England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llananno St Anno

The Parish

The parish of Llananno lies in northern Radnorshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Montgomeryshire. Llananno is located about 7 miles north of the spa of Builth Wells and sits on the A483 road which connects Builth Wells with Newtown in Montgomeryshire. There is not much to Llananno, no village as such, merely a scatter of farms and cottages along the valley of the Ithon. This is an upland parish with about 40% of the parish being described in gazetteers as "waste"; nowadays these moors and hill-pastures are the homes of myriad sheep whereas the valley bottom has some cultivation and cattle pastures. The Ithon heads south to join the Wye just south of Newbridge on Wye and thence the Bristol Channel. Llananno is sited at around 280 metres above the sea but land rises from the valley of the Ithon to local heights at 528 metres on Gors Lydan, the area is important for hill-walking with the Welsh trail Glyndwr's Way passing just west of Llananno. By the standards of upland Wales Llananno parish was relatively small, it covered about 5,200 acres and would have supported a population of just over 300 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llananno is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Anno's church sits on the western side of the A483 as it leaves Llananno and heads for Llanbister. The church is largely out of sight as its sits below the level of the road but a parking bay sits just to its north allowing visits. The mediaeval building was almost completely rebuilt in the 1870s in the pseudo-Perpendicular style. The fabric is of that date and merits little comment from Pevsner. However, the unique feature of St Anno is the mediaeval screen which was not only preserved but successfully restored. This dates from the 15th or 16th centuries and is worth a visit in its own right. A path descends to the churchyard from the parking bay to a site that is only constricted to the east by the tree-filled embankment of the A483 otherwise there are few photographic restrictions.