Llanbrynmair

infobox UK place
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static_image_caption =
country = Wales
welsh_name=
constituency_welsh_assembly=
latitude= 52.59370
longitude= -3.649
official_name= Llanbrynmair
population= 958
unitary_wales= Powys
lieutenancy_wales= Powys
constituency_westminster= Montgomeryshire
post_town= Llanbrynmair
postcode_district = SY19
postcode_area= SY
dial_code= 01650
os_grid_reference= SH891027
OldMapsYear=
OldMapsEasting=
OldMapsNorthing=
OldMapsCounty=

Llanbrynmair ( _en. St. Mary's on the Hill, Audio|Llanbrynmair.ogg|Welsh pronunciation) is a village and community in Powys, Mid Wales on the A470 road between Caersws and Machynlleth. Llanbrynmair, in area, is the second largest in Powys. In 2005, it had a population of 958.

Description

, where there is the small parish church of St Mary. The current centre (formerly called "Wynnstay"), at the junction of the A470 with the B4518 road south to Llanidloes, rose to local prominence with the building of the new turnpike road in 1821 and the arrival of the railway in 1861.

Geographically, the community includes the valleys of three rivers - Afon Twymyn, Afon Iaen and Afon Rhiw Saeson - and the surrounding uplands. The three rivers join around the main village and flow westwards as the Afon Twymyn towards the Afon Dyfi and Cardigan Bay.

The Cambrian railway line, built in the 1860s, runs through Llanbrynmair, but the village station closed in 1965 as part of the "Beeching closures". There was a level crossing next to the station but, following the accidental death of an American visitor in October 1999 and its description as a "blackspot" [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Rail safety review after death
work =
publisher = BBC
date = 6 May, 2000
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/738797.stm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-11 ] , the crossing was closed and the road diverted.

The area is predominantly Welsh-speaking and reliant upon livestock farming. It was fortunate to escape the foot and mouth disease outbreak in Britain in 2001.

A bilingual book was published in 2005 reviewing the history of the parish of Llanbrynmair in the twentieth century compiled by the Llanbrynmair Local History Society. (ISBN 978-0955068409).

History

Much of the area was part of the large Wynnstay Estate owned for generations by the families of Sir Watcyn Williams Wynne. The connection is noted in the "Wynnstay Arms", a prominent local public house.

The parish of Llanbrynmair played prominent roles in both the "Nonconformist Revolution" of the late 18th Century and the emigration to America during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This cultural revolution was the movement of Welsh religious independents to break from the established Church of England. The parish is reputed to have been the source of the most emigrants to America of any in Wales. The first of them departed Llanbrynmair in 1796. A large proportion of these emigrants settled in western Ohio, particularly in the rural farming communities of Paddy's Run (now Shandon), Gomer and Venedocia.

Notable people and former residents

* Eirug Wyn (11 December, 1950 - April 27, 2004), satirical novelist.
* Richard Davies (Mynyddog) (1833 - July 14 1877), poet.
* Abraham Rees (1743 - June 9 1825), compiler of "Rees's Cyclopaedia.

References

External links

* [http://community-councils.powys.org.uk/llanbrynmair/ Llanbrynmair Community Council]
* [http://www.llanbrynmair.com Llanbrynamir Community Site]
* [http://www.gtj.org.uk/cy/blowup1/24193 Teachers Llanbrynmair School 1898]