CRICKHOWEL (CROG-HYWEL), a market town and parish, in the hundred of CRICKHOWEL, county of BRECKNOCK, SOUTH WALES, on the
high road from London to Milford Haven, 13 miles (S. E.) from Brecknock, and 153 (W. by N.) from London, containing 1061
inhabitants. This place derives its name from an ancient British fortress, called Crag Hywel, situated at the distance of
about two miles to the north-north-east of it, and formerly of great strength and importance. In the reign of William II.,
Bernard de Newmarch, having wrested the province of Brycheiniog (now Brecknock) from Bleddyn, son of Maenyrch, the native
sovereign, divided it among the Norman knights who were associated with him in the expedition, of whom Sir Humphrey de
Bourghil received a grant of the manor of Crickhowel, td be holden by the service of one knight's fee, as of the paramount
lordship of Blaenllyvni and Dinas, which Bernard retained for him-Self. The manor continued in the possession of this
family for some generations, and afterwards passed to the Turbervilles, descended from Sir Payne de Turberville, to whom
Robert Fitz-Hamon had granted the lordship of Coyty, in Glamorganshire. In 1172, the castle of Crickhowel was stormed and
its garrison made prisoners by Sitsyllt ab Ririd, a chieftain of Monmouthshire. Sir Edmund Turberville is mentioned as
lord of Crick-bowel in the latter part of the reign of Richard I., and in that of King John, whom he is stated to have
served in the wars in France. His grandson, Hugh de Turberville, adhered to Henry III., in opposition to the disaffected
barons. In the reign of Edward I., Sir Hugh, assisted by Sir Grimbald de Pauncefote and Sir Roger de Bredwardine, raised
troops in Wales for the king's service: to the former of these knights Sir Hugh gave his daughter Sybil, with his
Brecknock estates, in marriage, and to the latter he assigned the mesne manor of Gwernvale, and other estates in
Crickhowel. Sir Grim-bald, in the fourth year of that reign, obtained from the king the grant of a weekly market and an
annual fair on the 12th of May, to be held at this town, which was confirmed by Henry VI. to his descendant., Sir John de
Pauncefote, with the additional privilege of free warren within the manor. Henry IV., in 1403, during the insurrectionary
proceedings of Owain Glyndwr, issued especial orders to Sir John to fortify and defend his castle here against the
threatened attack of that daring chieftain, by whom it was ultimately demolished, with many others in this part of the
country. In the war between the houses of York and Lancaster, the Pauncefotes were staunch supporters of the latter, and
suffered greatly for their adherence to the cause. Hugh de Pauncefote, in the 23rd of Henry VI., settled upon that monarch
and his heirs, by indenture, the reversion of this manor, in failure of issue of his own family; which ensuing, the name
henceforward ceases to occur in connexion with this place. From a document among the patent rolls in the Tower, it appears
that the barony of Blaenllyvni and Dinas, of which this manor was held by tenure of knight's service, was in the
possession, jure uxoria, of Richard Duke of York, who had espoused Anne, sister of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, in
whose family it had for some time been vested. Edward IV., grandson of Duke Richard, and the lawful inheritor of the
estate, soon after his accession to the throne, granted the manors of Crickhowel and Tretower to his friend and favourite,
Sir William Herbert, of Raglan Castle, Knt., whom he ;fterwards created Earl of Pembroke, which title, at the request of
the king, was given up, in exchange for the earldom of Huntingdon, by Sir William's son and successor, whose only daughter
and heiress, the Lady Elizabeth Herbert, conveyed these estates by marriage to Sir Charles Somerset, Knt., afterwards
created Earl of Worcester, from whom, by lineal descent, they have been transmitted to their present noble owner, the Duke
of Beaufort. The town is beautifully situated on the north-eastern bank of the Usk, upon a declivity sloping gently to the
river, over which is a bridge of thirteen arches, of various dimensions, built of dark-coloured stone, and partially
mantled with ivy, the whole being remarkably picturesque in appearance. It is irregularly built, but is inhabited by
numerous respectable families, and is greatly resorted to, during the season, by anglers, for trout-fishing in the river
Usk, which also abounds with salmon. The environs, within a narrow compass, are strikingly picturesque, presenting a
highly pleasing and luxuriant prospect of a richly cultivated vale, watered by the Usk, and, together with the sloping
grounds, adorned with numerous elegant seats, genteel residences, farmhouses, and cottages. The line of the horizon is
rendered beautifully irregular by the picturesque forms of the surrounding mountains; the vast Breannog, rising suddenly
on the northern side of the vale, shelters it from the cold winds, and on the south the bold escarpment of the Darren,
overlooking the little village of Llangattock, forms an agreeable contrast with the cultivated lands beneath. The steep,
but well-wooded, declivity of Llanwenarth Graig, descending from the pointed Sugar Loaf, with the apparently opposite
connexion of the Blorenge mountain, shuts out towards the east the view of the lower lands of Monmouthshire surrounding
Abergavenny; while the verdant Myarth, with a chain of other eminences, terminates the prospect to the west. Crickhowel
had formerly two trading companies, the Clothiers' and the Shoemakers', the wardens and officers of which had each a
handsome pew in the old church, decorated with their respective emblems of trade, carved in oak. Dr. Smollett, in his
excellent novel of " Humphrey Clinker," mentions the Crickhowel flannels; but the manufacture has been entirely
discontinued: there is still, however, some business done in the making of shoes. The neighbouring mountains contain
mines of iron-ore and coal, and there are several railways connected with the works. On the banks of the river, at a short
distance from the town, are some paper-mills. The Brecknock and Abergavenny canal passes at the distance of about a mile,
affording a direct communication with Bristol: lime and coal, the produce of the neighbourhood, together with timber,
iron, and grocery, are the principal articles conveyed along it. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held on
February 1st, April 13th, May 12th, September 24th, and November 6th, of which that in May is the greatest. The market-
house, the upper part of which is used as the town-hall, is an incommodious building, inconveniently situated in the
middle of the High-street, adjoining the turnpike road, which it is in contemplation to remove to a more eligible site.
Prior to the union of Wales with England, Crick-bowel was one of the marcher territories, subordinate to the paramount
lordship of Blaenllyvni, and was comprehended within the district of the Lower Ystradwy, or, more properly, Ystrad Iw. On
the abolition of the independent jurisdiction of the lords marcher, in the 27th of Henry VIII., it was consolidated with
the county of Brecknock, and constituted the head of a hundred. The ancient name of Ystradwy is now lost, except in that
part of the parish of Llanbedr which is called Llanbedr Ystradwy. The Norman conquerors of lands in Wales, on introducing
the feudal system of tenure, usually conceded to the natives many of their local customs. Thus, they had two courts, one
called Englischeria, and the other Welschria; the former comprehending the freeholders, and the latter the customary
tenants of the manor. The freeholders, for the most part, held their lands by military, or knights', service, though a few
were permitted to hold in socage; the customary tenants were originally the native peasantry of the country, who, having
been despoiled of all real property, were allowed to hold small tenements by certain base services, or personal labour,
for the benefit of the lord. These were at first rendered in kind, but afterwards commuted for money payments, still known
by the name of Cymmorth rents, or rents in lieu of aid. On divesting the marcher lordships of their exclusive
jurisdiction, and bringing them under the authority of the common law of the land, certain privileges were continued to
the proprietors. Thus, the Duke of Beaufort, as lord of the manor of Crickhowel, appoints a coroner for the hundred, and
holds a court leet twice a year, and a court baron every three weeks, for the manor: he also annually appoints a bailiff
for the town, which is a borough by prescription, though the office is now merely nominal, its duties being confined to
collecting the manorial chief-rents: two aldermen were also formerly elected for the borough, but this privilege has not
for some time been exercised. The lords of the manors of Crickhowel and Tretower have also claimed and exercised the right
of executing, by their bailiffs, within the limits of these liberties respectively, all the king's writs, that of NOS
omittas alone excepted. The county magistrates hold a petty session every Thursday in the town-hall, for the transaction
of business relative to the hundred. The parish is divided into two hamlets, the borough hamlet and the country hamlet,
each having its churchwarden and overseer of the poor, but not possessing separate jurisdiction, the assessments being
levied generally upon the whole. It was formerly a chapelry within the parish of Llangattock, the rectors of which
received one-third of its tithes, but was made a distinct parish by Lady Sibyl de Pauncefote, relict of Sir Grimbald, by
whom the portion of the tithes above-mentioned was settled on the rector of Crickhowel. The living is now a discharged
vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Brecknock, and diocese of St. David's, rated in the king's books at £3. 17. 8g., endowed
with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the rector: the rectory is a sinecure,
rated at £5. 9. 9i., and in the patronage of the Duke of Beaufort, as lay impropriator of a certain remaining portion of
the tithes of the parish, which is rated at £4. 14. 7. The tithes are thus divided into three unequal portions, the lay
impropriation, the sinecure rectory, and the vicarage, and are collected by a common agent, who pays to each party his
share: there is also an allotment for the sexton, consisting of the clear yearly tenths of certain lands specified within
the parish. The rectorial glebe consists of about twenty-five acres of meadow and arable land; the vicarial, of one acre:
there is no parsonage-house for either rector or vicar. The church, dedicated to St. Edmund the King and Martyr, was
founded and endowed by the munificence of Lady Sibyl de Pauncefote, and consecrated, in 1303, by David de Sancto Edmundo,
Bishop of St. David's: it was originally much larger than at present, but having been found upon examination to be in a
very dilapidated condition, a faculty was obtained in the year 1765, enabling the churchwardens to take down two side
aisles, and apply the materials in repairing the remainder: it was thus left cruciform, consisting of a nave, chancel,
and two transepts, with a tower rising from the intersection of the nave with the transepts, containing five bells, and
surmounted by a shingled spire, the only one in the county. To afford accommodation for the increased population of the
parish, a new aisle was built on the south side of the nave, in 1830, by voluntary subscription among the inhabitants, as
an equivalent for pews, aided by a grant from the Incorporated Society for building and enlarging churches and chapels:
this additional portion contains one hundred and fifty sittings, half of which are free, and this is the first known
instance of increased accommodation being added to a church by the equitable mode of allowing those who want seats, to
purchase and annex them in perpetuity to their houses. The south transept, called the Rumsey Chapel, was originally a
chantry appendant to the estate of a family of that name in the parish, though erected and endowed prior to their
connexion with the place: but the exclusive right has long been forfeited by the owners, from neglect in performing the
necessary repairs. The north transept, called the Gwernvale Chapel, was also a chantry belonging to the Gwernvalc estate,
the proprietor of which still repairs it, and supports his claim to the exclusive possession of it. The chancel is long,
narrow, and much lower than the remainder of the building: in each of the side walls are two low arched recesses, probably
intended by the foundress as burial-places for the family, two of them having been used for that purpose. Within the upper
recess on the south, upon a low altartomb, is the mutilated effigy of a knight, in a recumbent position, cross-legged,
and clad in chain mail, having a sword hanging from a belt, and upon the left arm a shield, bearing the device of three
lions rampant, the armorial ensign of the Pauncefotes: the inscription is almost entirely defaced, but the tomb is
probably that of Sir Grimbald de Pauncefote, husband of the foundress: the latter is supposed to lie interred beneath the
opposite arch, where is a low tomb, supporting a recumbent figure of a lady, habited in ancient costume: the interments
were evidently made from the outside, as appears from the worked stone facing of the walls at the back of the arches, the
want of which behind the other two is considered a proof of their never having been occupied. Projecting into the chancel,
near the communion table, is a large and handsome monument of black and white marble, enclosed by an iron railing,
supporting the well-executed effigy, in alabaster, of Sir John Herbert, of Dan y Castell, near this town, who died May
10th, 1666, and his lady Joan, who died some years after: the knight is represented in a reclining posture, with flowing
hair, clothed in plate armour, with a truncheon in his right hand, and a helmet at his feet: his lady, richly habited, is
recumbent on a quilted mattress, having the head supported upon an embroidered pillow, with tassels at the corners, and a
small book in her hand. The inscription states that the monument was erected, in 1690, by Elizabeth, wife of Wm. Le Hunt,
serjeant-at-law, son of Sir John Le Hunt, of Middleton, in the county of Warwick, Knt.: upon the east end of the monument
are sculptured the figures of a man habited as a serjeant-at-law, the head broken off, and of a female, both kneeling,
dated 1703, and 1694. In addition to these, there are some neat mural tablets, but of minor interest. There are places of
worship for Calvinistic Methodists, and for English and Welsh Wesleyan Methodists, attached to each of which is a school
for the instruction of children. Two day schools and two Sunday schools have been established in the parish, for children
of the church of England: for these, two school-rooms, for the education of children of both sexes, have been erected
upon the plot of glebe belonging to the vicarage, at the expense of the present vicar, the Rev. George Jones Bevan, who
has distinguished himself as the author of some valuable tracts and essays: they are conducted upon the National plan,
and are supported by voluntary subscription. The castle and its precincts formerly occupied a space of about eight acres,
encompassed by roads, and terminating in a point upon the road to Abergavenny, on the south-eastern side of the town: the
lower portion of this area is now occupied by houses, erected within the last few years: the structure itself, with its
bailey within the walls, included a surface of two acres, one rood, and fourteen perches: the remains are small, and
destitute of picturesque attraction. The mount, vulgarly called the " Castle Tump," commands a fine view of the
transcendent beauties of the vale, both above and below: it was the site of the keep, or donjon, a lofty square building
four stories high, the vaults of which are, no doubt, still entire beneath the present mount. About a mile and a half from
the town formerly stood the " baptismal and parochial chapel " of St. Mary, still known by its Welsh name, Llanvair, or "
Mary-church." That its erection was of a date long prior to that of the present parochial church of St. Edmund is certain,
from the report of Giraldus Cambrensis, in the reign of Henry II., who states that he himself, as archdeacon of Brecknock,
was cited to appear in capelld Sancta Maria de Crucohel, to answer certain interrogatories to be proposed to him by the
priors of Llanthony and Brecknock, respecting a fine imposed upon him, but not paid, at the suit of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, with whom he had been at issue. Having long since fallen into lay hands, it was used, until within the last
twenty years, as a barn: it was then taken down, and a new farm building erected upon the spot, so that the name is now
the only vestige of the ancient structure: a neighbouring field, called Cae Crochenydd, or " the Potters' Field," is said
by tradition to have been the place of interment for strangers who died within the parish. The principal relic of more
remote antiquity situated in this neighbourhood is the fortification of Crag Howel, or " Rowel's Mount," occupying a
conspicuous situation upon a bold knoll of the Breannog mountain, rising to the north of the town. Leland notices it as
Cragus Hoelinus, and in an old survey of the manor it is called Cae Cragiau, or " the Mounded Enclosure " but the
present English inhabitants call it the Table Hill. It is of an irregular triangular form, and slopes gently from the
north-western angle, which is very acute: a rampart of loose stones surrounds the area, which comprises a space of one
thousand one hundred and sixty feet within the inner circumference. Towards the vale, the descent is precipitous; the
only entrance being from the north, whence a steep narrow way, called Cevn fordd, or " the ridge-way," communicates with
the mountain, a bold projection of which, overlooking the fortress, is called Disgwylva, the " look out," or " watching-
place; " and upon the summit is the beacon, a high conical heap of stones. The great Roman road, denominated by Sir R. C.
Hoare the Via Julia Montana, leading from the celebrated Silurian station of Caerneon, by the station near Brecknock to
Maridunum, now Carmarthen, passed through this parish, by the foot of the Breannog mountain 5 and in a field adjoining the
old chapel of Llanv air is a high artificial mound, sup. posed by some to have been the site of a Roman arz speculatoria,
or watch-tower. By the road side, near Gwernvale, formerly stood a fine British cromlech, which was destroyed several
years ago, for the purpose of ascertaining what lay beneath it: within the parish is a maen Mr, " or long stone," of
which there are many more in the vicinity, and respecting which there is a variety of opinions, some supposing them to
have been sepulchral, others simply commemorative, and others again the mere boundary marks of a territory, or district.
By the side of the road leading towards Brecknock stands an old gateway, called Porth Mawr, or the " Great Gate," through
the opening of which there is a most delightful prospect of the vale and the river Usk, and which has erroneously been
regarded as having formed an appendage to the castle, with which it is stated to have had a subterraneous communication.
It was, in fact, the entrance to a mansion called Cwrt Carw, or " Stags' Court," erected in the reign of Henry VII., by a
member of the Herbert family: the old house, which is said to have been defended by its owner against a body of the
parliamentarian troops under Cromwell, has long since been demolished: the estate upon which it is situated is now the
property of Edward William Seymour, Esq., who resides there. At the distance of half a mile from the town stands Gwernvale
House, the handsome seat of John Gwynne, Esq., built about the commencement of the present century, by Tristram Everest,
Esq. The more ancient mansion is situated on the hill behind it, and is now the property of Joseph Bailey, Esq. In old
writings this estate is designated " Moelmore, alias Gwernvald," and the mesne manor to which it belongs still bears that
name: it is now indiscriminately called Gwernvale, or Wernvale, which the late Archdeacon Payne ingeniously conjectures
to be a corruption of Tir Wronon Voel, "the land of Wronon the Bald," since, from an ancient deed in the possession of
that gentleman, prior to and at the time of his decease, it appears, in the 11 th of Edward II., to have belonged to
Wronon, surnamed Voel, or " the Bald," and styled Consportionaries EL-elegise Beati Edmundi de Criighoel. In the year
1668, this estate was purchased by Sir Henry Proger Knt., a branch of the Gwernddti family in Monmouthshire, who, being a
staunch loyalist, retired, during the usurpation of Cromwell, with his exiled sovereign into France, accompanied by his
brothers James, Valentine, and Edward, all of whom served Charles with exemplary fidelity, and even, in some instances,
with culpable zeal. Henry and Valentine are reported to have been personally concerned in the assassination of Ascham, the
parliamentarian envoy at the court of Madrid, who was murdered in the open day at his own house. The former, after the
Restoration, received the honour of knighthood from the king, who appointed him one of the gentlemen of the privy chamber:
he left one son, Charles, a lieutenant-colonel in the Foot Guards, who sold the Gwernvale estate to his uncle, Mr.
Edward Proger, of Hampton Court. This latter gentleman was appointed, early in life, Page of Honour to King Charles I.,
and, by His Majesty's command, sworn Groom of the Bedchamber to his son, then Prince of Wales, at Paris. Throughout the
whole of that eventful period his unbounded fidelity to his royal master sustained no diminution, personally attending him
in all the vicissitudes of his fortune; and the affection with which His Majesty regarded him, and the estimation in
which he was also held by some of the most distinguished royalists, are evinced by the correspondence that he maintained
with them: several letters to him from the king himself, from Prince Rupert, the Duke of Hamilton, the Marquis of
Montrose, Lord Cottington, and others, were, in their several autographs, at the time of his death, in the possession of
the Venerable Archdeacon Payne, who had also other curious documents relating to Mr. Proger, besides an original portrait
of him, by Sir Peter Lely, purchased at a sale of property at Gwernvale, in 1789, and a good painting of his eldest
brother, Sir Henry, by Cornelius Jansen. In the year 1650 he was with the king in Scotland, but, with several other
noblemen and private gentlemen, was banished thence by a mandate of the estates of parliament, "as an evil Instrument and
bad Counsellor of His Majesty's late Father and himself." Still, however, he retained the good opinion of the king, who in
the same year rewarded his services by a grant of two thousand acres of land in Virginia; but from this he derived no
real benefit, owing to the inability of his royal master to enforce the grant, and his neglecting to confirm it after the
Restoration. Lord Orford informs us that Mr. Proger received permission of the king to erect a house in Bushy Park, near
Hampton Court, of which he had been appointed keeper, on the condition that at his death it should lapse to the crown.
After representing this county in parliament for seventeen years, he at length declined a contest, and withdrew into
retirement, in 1679, and, upon the death of his royal master, resigned all public business: he lived for several years
after in depressed circumstances, notwithstanding the services he had rendered to two successive monarchs, and died at the
advanced age of ninety-two, on the last day of December, 1713. By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of — Wells, Esq., of
Suffolk, he had a numerous offspring, of whom only three daughters survived: the eldest of these, named Philippa, upon
the partition of property which took place after his death, obtained the estate of Gwernvale, which she bequeathed to her
husband, Dr. Samuel Croxal, a man of considerable literary attainments, and holding good preferment in the church, who
died in 1751, leaving it to a relative, Mrs. Hester Bailiss, with remainder to her niece, married to Mr. John Newby, who
soon sold it to Mr. Everest, its late proprietor. As distinguished residents of Crickhowel may be noticed the late Rev.
Henry Thomas Payne, archdeacon of Carmarthen, &c., an eminent philologist, antiquary, and topographer; and, at the
present time, the Rev. Thomas Price, vicar of Llanvihangel Cwm Da. The average annual expenditure for the support of the
poor amounts to £272.6.