England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llansantffraed St Bride

The Parish

The parish of Llansantffraed lies in the southern portion of central Breconshire roughly 6 miles southeast of the county town of Brecon. Llansantffraed sits on the A40 road which follows the valley of the River Usk (Afon Wysg) linking Brecon with Crcikhowell. Llansantffraed, itself, is a mere hamlet consisting of the church and a cottage or two with Scethrog about a mile and a half northwest and Pennorth, a further half mile north being the main centres of population within the parish. Otherwise the parish consists of the eastern half of the Usk Valley and attendant hills to the east of the same. Strangely for such a western and hilly parish early gazetteers estimate that 75% of the parish acreage was set to arable, given the hilly terrain of the eastern portion that is a remarkable percentage and a tribute to the shelter provided by the Usk's valley. Modern developments graze the parish edges, the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal allowing narrow boats up to Brecon and avoiding the shallows of the Usk. The Usk drains the parish southeastwards, passing Abergavenny then turning south to reach the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Newport. Llansantffraed's church stands at around 130 metres above the sea but is backed by the ramparts of Allt yr Esgair which tops out just shy of 390 metres and looms above the valley, to the west rises the mountains of Bannau Brycheiniog where heights in excess of 700 metres lie just a few miles away. Llansantffraed parish is a thin strip of land orientated from northwest to southeast, it covered close to 2,000 acres and would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llansantffraed is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Brides' church sits squeezed between road and hill accessed from a convenient lay-by sitting opposite to the turn from the A40 towards Talybont-on-Usk. The church is largely a rebuild of 1885 so not the church that hosted these marriages, that church was also a rebuild but of 1690, had twin aisles and a cupola at its western end. Today's church makes excellent use of the steeply sloping site by heading upwards, its needle-thin octagonal turret its outstanding feature squeezed into the angle with the organ chamber. The main body of nave and chancel is otherwise only augmented by a northern chapel dedicated to the local Buckland family. Of the original medieval only the reset west window in a Geometric style and an also reset stoup in the porch survive. The lay-by makes a welcome parking spot alongside the speedy A40 and a helpful sloping pathway rises into the churchyard, there are a  few trees around and all is compact requiring some creativity from the photographer to find the most useful aspects.