Talgarth
Talgarth | |
---|---|
River Ennig in Talgarth | |
Location within Powys | |
Population | 2,000 (2023)[1] |
OS grid reference | SO1533 |
Community |
|
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRECON |
Postcode district | LD3 |
Dialling code | 01874 |
Police | Dyfed-Powys |
Fire | Mid and West Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
Brecon and Radnorshire | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Talgarth is a
Name
The town's name derives from the Welsh words tâl (forehead or brow of a hill) and garth (mountain ridge or promontory), thus meaning "end of the ridge". It appears as Talgart in 1121, as Talgard after 1130, and in its present form in the years between 1203 and 1208.[3]
The church of Talgarth is recorded in 1488 as dedicated to Sce Wenne Virginis, explained as Gwen (granddaughter of Brychan).[4]
Culture and community
The
Talgarth was an important healthcare location for many years, as the home of the large psychiatric hospital, the
History
Roman period
A fort near Cwmdu (Pen-y-Gaer) is of significance to Talgarth, as it was the site where a 1st-century AD British chieftain, Caratacus (of the Catuvellauni tribe), fought with the Romans.[10]
The Dark Ages
Talgarth was the royal residence of Brychan, King of Brycheiniog, in the 5th century AD. With three wives, 24 daughters and 24 sons, the family was an important force in Wales and responsible for the spread of Christianity throughout the region.[11]
The Normans
Talgarth (and Brycheiniog in general) was seized by the Norman
In the reign of
The Lordship of Blaenllynfi eventually found its way back to the descendants of the last Welsh princes of Brycheiniog (in the person of Rhys ap Hywel).[13][14][15]
Rhys played a significant part in the implementation (though not the planning) of the final coup against Edward II, and consequently Edward's son, Edward III, was not well disposed towards him; he dispossessed Rhys' heir, and merged the Lordship of Blaenllynfi back into the Lordship of Brecknock (which, with the Lordship of Buellt, eventually became Brecknockshire, centuries later).[16]
The Welsh Jacobites
During the
During the Jacobite rising of 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie had expected the Welsh Jacobites to offer support, but after the Jacobite David Morgan was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason, the Welsh feared persecution. The failure of the Welsh Jacobites to join the House of Stuart prince in Derby was one of the main failures of the Jacobite uprising.[18]
The Methodist revival
In 1735, Talgarth saw the birth of the
Buildings and other sites of note
- Talgarth Town Hall (1878) with a memorial clock tower, overlooking the Square[20]
- Tower House, also overlooking the Square, now the location of the Tourist Information Centre. The present building is probably 18th century, but it may incorporate a 14th-century or later defensive tower. The tower was used as a prison or a lock-up.[21]
- The Tower Hotel was built in 1873 for gentleman farmers to attend the livestock market[22]
- St Gwendoline's Church, a Grade II* listed building[23]
- Nearby Bronllys Castle[24]
Talgarth Mill
Talgarth Mill is an 18th-century
Railway station
Talgarth was served by a station on the Mid-Wales Railway. This has since closed.[26]
Chambered tomb – Penyrwrlodd
A
The Old Post Office Museum
The former Post Office was restored in 2019.[29]
Outdoor activities
Gliding
The Black Mountains Gliding Club is based on the hillside to the southeast of the town. It operates year-round using mountain lift, ridge lift and wave lift mechanisms.[30]
Pony trekking
Talgarth's position next to the Black Mountains meant that it was once a popular location for pony trekking, with the sights of horses tied up outside local pubs well into the 1990s. There remain a number of riding operators in the area who hire out horses for both experienced and novice riders.[31]
Walking
The
Landscape and natural history
Geology
The bedrock geology beneath Talgarth and its immediate neighbourhood consists of
Within the Raglan Mudstone, and exposed in certain watercourses, is a distinctive rock layer known as the Townsend Tuff Bed, a
Pwll-y-Wrach
The Pwll-y-Wrach woodland stretches along both banks of the
There are a series of waterfalls within the wood, of which the largest is Pwll-y-Wrach, formed by a cap of the Chapel Point Limestone overlying 10 m (33 ft) of siltstones. The name means 'witch's pool'.[37]
Governance
Talgarth Town Council has twelve councillors representing the views of the community.[38]
The Talgarth ward elects a county councillor to
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | William Denston Powell * | 520 | 82.9% | ||
Labour | Ryan Dixon | 95 | 15.2% | ||
Turnout | 627 |
Notable people
- Edward Edwards (ca.1726 – 1783), scholar and clergyman
- Jane Cave (ca.1754 – 1812), poet, known for her poetry on religious subjects and on her headaches
- Llewela Davies (1871–1952), pianist and composer who toured with Dame Nellie Melba
- Geoff Lewis(born 1935), jockey
In media
Filming
A number of films and dramas have been filmed in and around Talgarth, notably On the Black Hill. Others include Morgan's Boy, Nuts and Bolts (filmed at the old hospital), and Hearts of Gold (where the town was assumed to be Pontypridd).[42]
Books
Talgarth features as a location in Alfred Walter Stewart's 1931 novel The Boathouse Riddle, written under the pen name J. J. Connington.[43]
Town twinning
Talgarth is twinned with Pizzoferrato, Italy.[44]
Notes
- ^ Bernard of Neufmarché's charter, due to poor 17th century publishing practice (the charter was included in the 1655 publication Monastican Anglicanum by Roger Dodsworth, amalgamated with another of Bernard's charters, the latter being dated 1088) and a Victorian marginal note (the charter re-appears with an added marginal gloss AD 1088 in the 1867 work Historia et cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriae by William Hart) is now dated by some people to 1088.
References
- ^ "Talgarth - Town in Brecon, Brecon - Visit Mid Wales".
- ^ Office for National Statistics
- ^ "Historic Settlement Survey – Brecon Beacons National Park" (PDF). Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust.
- ^ "St Gwendoline". National Churches Trust. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Talgarth's Eighth Walking Festival | talgarth". www.talgarthwalkingfestival.org.
- ^ "Your Town Your Future - Talgarth Planning Brief" (PDF). Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. December 2008.
- ^ "A479 Talgarth relief road and A438 Bronllys bypass, Powys". www.transportxtra.com. 31 March 2006.
- ^ "Evans, Jones & Ricketts Restoration, Talgarth | Ghostsigns". 15 June 2018.
- ^ "Our Watermill". talgarthmill.com.
- doi:10.1080/00681288.1878.11887910. Retrieved 11 June 2022.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Brychan Brycheiniog, King of Brycheiniog". Early English Kingdoms. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Historic Landscape Characterisation: The Middle Wye: Ffostyll Gwernyfed and Talgarth, Powys". Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 7, Edward III, File 14, entry 177
- ^ Brecknock in S.Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, London, 1849, online version
- ^ John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, 1833-37, Volume 3, entry for Price, of Castle Madog
- ^ "Brecknockshire, Wales - History and Description, 1868". The National Gazetteer. GENUKI. 1868. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
- ISBN 978-1908192448.
- ^ Jenkins, Philip (2002). The Making of a Ruling Class: The Glamorgan Gentry 1640-1790. Cambridge UP. p. 174.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 10 December 2015
- ISBN 0140710515.
- ^ "Talgarth Tower House;tower House, Talgarth (16250)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Tower Hotel, Talgarth". History Points. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Watermill". Talgarth Mill. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- OCLC 612226077.
- ^ "Penywyrlod Long Cairn;pen-y-wrlod (92191)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Bone flute made by Wales' first farmers, c. 6,000 years ago". Item reference: 74.23H/6. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Talgarth gliding club:: OS grid SO1732 – Geograph British Isles – photograph every grid square!
- ^ "Horse riding in the Brecon Beacons". Brecon Cottages. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Talgarth: solid and drift geology". Maps Portal. British Geological Survey. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ISBN 0852724586.
- ^ Hawley, Duncan; Owen, Geraint. "Old Red Sandstone of the Black Mountains" (PDF). Geologists' Association - South Wales Group. South Wales Geologists' Association. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "Pwll-y-Wrach" (PDF). Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ISBN 9780007367696.
- ISBN 0863815677.
- ^ "Town Councillors 2016 - 2017". Talgarth Town Council. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ "Powys 1995-2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ "Wales elections - Mid and West Wales". Vote 2011. BBC News. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "County Council Elections 2017 - Brecknockshire". Powys County Council. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ "Hearts of Gold". BBC. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ISBN 978-0786490899.
- ^ "TALGARTH TOWN TWINNING ASSOCIATION - FYI Talgarth".
Bibliography
- Morgan, Richard (1999). A study of Breconshire Place Names. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 0-86381-567-7.
- Remfry, Paul (2007). Castell Bwlch y Dinas and the families of Neufmarché, Hereford, Braose, Fitz Herbert, Mortimer and Talbot. SCS. ISBN 978-1-899376-79-7.
- Salter, Mike (2001). The Castles of Mid Wales. Folly Publications. ISBN 1-871731-48-8.
- Williams, Roger (1996). Talgarth-Jewel of the Black Mountains. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1-874538-60-3.