Vale of Ewyas
Encyclopedia
Ewyas
Ewyas was a possible early Welsh kingdom which may have been formed around the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century. The name was later used for a much smaller commote or administrative sub-division, which covered the area of the modern Vale of Ewyas and a larger area to...
is the steeply-sided and secluded valley
U-shaped valley
A U-shaped valley also known as a glacial trough is one formed by the process of glaciation. It has a characteristic U-shape, with steep, straight sides, and a flat bottom. Glaciated valleys are formed when a glacier travels across and down a slope, carving the valley by the action of scouring...
of the Afon Honddu
River Honddu
The River Honddu is a river in the Black Mountains within the Brecon Beacons National Park, southeast Wales.It rises within the county of Powys near the Gospel Pass at the head of the Vale of Ewyas down which it flows, passing southwards into Monmouthshire to Llanvihangel Crucorney before turning...
, in the Black Mountains
Black Mountains, Wales
The Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales, and extending across the national border into Herefordshire, England. They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are frequently...
of 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...
and within the Brecon Beacons
Brecon Beacons
The Brecon Beacons is a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of popular peaks south of Brecon, including South Wales' highest mountain, Pen y Fan, and which together form the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park...
National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
. As well as its outstanding beauty, it is known for the ruins of Llanthony Priory
Llanthony Priory
Llanthony Priory is a partly ruined former Augustinian priory in the secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep sided once glaciated valley within the Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It lies seven miles north of Abergavenny on an old road to Hay...
, and for several noteworthy churches such as those at Capel-y-ffin
Capel-y-ffin
Capel-y-ffin is a hamlet near the English-Welsh border in Powys, Wales, in the Black Mountains within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some to the north-west.-The Chapel:...
and Cwmyoy
Cwmyoy
Cwmyoy is an extensive rural parish in Monmouthshire, Wales. Alternate spellings include Cwm Iau, the name translating from the Welsh as "valley of the yoke"...
. It is sometimes referred to as the "Llanthony Valley" as Llanthony
Llanthony
Llanthony is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.- Location :Llanthony is located in the Vale of Ewyas, a deep and long valley with glacial origins within the Black Mountains, Wales, seven miles north of Abergavenny and within the eastern section of the Brecon Beacons...
is the village situated at the valley centre.
The Vale is named after the cantref of Ewias, which may have originally been a small Welsh kingdom following the Roman withdrawal from Britain and which, after the Norman conquest of England and Norman invasion of Wales
Norman invasion of Wales
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright...
, became an autonomous lordship within the March of Wales
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
. In 1536, the Vale became part of the new county of Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire (historic)
Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
, while other parts of Ewyas to the east became incorporated into Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
.
At the head of the Vale is the Gospel Pass
Gospel Pass
The Gospel Pass is a high road pass at the head of the Vale of Ewyas in the Black Mountains of southeast Wales. The narrow mountain road climbs steeply from Hay-on-Wye to a height of 538m above sea level, squeezing between the mountains of Twmpa to the west and Hay Bluff to the east, before...
, which is reputed to have been named after the time in the 12th century when the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
passed through the area preaching and fund raising. Nearby, at Capel-y-ffin
Capel-y-ffin
Capel-y-ffin is a hamlet near the English-Welsh border in Powys, Wales, in the Black Mountains within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some to the north-west.-The Chapel:...
, is an 18th century church or chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, one of the smallest in the country, and close to the former home of designer Eric Gill
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
. Further south near the valley entrance, at Cwmyoy
Cwmyoy
Cwmyoy is an extensive rural parish in Monmouthshire, Wales. Alternate spellings include Cwm Iau, the name translating from the Welsh as "valley of the yoke"...
, the church there has suffered gradual subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
over the centuries, and is best known for the disorienting tilts and twists of the building which add to its character. A few miles away, further into the Black Mountains, is Partrishow
Partrishow
Partrishow, also known as Patricio or Patrishow, is a small village in the Black Mountains of South Wales, within the Brecon Beacons National Park.-Location:...
or Patricio, which has an outstanding 11th century church.
Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin
Charles Bruce Chatwin was an English novelist and travel writer. He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel On the Black Hill...
's book 'On the Black Hill
On The Black Hill
On the Black Hill is a novel by Bruce Chatwin published in 1982 and winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for that year. In 1987 it was made into a film, directed by Andrew Grieve.- Plot summary :...
' depicts the upland livestock farming community over the past 100 years or so in the area. A locally born writer and academic Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams
Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...
may well have set to restore the balance with his two books on the People of the Black Mountains
People of the Black Mountains
People of the Black Mountains is an historical novel by Raymond Williams.This book is a work in two volumes, published in 1989 and 1990. It features a great diversity of people in a single place across the ages. Most of them are ordinary people living unprivileged lives. It is told thorough a...
, written a few years afterwards.
The Vale of Ewyas is accessed by a single track road between Llanfihangel Crucorney
Llanfihangel Crucorney
- Location :The village is located five miles north of Abergavenny and eighteen miles south of Hereford, England on the A465 road.- Amenities :Llanvihangel Crucorney is a small village with a pub, The Skirrid Mountain Inn which claims to be the oldest inn or hostelry in Wales, dating from at least...
, near Abergavenny
Abergavenny
Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
, and Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...
. The northern part of the valley, above Capel-y-Ffin, is within the county of 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...
(historically Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...
), and the southern part within Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
.
External links
- Article by journalist Simon JenkinsSimon JenkinsSir Simon David Jenkins is a British newspaper columnist and author, and since November 2008 has been chairman of the National Trust. He currently writes columns for both The Guardian and London's Evening Standard, and was previously a commentator for The Times, which he edited from 1990 to 1992...