Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire, also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974. It was created in 1536 under the Laws in Wales Act 1535, and from 1889 it was an administrative county with a county council; the administrative county was abolished in 1974. The county was named after the medieval Welsh territory of Brycheiniog, which was anglicised to Brecknock and also gave its name to the county town of Brecon. The former county's area is mountainous and primarily rural.
Geography
Brecknockshire was bounded to the north by Radnorshire, to the east by Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, to the south by Monmouthshire and Glamorgan, and to the west by Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire.The county is predominantly rural and mountainous. The Black Mountains occupy the southeast of the area, the Brecon Beacons the central region, Fforest Fawr the southwest and Mynydd Epynt the north. Its highest point is Pen y Fan, 2907 ft. The River Wye traces nearly the whole of the northern boundary, and the Usk flows in an easterly direction through the central valley. The main towns are Brecon, Beaufort, Brynmawr, Builth Wells, Crickhowell, Hay-on-Wye, Llanelly, Llanwrtyd Wells, Rassau, Talgarth, Vaynor and Ystradgynlais.
History
The county of Brecknock was created in 1536 under the Laws in Wales Act 1535, which formally incorporated Wales into the Kingdom of England and extended English models of government, including counties, across all of Wales. Previously the Brecknockshire area had been subdivided into various smaller marcher lordships and other territories. The largest of these were the Lordship of Brecknock, which had its roots in the medieval Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog, and the cantref of Buellt.Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. This kingdom covered the area which later became the southern part of Brecknockshire. The county's Welsh name is derived from the kingdom's name.The exact origins of Brycheiniog are unclear but the name is thought to derive from Brychan mac Anlach, the 5th century ruler of the area. The lands of his kingdom supposedly formed a dowry from his father-in-law Tewdrig ap Teithfallt. Over the succeeding centuries many dynasties ruled the kingdom, alliances were made and broken, victories won and defeats suffered, but the kingdom maintained its integrity and identity up to Norman times.
Cantref of Buellt
Buellt or Builth was a cantref in medieval Wales, located west of the River Wye. Unlike most cantrefs, it was not part of any of the major Welsh kingdoms for most of its history, but was instead ruled by an autonomous local dynasty. During the Norman invasion of Wales, the Marcher Lord Philip de Braose conquered Buellt around 1095. The area then changed hands between multiple Norman and Welsh figures. In November 1282, Edward I overran Buellt as part of his final conquest of Wales and the cantref became a crown possession.Lordship of Brecknock
was a minor Norman lord who rose to power in the Welsh Marches before successfully undertaking the invasion and conquest of the Kingdom of Brycheiniog between 1088 and 1095. Bernard established a Marcher Lordship in its place – the Lordship of Brecknock.The lordship was ruled by numerous families over the next 400 years. By the early Tudor period, it was ruled by the Earls of Buckingham. When Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was executed for treason, having been suspected of plotting against King Henry VIII, the Lordship was forfeited to the crown. Henry VIII combined it with the cantref of Buellt.
By his Laws in Wales Acts, Henry converted the combined territory - the Lordships of Brecknock and Buellt - into Brecknockshire, subject to standard English law.
Creation of county
The Laws in Wales Act 1535 created the County of Brecknock by combining a number of "lordships, towns, parishes, commotes and cantreds" in the "Country or Dominion of Wales". The areas combined were:"Brekenoke", "Crekehowell" "Tretowre", "Penkelly", "Englisshe Talgarth", "Welsshe Talgarth", "Dynas", "The Haye", "Glynebogh", "Broynlles", "Cantercely", "Llando Blaynllynby", "Estrodewe", "Buelthe", and "Llangors". The town of Brecknock or Brecon was declared the county town.
The county was divided into six hundreds in 1542: Builth, Crickhowell, Devynnock, Merthyr, Penkelly, and Talgarth. Brecknock was the only borough in the county. Other market towns were Builth, Crickhowell and Hay-on-Wye. Under the terms of the 1535 legislation one member of parliament was returned for the borough and one for the county.
Breconshire County Council
Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions which had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The 1888 act also directed that urban sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries should be placed wholly in the county which had the majority of the population. Along Brecknockshire's southern border with Monmouthshire, there were four such urban sanitary districts which straddled the county boundary: Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale, Rhymney, and Tredegar. Brynmawr was placed entirely in Brecknockshire, whilst Ebbw Vale, Rhymney and Tredegar were placed entirely in Monmouthshire. Brecknockshire therefore gained the southern parts of Brynmawr, but ceded to Monmouthshire the Llechryd area, the Dukestown area and the Beaufort and Rassau areas.The county council held its meetings at Brecon Shire Hall, the county's main courthouse, which had been built in 1842 and was also the meeting place of the quarter sessions. The county council's main offices were at Watton Mount, a large house directly opposite the shire hall, until 1962 when New County Hall was built immediately behind the shire hall. Following the local government reorganisation in 1974, the New County Hall became an area office for Powys County Council and also served as offices for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority for some years, but was demolished in 2016.
The 1535 act which created the county had called it the "County or Shire of Brecknock", and also used the spelling Brecknock for the town. The spelling of the town's name was subsequently standardised to 'Brecon' instead, and there was occasional debate about the correct name of the county. In 1884, the county's magistrates at the quarter sessions decided that 'Brecknock' was the correct form, having been used in the statute creating the county. Conversely, the county council created in 1889 decided by 21 votes to 16 to adopt the name 'Breconshire County Council' rather than 'Council of the County of Brecknock'. Efforts to get the two bodies to agree on a standard form of the name failed. The quarter sessions maintained that they had no authority to go against the form used in statute, whilst the county council went so far as to have erratum slips inserted in books of statistics advising readers that "the words 'Brecknock' and 'Brecknockshire' be throughout read as if the words 'Brecon' and 'Breconshire' had been printed in lieu thereof."
Under the Public Health Act 1848 and the Local Government Act 1858 a number of towns were created local board districts or local government districts respectively, with local boards to govern their areas. In 1875 these, along with the Borough of Brecknock, became urban sanitary districts. At the same time the remainder of the county was divided into rural sanitary districts, some of which crossed county boundaries. The Local Government Act 1894 redesignated these as urban and rural districts. Two civil parishes were administered by rural district councils in neighbouring counties until 1934.
| Sanitary district 1875 - 1894 | County district 1894 - 1974 |
| Brecknock municipal borough | Brecknock municipal borough |
| Brecknock RSD | Brecknock RD |
| Brynmawr LBD | Brynmawr UD |
| Builth RSD | Builth RD |
| Builth RSD | 1907: Llanwrtyd UD |
| Builth LGD | Builth UD, renamed Builth Wells UD 1898. |
| Crickhowell RSD | Crickhowell RD |
| Hay LGD | Hay UD |
| Hay RSD | Hay RD |
| Merthyr Tydfil RSD | Vaynor and Penderyn RD |
| Neath RSD | Ystradvellte CP Transferred to Vaynor and Penderyn RD 1934. |
| Pontardawe RSD | Ystradgynlais RD |
| Rhayader RSD | Llanwrthwl CP Transferred to Builth RD 1934. |
Abolition
The administrative county of Brecknock was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. The bulk of its area passed to the new county of Powys, where it became the Brecknock District, one of three districts. Along Brecknockshire's southern boundary there were four communities that did not become part of Powys under the 1974 reforms: Penderyn went to the Cynon Valley district of Mid Glamorgan, Vaynor went to Merthyr Tydfil district of Mid Glamorgan, and Brynmawr and Llanelly both went to Blaenau Gwent.In 1996 a further reorganisation of local government took place in Wales, and Powys became a unitary authority. Powys County Council established a Brecknockshire "shire committee" consisting of councillors elected for electoral divisions within the former Borough of Brecknock. According to the 2001 census the area covered by the shire committee had a population of 42,075. The county council abolished its shire committees in 2018.
Culture and community
The Brecknockshire Agricultural Society, established in 1755, is the oldest continuous such society in Great Britain. The society organises the Brecon County Show, held annually on the 1st Saturday in August at The Showground, Watton, Brecon.Brecknock Young Farmers has 13 clubs throughout the county. It is affiliated to the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs.
Brecknock Society and Museum Friends, found in 1928, is a historical society that promotes "the study and understanding of the Archaeology, History, Geology, Natural History, the Arts and Literature of Wales, especially the historic county of Brecknock." The organization has published the historical journal Brycheiniog since 1955. It is closely associated with funding and running the Y Gaer.
The Brecon Jazz Festival has been held annually since 1984. Normally staged in early August, it has played host to a range of jazz musicians from across the world. A Brecon Fringe Festival organises alternative free music in pubs, hotels, galleries and cafes in the town.
Hay-on-Wye is a destination for bibliophiles in the United Kingdom, with two dozen bookshops, many selling specialist and second-hand books. Richard Booth opened his first shop there in 1962, and by the 1970s Hay had gained the nickname "The Town of Books".
The Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts is a major event in the British cultural calendar. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival runs for ten days from May to June. It was described by Bill Clinton in 2001 as "The Woodstock of the mind".