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

The Parish

The parish of Garthbrengy lies in central Breconshire about 2 1/2 miles north of the county town of Brecon. Garthbrengy is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet and a scatter of farms and cottages with no defined village. Garthbrengy sits about a mile east of the B4520 road which links Brecon with Builth Wells. The countryside around the parish is upland sheep pasture with extensive fields surrounding the church and steep slopes dropping westwards into the valley of the Afon Honddu, at least 10% of the parish was described in early gazetteers as "waste", a term often used to describe rough grazing moorland. The Afon Honddu drains the parish southwards the short distance to join the Usk west of Brecon thence to the Bristol Channel through the Monmouthshire port of Newport. Garthbrengy is sited at around 190 metres above the sea at the church with rough moorland rising still higher to top out at 370 metres on nearby Twyn y Gaer. Whilst an upland parish Garthbrengy was not particularly extensive, covering close to 2,000 acres it would have supported a population of little more than 150 parishioners. Like most of Wales garthbrengy is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St David's church sits almost at the top of the steep slopes leading down to the Afon Honddu accompanied by a farm at a crossroads of lanes and with fine views across the valley and down to Brecon. Whilst the church had its origins in the 15th century the traces that remain, a walled in northern arcade, are few as there has been extensive restoration since then. A major restoration of 1834 saw the almost complete rebuild of nave & chancel leaving only the western tower (17th century) additionally from earlier times. Further restorations of 1874 & 1901 result in today's building. At the crossroads sits a triangular green with wide verges suitable for parking, the church sits within a thickly hedged site with quite a few trees shading the path that leads to the church, the close gathering of trees does somewhat limit the angles available to photography.