Llyswen
Encyclopedia
Llyswen is a small village in Powys
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...
on the west bank of the River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
. It was formerly within the county of Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...
and now forms part of the Community
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
of Bronllys
Bronllys
Bronllys is a village in Powys, Wales between the nearby towns Brecon and Talgarth. It has recently benefitted from a new bypass as part of the Talgarth Relief Road and Bronllys Bypass scheme....
. The nearest town is 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...
approximately 8 miles (12.9 km) to the south-west.
History
'Llys-wen' is WelshWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
for "The White Court" and the settlement is first mentioned as a site of a court where the sons of Rhodri Mawr
Rhodri the Great
Rhodri the Great was King of Gwynedd from 844 until his death. He was the first Welsh ruler to be called 'Great', and the first to rule most of present-day Wales...
, ninth century King of the Britons, might arbitrate their differences. It has been suggested that the remains of a hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
above the village might be the location of this court.
Parish Church
The site of the parish churchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
may be of equal age or older. It is dedicated to St Gwendoline, one of the many saintly offspring of King Brychan
Brychan
Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog in South Wales.-Life:Celtic hagiography tells us that Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun , which the couple later inherited...
of Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it...
, who is said to have been killed by pagan Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
and buried in nearby Talgarth
Talgarth
Talgarth is a small market town and community in southern Powys , Mid Wales, with a population of 1,645. Notable buildings in the town include its 14th-century parish church and 13th century Pele Tower, located in the town centre, now home to the Tourist Information and Resource Centre...
. Unfortunately the church was destroyed and rebuilt in 1862 and only the Norman font remains. Unusually, this destruction (common in the Victorian period) drew adverse comment at the time. A contemporary editorial in Archaeologia Cambrensis said: "We are sorry to hear that this ancient edifice has been pulled down...We have no right...to remove the handiwork of our forefathers...It would be better to let the old buildings, plain or ugly as they may be, pass down unscathed to our children, who will have more respect for them than is shewn by ourselves."
Llyswen Castle
Following the Norman invasion of WalesNorman invasion of Wales
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright...
, Llyswen became subject to the Marcher Lords
Marcher Lords
A Marcher Lord was a strong and trusted noble appointed by the King of England to guard the border between England and Wales.A Marcher Lord is the English equivalent of a margrave...
and in the 12th century formed part of the lands of Walter de Clifford
Walter de Clifford
Walter I de Clifford was an Anglo-Norman marcher lord of Bronllys Castle on the Welsh border, and Clifford Castle , in Herefordshire...
. Most villages in the area were fortified with a motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
castle and a possible site for Llyswen Castle has been identified, though no supporting documentary evidence exists.
Llangoed Hall
Aberllynfi
Aberllynfi is a village in Powys, Wales close to Glasbury. The name refers to the mouth of the Afon Llynfi which enters the River Wye just east of the village...
. It was lost to the MacNamara family (apparently after a game of cards) in about 1800 and subsequently much rebuilt. A London hatter called Archibald Christy bought the house in about 1860 and later had it extensively redesigned by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC was an English-born Welsh architect known chiefly as creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales.-Origins, education and early career:...
, who formed the romantic notion that it was the site of the original 'White Court'. In 1987 the house was bought and much restored in Edwardian style by Sir Bernard Ashley, who subsequently opened it as the Llangoed Hall
Llangoed Hall
Llangoed Hall is a country house hotel, near the village of Llyswen, in Powys, Mid Wales. It is known for its decoration in Laura Ashley fabrics and styles, and was owned by the late Sir Bernard Ashley, the widower of the late designer.-History:...
Hotel and fabric design centre. It is now a grade II* listed building.
The Hermit of Llyswen
The romantic radical and poet John ThelwallJohn Thelwall
John Thelwall , was a radical British orator, writer, and elocutionist.-Life:Thelwall was born in Covent Garden, London, but was descended from a Welsh family which had its seat at Plas y Ward, Denbighshire...
built himself a "hermitage" at Llyswen Farm during his exile in Wales. His friends William
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
and Dorothy Wordsworth
Dorothy Wordsworth
Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth was an English author, poet and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close for all of their lives...
and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
visited him there in August 1798. The figure of "The Solitary" from Wordsworth's later poem 'The Excursion' may have been based on Thelwall in Llyswen.