LLANTHETTY, or LLANDDETTY (LLAN-DDETTI), a parish, in the hundred of PENCELLY, union of BRECKNOCK and county of BRECKNOCK,
SOUTH WALES, 6 miles (N. W.) from Crickhowel, near the road to Brecknock; consisting of the hamlets of Dyfryn and Vro, and
containing 520 inhabitants. This parish extends from the south bank of the river Usk, which forms its northern boundary,
to the confines of Glamorganshire: it is separated from the parish of Llangynider, in the hundred of Crickhowel, by the
river Crawnon, and from the parish of Llanvigan by the Carvanell; and is traversed by the high road between Crickhowel and
Brecknock. The surface of the surrounding country is irregular, and is beautifully diversified with bill and dale, and
ornamented with wood and water: the river Usk, the banks of which are in many places richly wooded, forms several pleasing
waterfalls in its progress over its rocky channel; several of the adjacent hills are lofty and clothed with wood, and from
some of them are obtained extensive prospects. From that called Tor-y-Voel it is said that portions of thirteen coin ties
may be seen: on the north are the Black Mountains of Tailgarth, and to the east the Sugar Loaf mountain, on the border of
Monmouthshire. The soil is in general light and gravelly, and the chief agricultural produce, wheat, barley, oats, and
turnips: and the annual value of the rateable property in the parish has been returned at £3247, of which £2031 is for the
hamlet of Vro, and £1216 for that of Dyfryn. Llanthetty Hall, situated in a very secluded part of the Vale of Usk,
embosomed in lofty hills clothed with luxuriant woods, is a neat mansion, of which the grounds are pleasing, and the views
from them, though not extensive, very beautiful; and there are several other neat villas, among which is that of Ashford.
The rectory-house is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Usk, on the opposite side of which runs the turnpike-road
from Brecknock to Crickhowel and Abergavenny. On the banks of the Carvanell, just above its confluence with the Usk, two
miles eastward from the church, stands the considerable village of Tillybont. There are four corn-mills, and about four
hands are employed in a small iron-factory, and the same number in a carding-mill, connected with the manufacture of the
coarse woollen cloth of the country. The Brecknock and Abergavenny canal passes through the parish from north-west to
south-east, affording means for the exportation of the coal and limestone procured in the neighbouring parishes, and the
importation of articles of merchandise from Bristol and Newport. On its banks, at Tillybont, are some limekilns and coal
wharfs, to which the above-mentioned minerals are brought by an iron railroad, which, from the mountains to the south, has
branches to the Tredegar, Romney, and Bute iron-works. The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Tfif-Vechan
annexe rated in the king's books at £7. 10. 7k.; patron, J. P. Gwynne Holford, Esq.; the tithes have been commuted for a
rent-charge of £395, of which £55 are payable to an impsopnator, and £340 to the rector, who has also a house, and glebe
of 17 acres, valued at £45. 15. 6. per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Deem, is a neat structure in the later style of
English architecture, consisting only of a small nave and chancel, 66 feet in length and 24 in breadth, with a low tower
at the western end; and is appropriately fitted up for the accommodation of the parishioners; it is situated within a few
yards of the Usk, by the hamlet of Dyfryn. In the hamlet of Vro is the chapel of Taf-Vechan, the living of which is a
perpetual curacy, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and £200 parliamentary grant. The Rev. John Davies, rector of the parish
in 1727, charged certain lands with the annual payment of the interest of £20, for the instruction of poor children in the
Catechism of the Church of England, and to teach them to write their names; but the bequest has been rendered unavailable
through neglect. There are two day schools, in which 60 children are instructed at the expense of their parents; and a
Sunday school. In constructing that part of the Brecknock and Abergavenny canal which passes through this parish, a Roman
sacrificial instrument, called a seeespita, was discovered; and in digging for the same purpose in a wet and marshy wood
several trees were found, at the depth of four or five feet below the surface, entirely black, and of a peculiarly hard
consistency The Roman road from Tibia Amais, near e to the station at Caer-Bannsu, near Brecknock, traverses the parish
from south to north, inclining to the eastward, as it descends into the Vale of Usk, and crosses the river Carvanell.
Mass-mawr, in this parish, of which he was a native, was once the residence of Jenkin Jones, a colonel in the
parliamentarian army, during the civil war of the seventeenth century, who distinguished himself by his republican
principles and determined hostility to the Established Church: so violent were these, that, on being informed of the
landing of Charles IL, at the Reston". don, he is said to have mounted his horse, ridden through the churchyard, and,
discharging a pistol at the church door, in which the perforation made by the ball is still shown, exclaimed aloud, " Ah !
than whore of Babylon, thou'lt have it all thy own way now."