Return to About Rhayader
The stone bridge, constructed in 1780 and replacing an earlier wooden structure, connects the parishes of Rhayader and Cwmdauddwr.
 The Parish of Cwmdauddwr encompasses a large part of the Elan Valley where Victorian engineers created a series of spectacular dams and reservoirs as a water supply for the City of Birmingham some 70 miles away.
The surrounding hills are full of ancient burial mounds and barrows from which locals have uncovered a vast aray of artefacts. The most significant of these being in 1899 when James Marston, a local man, discovered a selection of jewellery on Gwastedyn Hill to the south of the town. The treasure trove, thought to have belonged to the Saxon Princess Rowena, is now housed in the British Museum.
(Valuable jewellery discovered by a local man at Gwastedyn in 1899. Thought once to have belonged to the Saxon Princess, Rowena, they are now housed in the British Museum.)
 Farming, in particular sheep farming, has been an important part of Rhayader's history with wool exported as far away as Flanders and Florence during the Middle Ages. The Tannery once located in the town can now be seen at the Folk Museum of Wales at St. Fagans. As a crossing place of the Wye and its extensive trading activities Rhayader became a well known market town. It continues to be an important centre for livestock sales today.
Pleasure Fairs held twice in May. A legacy of the Hiring Fairs where workers sought new Masters, were given a shilling to seal the contract and then went off to enjoy the amusements. They advertised their skills by wearing or carrying a token, such as a shepherd who would sport a wisp of sheep's wool.
During the 1170's a wooden castle was built by the Welsh Prince Rhys ap Grufrudd, to defend the first major crossing of the Wye. However, during 1231 the structure was destroyed by Llewelyn the Great.
A book written in the twelfth century refers to a magic hand bell called Bangu, which was in Glascwm Church. It is thought to have belonged to St. David the Patron Saint of Wales. The story is told that the wife of one of the prisoners in Rhayader Castle obtained the bell and sent it secretly to the Keeper of the Castle on the understanding that her husband would be released. The Keeper did not free him and refused to return the bell. One of the soldiers was told to fasten it to a wall in a room of the Castle. That night a great fire burnt everything except the wall on which the bell hung...
Today nothing remains of the castle although its site remains as it was in ancient times and provides a wonderful view overlooking the Wye.
Whilst the foundations of a new tower for St Clements Church were being dug, several skeletons were discovered laid neatly in a mass grave. One was of enormous size with a thighbone longer than a metre. It is generally agreed that these were soldiers of the garrison of Rhayader Castle who had been slain by Llewelyn the Great and that the 'giant' was the Castle Commander
The Act of Union (1536) brought together approximately 300,000 acres, 52 parishes, into the county of Radnorshire. Rhayader became the central point for The Shire Court until a visiting Judge was murdered by a gang of outlaws who attacked the town to free one of their members. From then on the main courts were no longer held in the town, however, smaller courts sat for many more years until the mid 1980's
Later on, during the late 1700's the Inns of Rhayader, who supplied fresh horses and a lavish supper, were noted to have hospitality and value which prompted travellers describe it as a most friendly and comfortable town.
 From 1843 to 1844 the Rebecca Riots descended on the tollhouses of Rhayader. Men disguised as women destroyed many of the Tollhouses which, with gates across the road, had been set up on all the main entries to the town to collect Road Taxes.
Rhayader continued to grow with the railway reaching the town in the mid 1860's. It's arrival brought sensational changes as goods no longer needed to be moved on a 'gambo' - a horse and cart. The line served the town until the 1960's when it ceased operation in the national Beeching cuts.
Within the town there are many significant buildings spanning many eras of building design. Such an example is Ye Olde Corner Shop in the centre of the town, a Grade II listed building which retains its stone roof tiles.
Water has always played an important role in the town and locals would like too think that a large stone with no inscription placed within the walls of St. Brides Church, Cwmdauddwr, commemorates an unknown fisherman of the Upper Wye! In another local churchyard, a similar one is said to have been brought from a riverbank and placed there to mark the grave of a man who had sat on it to fish for most of his life.
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Water lane was at one time called Mill Street because a gristmill and a wooden mill operated there. There are many ruins of flannel and corn mills in the district, built on streams draining steeply into the Wye to harness the force of the water to power them. Now on some of the skylines can be seen the controversial windmills which generate electricity.
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Throughout the surrounding area you will frequently notice the names of Hafod and Hendre. There meaning was once commonplace as during the bitter winters in the uplands, shepherds and their flock would move to lower sheltered pastures and dwellings named the Hendre. As summer approached they would return to the upland pastures called a Hafod.
Nearby the peace and tranquil valleys of the Elan were the destination for the poet Percy Shelley when he was sent down from Oxford University for atheism. Its pure, unpolluted waters were also the lure for the great Victorian mayor of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain. Desperate for a safe water supply, he led an ambitious scheme of magnificent engineering, along with James Mansergh, to flood the Elan and Claerwen valleys with a series of dams and pipe water 72 miles to the city of Birmingham.
In more recent times came the creation of the prominent Town Clock, located on the site of the Old Market Hall (1762), at the central crossroads of the town. Built and carved by a local stonemason, it is a War Memorial to those who died in the two World Wars.
Some of the surrounding villages have an interesting history. For instance, Abbey Cwm Hir (Abaty'r Cwm Hir) - The Abbey in the Long Valley - where in 1143 the building of an Abbey commenced which had it been completed would have been the largest in Wales and where some of the remains of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd (Llewelyn ap Gruffudd) the last of the Welsh Princes, are reputed to have been buried.
To the north lies St Harmon where the famous diarist, Reverend Francis Kilvert served the Church of St. Garmon for a time.
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