LLANGATTOCK (LLAN-GATWG), a parish, in the union and hundred of CRICKHOWEL, county of BRECKNOCK, SOUTH WALES, 1 mile (S.
S. W.) from Crickhowel; containing 4334 inhabitants. This parish, which forms a part of the beautiful Vale of Crickhowel,
derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Catwg, or Cadoc the Wise, an eminent British saint, who
flourished in the sixth century. It is pleasantly situated on the southern bank of the river Usk, and immediately opposite
to the town of Crickhowel, with which it is connected by a handsome stone bridge of thirteen arches, in the centre of
which is the point of division between the two parishes. On this side of the Usk is a turnpike-road leading in a south-
easterly direction down the vale to Llanelly, where, crossing the Brecknock and Abergavenny railway, it is continued over
the river Clydach, by a bridge, and afterwards joins the turnpike.road from Abergavenny to Merthyr: the same road is
continued up the vale, towards the north-west, through Llangynider, Llanthetty, and the adjoining parishes, to Brecknock.
The parish comprises 12,300 acres by computation, of which 2500 are arable, 3500 pasture, 300 wood, and the remainder
mountain and waste. The surrounding scenery is beautifully diversified, and the views from the high grounds extend over
the picturesque Vale of Usk and the adjacent country, abounding with objects of interest, and with features of romantic
beauty, among which is the flue and imposing contrast supplied between the rugged and lofty rocks of Llangattock, and the
refreshing verdure of the adjacent valley. The soil rests on dry gravel, and the chief agricultural produceis bay, wheat,
barley, and turnips: the rateable annual value of the whole parish, which consists of the hamlets or parcels of Penallt,
Prysg, and Killey, has been returned at £6649. In the immediate environs are several gentlemen's seats, among which are
Llangattock Park; Glanonney; Deny among; LlanwSrsc Villa, a handsome house, built under the superintendence of Mr.
Nash, by the late Admiral Gell, who, after his retirement from the naval service, passed the remainder of his days at this
place; Llangattock Place, formerly the property of Dr. Ford, an eminent phy. sician, and accoucheur to Queen Charlotte,
consort of George III., who, on discontinuing his practice, retired to this parish, in which he purchased an estate;
Glanusk Park, a handsome mansion in a park beautifully planted with wood, and well stocked with deer, and round which the
river Usk winds itself in a semicircular form; and Llangattock Court: the wood growing on the different estates consists
of oak and beech, and extensive plantations of young larch. The parish is rich in mineral treasure, abounding with iron-
ore, coal, and limestone of excellent quality. On the bank of the river Ebwy Vawr, which separates this parish from that
of Bedwelty, in the county of Monmouth, are the Beaufort iron-works, so called from their being established on lands let
on lease for ninety-nine years by the Duke of Beaufort. At this place a furnace for smelting iron-ore was erected by
Messrs. Kendall, in the year 1780, since which time three other furnaces, a forge, and other works have been added. Both
the ore and the pit coal for working it, the latter of which is charred into coke upon the spot, are obtained contiguous
to the works, and limestone is found within a short distance. These extensive works are now rented under the original
lessees, Messrs. Kendall, by Joseph and Crawshay Bailey, Esqrs., the present proprietors, by whom they have been
considerably enlarged; and they give employment to nearly 3000 persons. The machinery in them is set in motion by steam-
engines of considerable power; and the mountains in the vicinity are intersected in all directions by railways and tram-
roads, connected with the several departments of the works. The Brecknock and Abergavenny canal, which passes through
the parish in its course from Llanelly to Llangynider, is continued to Brecknoek, near which town it communicates with .
the Hay railway, and extends in the opposite direction to Pontymoel, near Pontypool, in the county of Monmouth, where it
joins the Monmouthshire canal. There is also a tram-road and inclined plane for conveying limestone from the Darren rocks
to the canal; and Messrs. Bailey have recently established a steam-carriage and tram-road for the carriage of coal from
their mines in Monmouthshire to the wharf near the village of Llangattock. The living is a rectory, with the perpetual
curacies of Llanelly and Llangeney united, rated in the king's books at £81. 13. 9.; present net income, £1128, with a
glebe-house; patron, Duke of Beaufort. The church is an ancient structure, in the decorated style of English
architecture, with a remarkably strong embattled tower at the west end, supposed to have been erected in the reign of
Stephen, and the ground area of which has lately been converted into a commodious and excellent vestry-room, and furnished
at the sole expense of Joseph Bailey, Esq. of Glanusk Park. It consists of a chancel, and of two aisles, separated from
each other by a range of columns and arches, and having originally distinct arched roofs of timber, which, being decayed,
were, about half a century since, replaced by one plain fiat ceiling, by which alteration the internal beauty of the
church is greatly impaired, and its external appearance rendered heavy by the substitution of a single covering in place
of the original double roof: the edifice measures 86 feet by 45, and contains about 700 sittings, of which some are free.
From the " Liber Llandavensis," it appears that a church was consecrated -here about the close of the eleventh century, by
Herewald, Bishop of Llandaf, of which probably the tower of the present church, apparently of more ancient date than the
other parts of the edifice, is the only portion remaining. In the body of the church is a plain stone, inscribed to the
memory of Dr. Ford, who died in 1795, aged 78. There are places of worship for Independents and other denominations of
dissenters. A day and Sunday school belonging to the church is supported by subscription, and a site has been obtained for
two new school-rooms to be erected at the expense of J. Bailey, Esq. On the mountains in the parish are evident traces of
the manufacture of iron at a very early period, most probably by the Romans; the sites of ancient blomeries 'may be easily
distinguished by the heaps of cinders which are still remaining; and a vicinal Roman road leading through the iron mines
of Bryn Oer, probably to some Roman forges, once situated at Llanvyrnach, in the Vale of Usk, may be traced at no great
distance. The mountain called Cerno is noticed by Dr. Powell as the scene of a sanguinary conflict that took place, in the
year 728, between Ethelbald, King of Mercia and Roderic Molwynog, Prince of North Wales, in commemoration of which two
large heaps of stones, or " carnau," were raised, from which this eminence derived its name. One of these cairns was
opened by the late Archdeacon Payne, some few years since, when a sepulchral kist was found, in which there was no
deposite: the other had been previously opened by some workmen employed to build a lodge for a gamekeeper under the lord
of the manor. The ancient park of KilleLan, now called Llangattock Park, was originally of great extent, and formed an
appendage to the castle of Crickhowel, with the lands of which, on the opposite side of the Usk, it was connected by a
private bridge, which has been long demolished: a great flood which happened here, about 60 years ago, by carrying away
the soil, exposed to view the abutments of this bridge: in the upper part of the park are some very small remains of a
moated building, at which place, a neat and elegant shooting-box has lately been built for the Duke of Beaufort. In a
recess of the mountain called Tarren-y-Kille, within the limestone rock, is a cavern of considerable dimensions, but of no
very singular appearance, called by the country people Eglwys Vaen, or " the stone church." Among the incumbents of the
parish were two successive bishops of Llandaf, namely, Dr. Hugh Lloyd, and Dr. Francis Davies. Dr. Lloyd, a native of
Cardiganshire, and fellow of Jesus' College, Oxford, having become archdeacon of St. David's prior to the breaking out of
the civil commotion of the seventeenth century, was elected, for his attachment to the royal cause, from all his
preferments, by the parliamentarians, who, in 1645, seized upon the revenue of the church of St. David's; but in 1660 he
was promoted to the see of Llandaf, and restored to his archdeaconry of St. David's, which he was allowed to hold in
commendam: in 1661, he was presented to the rectory of this parish, by Henry, Lord Herbert of Raglan, Chepstow, and
Gower, which he also held in comme-dam: he died in 1667. Dr. Davies, a native of Glamorganshire, and likewise fellow of
Jesus' College, held, at the commencement of the civil war, the rectory of Llangan, in Glamorganshire, from which he was
ejected by the parliamentarians; but his piety and exemplary conduct recommended him so far to some of the leading men of
the age, that he was allowed to retain a fourth part of the revenue of his rectory for a few years; he was afterwards
appointed chaplain to the Countess of Peterborough, and at the Restoration was replaced in his former preferment, and
subsequently promoted to the archdeaconry of Llandaf, of which see he was made bishop on the death of Dr. Lloyd, whom he
also succeeded in the rectory of Llangattock, which he was allowed to bold in commend=: he died in 1674. The late Rev. H.
T. Payne, A. M., Archdeacon of Carmarthen, and for upwards of thirty years rector of the neighbouring parish of Llanbedr,
was a native of this place: lie was no less distinguished for the strict discharge of the duties of his pastoral office,
than eminent for his literary attainments, with which he united the most polished and engaging manners; he chiefly
devoted his leisure time to antiquarian researches, and was ever ready to impart the result of his studies, for the
promotion of science, or the propagation of knowledge; indeed, although he never concentrated the powers of his highly
cultivated mind with a view to pecuniary emolument from the publication of literary productions, there has been scarcely
any work on the antiquities and topography of Wales, published within the present century, which has not been largely
indebted to his pen: he died on Easter Sunday, 1832, and was interred in the churchyard of Llanbedr, in the vault which
contained the remains of his wife, who died in 1828.