Llanwrtyd Wells
Llanwrtyd Wells is a town on the River Irfon in Powys, Wales. Historically it was part of Brecknockshire. With a population of 850, it is the smallest town in Wales.
In Welsh it is simply known as Llanwrtyd, said to refer to the church (llan) of an otherwise unknown St Gwrtud or Gwrtyd. However the name first appears in 1543, as Llanworted, long after the church was founded.[1] It has also been suggested to originate from "Llan-wrth-y-rhyd" meaning "the church by the ford".[2]
Llanwrtyd was a parish.[3] The church is located at an isolated location some 5km away from the town, and is said to have been founded by St David in the 6th century. The current building is mainly from the 14th/16th century.[1]
The site of the town itself was originally a tiny hamlet called Port-rhyd-y-Fferau, meaning "the bridge of the ankle deep ford".[4] Llanwrtyd Wells grew in the 19th century as a spa town, hence the addition of "Wells" to the name. In 1897 the church of St James was built in the town.
In 1986 the two communities of Llanddewi Abergwesyn and Llanfihangel Abergwesyn were abolished.[5] They are now part of Llanwrtyd Wells community.
Since 1980 the 21-mile Man v Horse marathon been held annually in the town.
The World Bog Snorkelling Championship is held at the Waen Rhydd peat bog near Llanwrtyd Wells every August Bank Holiday. It was first held in 1988.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://heneb.org.uk/archive/cpat/ycom/breck/llanwrtyd.pdf
- ↑ https://iainohannaidh.wordpress.com/2017/01/05/place-names-in-wales-thomas-morgan-1912/
- ↑ https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/BRE/Llanwrtyd
- ↑ https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/wales/archive/bbc-mid-wales-llanwrtyd-wells-history-gordon-green.pdf
- ↑ https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/builth.html