Brecon Castle, Powys
Photo © Michael A.Linton, February 2nd 2017
Brecon Castle, Powys
Photo © Michael A.Linton, February 2nd 2017
Brecon (Welsh: Aberhonddu) is a long-established market town in southern Powys, mid Wales, with a population of roughly 8,000 with around 6,000 in the surrounding area. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre.
In Roman Britain Y Gaer, Brecon (Cicucium) was established as a Roman cavalry base for the conquest of Roman Wales and Brecon was first established as a military base.
After the Dark Ages the original Welsh name of the kingdom in whose territory Brecon stands was (in modern orthography) "Brycheiniog", which later became anglicised to Brecknockshire or Breconshire, and probably derives from the personal name of the Irish Brychan, the eponymous founder of the kingdom. The English name of Brecon town may also be derived from Brychan.
The Welsh name, Aberhonddu, means "mouth of the Honddu". It is derived from the River Honddu, which meets the River Usk near the town centre, a short distance away from the River Tarrell which enters the Usk a few hundred metres upstream.
Before the building of the bridge over the Usk, Brecon was one of the few places where the river could be forded.
The confluence of the Honddu and the River Usk made for a valuable defensive position for the Norman castle which overlooks the town, built by Bernard de Neufmarche in the late 11th century.[1]
Less than a mile from the castle stands Brecon Cathedral, a fairly modest building compared to many cathedrals. The role of Cathedral is a fairly recent one, and was bestowed upon the church in 1923 with the formation of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon from what was previously the Archdeaconry of Brecon - a part of the diocese of St David's.
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