. The headwaters of the northerly-flowing Afon Crai
Afon Crai
The Afon Crai is a river in Powys, Wales rising in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park and flowing north into the River Usk. The headwaters known as Blaen-crai flow north from Bwlch Bryn-rhudd, a col between the Crai valley and the upper Swansea Valley for 2km into the...
are stored in Cray Reservoir
Cray reservoir
Cray Reservoir is a storage reservoir located in the Brecon Beacons National Park for the water supply to the city of Swansea in South Wales and was built between 1898 and 1906 by Swansea Corporation....
immediately west of the A4067 Ystradgynlais to Sennybridge road.
There are numerous conifer plantations on both the northern and southern slopes of Fforest Fawr.
Fan Frynych and Craig Cerrig-gleisiad are protected as a national nature reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
which is owned and managed by the Countryside Council for Wales
Countryside Council for Wales
The Countryside Council for Wales is an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. It is the Welsh Assembly Government's wildlife conservation authority for Wales...
for its arctic-alpine
Arctic-alpine
An arctic-alpine taxon is one whose natural distribution includes the Arctic and more southerly mountain ranges, particularly the Alps. The presence of identical or similar taxa in both the tundra of the far north, and high mountain ranges much further south is testament to the similar...
flora.
Almost the entire area is open access for walkers. A major long-distance path, the Beacons Way, runs east-west through Fforest Fawr.