LLANELWETH (LLAN-ELWEDD), a parish, in the union of BUILTH, hundred of COLWYN, county of RADNOR, SOUTH WALES, nearly 1
mile (N. E.) from Builth; containing 197 inhabitants. This parish is pleasantly situated on the river Wye, by which it is
separated on the south and south-west from the parish of Builth, in the county of Brecknock; and is intersected by the
turnpike-road from that place to Newtown, in Montgomeryshire, from which, soon after it enters this parish, branches a
road up the eastern bank of the Wye to Rhaiadr, and further on, near the church, branches another road to New Radnor,
itington, Presteign, and Leo.. minster. The surface is generally undulated, with some abrupt eminences of considerable
height, and the lands, with the exception of some elevated commons and a small rocky district, are inclosed and in an
excellent state of cultivation. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly varied; and the views from the higher grounds, and
especially from the rocks beyond Wellfield, are extensive and extremely rich: in the neighbourhood are a few gentlemen's
seats. Llanelweth Hall, the ancient residence of the Gwynnes, of Garth, in the county of Brecknock, (of which family was
Marmaduke Gwynne, a judge on the North Wales circuit, who died in 1712,) has been deserted by its proprietor, and is now
in the occupation of a tenant. Wellfield House, erected in 1787, by David Thomas, Esq., of London, descended from a branch
of the family of Thomas, of Llwyn Madoc, in Brecknockshire, is a spacious and handsome mansion, with a portico of the
Tuscan order, finely situated on a lofty eminence, and embosomed in flourishing plantations, forming a prominent object
from every point of view, and strikingly eon. Vested with the rugged barrenness of some of the adjacent heights:the
grounds are pleasingly ornamented with shrubberies and walks, and command a fine prospect, including the rivers Wye and
Jrvon winding through their respective valet, with the tow) of Builth and the adjacent country. From the summit of an
eminence on this estate is one of the most extensive and magnificent panoramic views in any part of the principality;
comprehending a circle of more than twelve miles in the radio* entirely inclosed with lofty hills, and embracing a vast
number of interesting objects, and a rich variety of beautiful and picturesque scenery: to the east are the Black
Mountains, of dreary and rugged appearance, with the acclivities of others.of more softened aspect,; and to the west are
the mountains of Tregatn and Gam Wen, the former said to be the highest ridge, next to the Beacons, in this part of South
Wales, and the latter remarkable for its conical form, and the cairn that crowns its summit. About a mile to the north of
Wellfield is Penkerrig House, which has been recently enlarged and partly rebuilt, and embellished with a new:front in
the Elizabethan style; it is pleasingly ornamented with a rich plantation of ever-greens, and is sheltered in .the rear
by .a hill of considerable elevation, with 'stately timber: in the grounds, which are laid out with great taste, is a
fine sheet of water, covering about six acres; and the miew from the house, though not extensive, is picturesque. This
parish constitutes a prebend in the collegiate church of Brecknock, rated in the ,king's books at £6. 10., and in the gift
of the Bishop cf St. David's. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and in the 'patronage of
T. Thomas, Esq., as lessee of the tithes under the prebendary; net income, £70. The church, dedicated to St. Matthew, a
small edifice not distinguished by any remarkable architectural details, is;situated on an eminence near the high road,
and on the bank of the river Wye. Lady Hartstrong,,or Hartstongue, bequeathed a small farm, called Bailey Bedw, in the
parish of St. Harmon, in this county, now producing Xl6. 15. per annum, for the,gratuitous education of poor children of
Llanelweth, and from this rent is supported a small charity school, containing from la to 17 boys and girls. A child,
also, is annually tipe prenticed from the funds of the Boughrood charity, this being one of the sixteen places entitled to
'parr take of that benefaction. On the .summit of the eminence near Wellfield House are the ,imperfect remains of a
semicircular intrenobment, once defended by .a rampart of loose stones, and to which a walk has been constructed from the
rounds on the -seat; and on the confines of this parish and of those of Disserth, where the desperate battle between
IthSTs ab Tewdwr and the three sons of Bleddyn ab Cynvyn is supposed by some to have been fought, may be seen, from this
eminence, the square moat of -Cwrt Lrechryd, so called, perhaps, from a monument erected there to the memory of Biryd ab
Bleddyno who was Gioia in that battle. At a short.distance is a tumulus, called by the Welsh " Cola," of which nothing
historical is with certainty known by some it is thought to have been surmounted by an are: tpeculatorra, and by others to
be only sepulchral, There are also some remains of a foracation oa the hill behind Penkerrig House, but they are in a very
imperfect state. On the farm belonging to the Wellfield estate, are two remarkable quarries; in one is obtained a kind of
transitional clay slate, which displays some curious marine impressions of a species of the Trilobite; the other produces
a hard kind of clay, or stone, perforated with small boles emitting a fine black powder; the external appearance ofe
substance indicates the action of fire, and in the cley are found some fine specimens of erystals, some nf them very
beautiful and Fierfect.