Bronllys

Bronllys
Bronllys Church Tower and graveyard
Detached Tower of St Mary's Church, Bronllys
Bronllys
Bronllys shown within Powys
Area 12.2 km2 (4.7 sq mi) [1]
Population 853 (2011)[2]
• Density 70/km2 (180/sq mi)
OS grid reference SO144350
• Cardiff 58 km (36 mi) South
• London 223 km (139 mi) East
Community
  • Bronllys
Principal area
Ceremonial county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Police Dyfed-Powys
Fire Mid and West Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales

Bronllys is a village and community in Powys, Wales between the nearby towns Brecon and Talgarth. Bronllys is also the name of an electoral ward to Powys County Council.

Description

The village is in the historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire). It has recently benefited from a new bypass as part of the Talgarth Relief Road and Bronllys Bypass scheme.

Despite being a small village it has a swimming pool and small leisure centre, post office and hospital.

The castle

Bronllys Castle motte and tower

Bronllys castle is a motte and bailey fortress standing south of the village, towards Talgarth. The castle was founded in or soon after 1144 when the district was granted to Walter de Clifford (died 1190) by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford. Walter seems to have been responsible for building the round tower on the motte for in 1165 it caught fire and a stone tumbling from the battlements killed Earl Roger's last surviving brother Mahel de Hereford. In September 1233 Walter's grandson, Walter de Clifford (died 1263), had a force of over 200 men here defending the castle against his father-in-law Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. The castle passed from the Cliffords to the Giffards and eventually the de Bohun Earls of Hereford.

North view of the castle in 1740

In 1399 Henry IV took possession of all de Bohun property. The castle was additionally fortified against Owain Glyndŵr during the early years of his rebellion in the early 15th century. Bronllys Castle was never again occupied and by 1583 had fallen into disrepair. A short spell in the possession of the Duke of Buckingham did nothing to improve its state, and in 1521 was once again crown property, where it has remained ever since.[3] It is now in the care of Cadw, the arm of the Welsh Assembly charged with care of historic monuments and is open to the public between April and October.[4]

Bedo Brwynllys

The minor Welsh bard Bedo Brwynllys lived in Bronllys in the 15th century. His poetry is characteristic of a follower or imitator of Dafydd ap Gwilym and is mainly love poetry or religious poetry and some eulogistic poems such as his elegy for Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook, written in 1469.

Governance

An electoral ward in the samed name exists. This ward includes Erwood and at the 2011 Census had a total population of 1,282.[5] The ward elects a county councillor to Powys County Council.

See also

References

  1. ↑ neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Bronllys Community
  2. ↑ "Community population 2011". Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Hull, Lise. "Bronllys Castle". The Castles of Wales. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Bronllys Castle". Cadw. Welsh Government.
  5. ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  • Remfry, P.M., The Castles of Breconshire [Logaston, 1999]
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