Llansantffraed

Llansantffraed

Llansantffraed

Human settlement in Wales

For other places with the same name, see Llansanffraid.

Llansantffraed (Llansantffraed-juxta-Usk)[2] is a parish in the community of Talybont-on-Usk in Powys, Wales, near Brecon. The benefice of Llansantffraed with Llanrhystud and Llanddeiniol falls within the Diocese of St Davids in the Church in Wales.[3]

St Fraed's Church

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Church and churchyard

The church of St Ffraed is a Grade II listed building.[4] It was largely restored in 1690 and was completely rebuilt in 1885 by the architect Stephen W. Williams.[5]

The parish is the burial place of the poet Henry Vaughan (1621–1695), who was born in the hamlet of Scethrog within the parish. Vaughan's grave in the churchyard, on the slopes of a hill known as Allt yr Esgair or simply The Allt,[6] overlooks the River Usk. The poets Siegfried Sassoon, Roland Mathias, Brian Morris and Anne Cluysenaar were all inspired to write poems by their visits to the grave. Sassoon's "At the Grave of Henry Vaughan" is the best-known of these and is read every year at the graveside following the Vaughan memorial service.[7]

Another grave of note in the churchyard is a Grade II listed tomb erected for the Gwynne-Holford family, residents of nearby Buckland Hall (see below).[8] The family included James Gwynne-Holford, Conservative member of parliament for Brecon (died 1886).[9]

Vaughan's twin brother, Thomas Vaughan, became rector of Llansantffraed in about 1644.[10] He was forced to vacate the position in 1650, on grounds that included his having been on the Royalist side during the English Civil War.[11]

Other buildings

The Old Rectory, which stands close by the church to the northwest, is a Grade II listed building, with an estimated date of late 18th century. It is thought to have been built as a hunting lodge for the Buckland estate and converted into a rectory in the 19th century, but was released by the church during the 1950s. It later became a guest house.[12]

Buckland Hall

Buckland Hall, home of the Gwynne-Holfords, stands in a large park a small distance from the village. It is a Grade II listed building.[13] Its Edwardian garden is listed, also at Grade II, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[14] The park contains a tennis pavilion, graded at II*, by Henry Avray Tipping.[15]

Governance

An electoral ward with the same name exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 1,880.[16]

References

  1. [1]
    "Community population 2015". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  2. [2]
    Breconshire. CUP Archive. pp. 163–. GGKEY:QG71J8NPWLF.
  3. [3]
    "Benefice of Llansantffraed with Llanrhystud and Llanddeiniol". Church in Wales. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  4. [4]
    Cadw. "Church of St Ffraed (Grade II) (21144)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  5. [5]
    "Llanigon – Llansantffraed". Powys Local History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  6. [6]
    Edward W. Williamson (1953). Henry Vaughan.
  7. [7]
    "Henry Vaughan, Poet and Physician: Grave and heritage at Llansantffraed, Brecknockshire". Brecknock Society and Museum Friends. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  8. [8]
    "Brecknockshire Churches Survey". Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  9. [9]
    "Gwynne Holford Monument in the churchyard to SW of Church of St Ffraed, Talybont-on-Usk". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  10. [10]
    "Landscape and Literature". David Gill. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  11. [11]
    Siberry, Elizabeth; Wilcher, Robert (2016). Henry Vaughan and the Usk Valley. Logaston Press. p. 30. ISBN 9781910839027.
  12. [12]
    Cadw. "The Old Rectory, Talybont-on-Usk (Grade II) (21162)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  13. [13]
    Cadw. "Buckland Hall (Grade II) (21186)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. [14]
    Cadw. "Buckland House (PGW(Po)6(POW))". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  15. [15]
    Cadw. "The Tennis Pavilion, Buckland Hall (Grade II*) (21158)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  16. [16]
    "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
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