Afon Hepste
Encyclopedia
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
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...
and wholly within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Its headwaters, the Afon y Waun, Nant y Cwrier and Nant Hepste Fechan, rise on the Old Red Sandstone
Old Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...
dip-slopes of Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr is the name given to an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the 'Great Forest of Brecknock' in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water catchment and recreation...
and combine to form the Afon Hepste near the farmstead of Hepste Fechan. It enters onto the Carboniferous Limestone
Carboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
outcrop near this point and sections of its course downstream remain dry in all but flood conditions as the flow disappears underground. The river flows over the Millstone Grit outcrop from some way beyond Hepste Bridge.
The Hepste plunges over a band of resistant gritstone to form the waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
Sgwd yr Eira (translated from Welsh
Welsh 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...
as 'fall of snow'). A public footpath runs behind this fall, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions
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...
in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. One mile downstream of the fall, the river joins the Afon Mellte near to the village of Ystradfellte
Ystradfellte
Ystradfellte is a small village in Powys, Wales, in the Fforest Fawr area of the Brecon Beacons National Park.Because of the geography and topography of the area the village of Ystradfellte is not visible from the nearest main road, the A4059 Hirwaun to A470 stretch.Ystradfellte comes under...
.