England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Brecon St David

The Parish

Brecon, also known as Brecknock and Aberrhonddu in Welsh, is the county town of Breconshire, it is located almost centrally within the county, on the banks of the River Usk, about 15 miles north of Merthy Tydfil in Glamorgan and 20 miles northwest of Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. Brecon sits on the former route of the A40 road which links Abergavenny with Llandovery. Brecon has a long history, it is believed to have first been founded in Roman times as a cavalry base supported their conquest of Wales, following the departure of the Romans it took until the 11th century for the town to become establish when the first church was built. Brecon's strategic site at a crossing of the Usk was noticed by the conquering Normans and in 1903 construction began on Brecon Castle to defend that crossing, much of the castle still remains today with its hall and bailey within the grounds of an hotel. By the medieval period Brecon was established as the main market town for this area, centre for trade and specialist skills and particularly important for its livestock market supporting the drove road network of western Wales. In addition to the market status it also had a thriving cloth trade, like most cottage industries the mechanisation of northern mill town effectively ended that trade. It was the modern development of canals that sparked further growth in the town, the construction of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal in 1800 allowed the easy transportation of agricultural production to the developing iron & coal fields of the industrial valleys to the south whilst allowing coal and limestone to be shipped into the town. That growth was further enhance with the arrival of the railway in the 1860s, that railway has now closed and left only traces of its infrastructure behind. Today Brecon also supports the outdoor tourism of Bannau Brycheiniog which attracts fishermen, hikers and mountain bikers aplenty to the area and creates many overnight stays in the town. The result of Brecon's history is a pleasant country market town on the northern banks of the Usk, it spreads for almost 2 miles from west to east, which has expanded northwards up the slopes of Pen y Crug with modern developments. Also included within the town's orbit is the suburb of Llanfaes, south of the Usk which holds St David's church, this linear suburb runs for over a mile parallel to the course of the Usk's tributary of Afon Tarell. The most recent modern development is the creation of the A40 southern bypass as a modern fast dual-carriageway highway speeding through traffic away from the town's streets. Brecon is drained by the Usk which heads southeast to Abergavenny before turning south to reach the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Newport Brecon Llanfaes is sited at around 130 metres above the sea but to the south the views are filled with the steep frontage of the highest mountains within southern Wales with the highes, Pen y Fan reaching an impressive 886 metres. Brecon is divided into 3 parishes, St John & St Mary cover the town whilst that of St David is a true suburb covering Llanfaes and the surrounding rural area, still largely farmed pastorally. St David covered an area of almost 2,900 acres and would have supported a population of close to 1,250 parishioners. Like most of Wales Brecon is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St David's church sits within Llanfaes on the southern side of Newgate Street. Sadly the present church is not that in which these marriages would have taken place, the medieval church, mentioned in documents of 1188, was replaced by the Victorian church on a neighbouring site. The Victorian church was completed in 1861 and consists of the standard layout of nave, chancel and western tower, the latter with a short broach spire. Despite its recent completion there has been time for work on the structure, a schoolroom was added to the southern side of the tower in 1878 and lean-to aisles were built between 1923 & 1925 to complete today's structure. Newgate Street carries quite a lot of traffic being one of the main connection with the A40 bypass, it is better to seek parking in a side-street. Views of the church are complicated by several clumps of trees meaning the better angles will require some scouting by the photographer.