England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanbedr Ystrad Yw St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Llanbedr Ystrad Yw lies in the extreme east of Breconshire forming a short stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Monmouthshire with Herefordshire, and therefore England, also not too far away. The suffix Ystrad Yw referes to the former regional name prior to the hundred being based upon nearby Crickhowell. Llanbedr Ystrad Yw sits about 2 miles northeast of that small market town and touristic centre and a similar distance from its closest numbered road the A40 linking Abergavenny and Brecon. Llanbedr Ystrad Yw is a small and compact village sitting on the valley-side of one of the River Usk's tributaries, the Grwyne Fechan. Whilst the village may be small the wider parish is extensive, as are so many in this area, encompassing the broad uplands of Bannau Brycheiniog, or the Brecon Beacons National Park. The strikingly diverse topography gave the parish a wide farming portfolio ranging from extremely harsh sheep-moors to sheltered valley pastures with even a little arable too. Today the area is a mixture of those traditional farming methods and tourism based businesses, hiking, mountain biking and fishing are all popular activities bringing folk to the area, the challenging local trail of the Beacon's Way passes just north of the village. The Grwyne Fechan drains the parish southwards soon meeting the Usk which continues southeast and then south to reach the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Newport. At 170 metres above the sea Llanbedr Ystrad Yw is already in an upland position but the hills rise abruptly to its north with Crug Hywel at 451 metres being only a mile to the west and that ridge continuing uphill to the 811 metre summit of Waun Fach topping the Black Mountain. Llanbedr Ystrad Yw parish is estimated to have covered almost 10,000 acres and supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. Like most of Wales it is not included in Domesday Book which has no coverage in this area.

The Church

St Peter's church sits at the main junction of the village alongside the white-washed inn of the Red Lion at the top of Maes Fynnon. Whilst dovuemntary evidence records a church consecrated at this site as early as 1060 nothing remains of that early church which it was likely to have been largely of timber, The present church is, however, a good example of a late 14th or early 15th century Perpendicular church, the traditional design of nave and chancel is augmented with a southern aisle and porch and topped off with a two-stage and battlemented western tower. All of these features are largely contemporaneous and indicative of an almost complete single act of building. Between the late-medieval and Victorian times the only significant change appears to be the replacement of the porch's inner door which carries a date of 1716. The restorers of the Victorian age were next on the scene, however, with 2 phases of restoration in 1868 and 1896 albeit Pevsner's account lacks details of the actions. Parking is frequently available immediately to either side of the entrance gates and for the photographer all southern aspects are readily available as the closest trees hug the northern faces.