Melincourt Falls
Encyclopedia
River Neath
River Neath is a river in south Wales running south west from its source in the Brecon Beacons National Park to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay.Several minor rivers rise on the southern slopes of Fforest Fawr...
, located 1 miles (1.6 km) south of Resolven
Resolven
Resolven is a small village in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the heart of the Vale of Neath.- Location :The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, next to the A465 Heads of Valleys Road, and is the main settlement in the community of Resolven...
in the county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
of Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
, south 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...
. It is formed where the brook plunges over a resistant band of 'Lower Pennant Sandstone' in a 13 acre / 5 hectare nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.
The falls have been drawing visitors for at least two centuries - they are certainly known to have inspired J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
to paint them in 1794. The falls are considered by some to constitute a part of Waterfall Country
Waterfall Country (Wales)
Waterfall Country is the name given to an area around the head of the Vale of Neath in South Wales where an unusually large number of spectacular and publicly accessible falls are to be found...
though the bulk of these falls are a few miles further northeast at the head of the Vale of Neath.
Visitor facilities
It can be accessed by the public footpath from the B4434 Resolven to Tonna Road, 1 miles (1.6 km) south of ResolvenResolven
Resolven is a small village in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the heart of the Vale of Neath.- Location :The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, next to the A465 Heads of Valleys Road, and is the main settlement in the community of Resolven...
. The entrance to the path is on the opposite side of the road from the public car park. The falls (otherwise known as Melincwrt Falls), can also be viewed from above where a minor public road bridges the brook immediately upstream of the drop.