LLANSANTFRAID (LLAN-SANTFFREAD), a parish, in the hundred of PENCELLY, union of BRECKNOCK and county of BRECKNOCK, SOUTH
WALES, 4 miles (S. E) from Brecknock; containing 203 inhabitants, this place derives its name from the dedication of its
church to Fread, an Irish female saint, who appears to have been so highly venerated in Wales, that no fewer than nineteen
churches in the principality have been consecrated to her memory. The western part of the parish obtained the appellation
of Scethrog, by which it is at present distinguished, from Brochwell Yscythrog, Prince of Powys, to whom it descended by
inheritance from his mother, who was a daughter of Brychan, Prince of Brycheiniog. It does not appear that Brochwell ever
resided upon this lordship, although tradition states that he was buried in the neighbouring parish of Llandevailog-Vfich,
where a rudely carved stone of very remote character commemorates the interment of some British warrior. After the
conquest of the ancient Brycheiniog by Bernard Newmarch, the lordship of Scethrog was conferred on one of his followers,
named Miles Pitcher, or Pychard, by whom, or by one of his immediate descendants, a castellated mansion was erected on the
bank of the river Usk, which was subsequently called the Tower, and of which there are still some remains incorporated
with a farm- house of that name, built upon the site. The parish is pleasantly situated, for the most part on the north
bank of the river Usk, and is intersected by the turnpike-road from Brecknock to Crickhowel and Abergavenny. The lands,
with the exception of a comparatively small portion, are inclosed, and in a good state of cultivation, and comprise by
computation about 2000 acres, of which three-fourths are amble, and the remainder, with the exception of between 50 and 60
acres of wood, pasture and meadow. The soil is a gravelly loam, generally fertile and productive; the surface is undulated
and in some parts hilly, and abounds with richly varied and pleasingly picturesque scenery; and the views from the higher
grounds, particularly from the Alit hill, on the north-eastern side, comprehend many objects of great interest and beauty.
Among the most prominent of these may be noticed, in the foreground, the fertile and romantic Vale of Usk, with its river,
celebrated for its trout-fishing, winding, for a distance of four miles in the parish,- through a long succession of
varying scenery, having richly wooded eminences on its opposite banks; and in the distance is the majestic range of the
Brecknockshire Beacons, with which the softer aspect of the vale is finely contrasted: the annual value of the rateable
properry in the parish has been returned at £2149. land Park, a spacious mansion, originally erected nearly a century ago,
by Roger Jones, Esq., member for the county, is beautifully situated on the banks of the Usk, and sheltered by a lofty
mountain, barren towards the summit, but having the acclivities near its base richly clothed with wood: the house was much
enlarged in 1839, and has two fronts, of which that towards the river commands an extensive view up the Vale of Usk, and
the other a more confined but romantic view of the mountains that inclose the vale on the south. The living is a rectory,
rated in the king's books at X6. 4. 7.; present net income £271, with a glebehouse  patron, Earl of Ashburnham. Previously
to the Reformation, the advowson was vested in the owner of the manor of Scethrog: it was subsequently granted to Roger
Vaughan, of Porthaml, from whom it descended to its present proprietor. A portion of the tithes, anciently appropriated to
the free chapel of Pencelly, are now held by the lord of the manors of Buckland and Scethrog. The church, which was
rebuilt in 1690, is a small edifice, affording accommodation for about 400 persons, and consisting of two low aisles, with
a cupola at the west end, and is situated close to the road side: a gravestone to the memory of David Watkins, of
Scethrog, who died on the 2nd of November, 1618, aged eighty-eight, records that he, his father, and his grandfather,
lived in the parish for three hundred years: probably it may signify, only, that they were severally living in three
different centuries. There is a place of worship for Independents; and a free day school is supported by persons in
communion with the Church of England. Some small bequests have been made for the benefit of the poor, which, having been
neglected, are now nearly lost; but there are three separate pieces of poor's land, containing together about five acres,
and let at rents amounting to £5. 10. per annum, which sum is generally distributed on New Year's Day among the poor not
receiving parochial relief, in sums varying from five to ten shillings. The Roman road from Caerlleon to the Gaer, near
Brecknock, passes through the parish, from Cathedine on the east to Llanhamllech on the west; and about half a mile from
Scethrog, on the side of the London road, is a cylindrical stone, rising about three feet and a half out of the ground,
bearing an inscription in Roman characters, of which only the letters VICTO RINI are legible, and supposed to commemorate
the interment of a son of Victorinus. The walls of the castellated mansion erected by Miles Pychard, and the small remains
of which are incorporated in the walls of a farm-house, as above noticed, appear to have been from two to three yards in
thickness; and a stone near the farm-house is said to bear a date, now covered with white- wash, of from seven to eight
hundred years old: traces of a moat are still visible. Just above the turnpike-road is a good house, called Scethrog,
which, though not kept up as a family seat, is superior to many in the principality. The Rev. Thomas Vaughan, a man of
eccentric habits, but of great genius, was a native of this parish, of which he was rector; he was ejected from his living
during the usurpation of Cromwell, and subsequently became eminent for his skill in experimental philosophy, chemistry,
and oriental literature;. he was also a respectable Latin and English poet: a cata- logue of riammerous publications has
been preserved by Wood in his " Atherue Oxonienses." His brother, Henry Vaughan, M.D., author of the " Olor Iscanus," and
several other poems, resided for some time in the parish, where he died in 1695, and was interred in the churchyard.