LLANYNIS (LLAN-YNYS), a parish, in the union and hundred of BUILTH, county of BRECKNOCK, SOUTH WALES, miles (W. by
from Builth; containing 175 inhabitants. This place derives a considerable degree of interest from its proximity to the
scene of Llewelyn's death; and within a few yards only from the church was a bridge over the Irvon, near which that last
royal assertor of his country's independence was slain, and of which some of the timbers remained in the bank of the river
until within the last 40 years. Near the summit of a high ridge that intersects the parish, the northern acclivity of
which, to the south of the church, is almost precipitous, and covered with wood, are several small artificial terraces or
flats, formed probably either for encampment or for ambush, from which there are roads or paths, at nearly equal distances
from each other, leading down the slope to the river; the principal of these roads, which are about 300 yards apart, led
directly to the bridge over the Irvon, near which Llewelyn ab Grufydd was slain. The parish is situated on the road
leading from Builth to Carmarthen and Llandovery over the Eppynt hills, and bounded on the north by the river Irvon, and
on the south by a rivulet called Cniddon or Knithon; and comprises by computation 2256 acres, of which 784 are arable, 248
meadow and pasture, 402 titheable wood and coppice, 820 waste and forest not titheable, and two garden ground. The surface
is very uneven, and in some parts mountainous; a long ridge of high land rising near the eastern extremity of the parish,
extends almost its entire length, and terminates in a barren hill on its western confines. The scenery is richly
diversified, and the banks of the Irvon, a stream abounding with salmon, trout, and graylings, are finely alternated with
luxuriantly fertile meadows, groves of thriving timber, and flourishing plantations. The views from the higher grounds
extend over a tract of country characterised by features of picturesque beauty, and combining many objects of interest.
The soil, especially on the north side, where the land is low, and sometimes, after heavy rains, overflowed by the waters
of the Irvon, is extremely rich, but on the south side it is rather light and barren; the chief produce of the parish is
wheat, barley, oats, peas, and various kinds of live stock; and the prevailing timber is oak and ash, interspersed with
birch, hazel, black and white thorn, and alder, to which have lately been added some plantations of fir: the rateable
annual value of the parish is returned at £928. The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £7. O.
7f.; patron, Bishop of St: David's: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £103; and there is a glebe of
three acres, valued at £7 per annum. The church, situated in a fine fertile plain on the south bank of the Irvon, was
rebuilt in 1806, and is a neat edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel measuring 70 feet in length and 24 in breadth. A
tenement, named Tir Twppa, in the parish,.was charged by Howel Lewis, of Blaen Dihonwy, in 1674, with the payment of
twenty shillings annually to the poor of Llanynis, and also with a like sum to those of Maesmynis. Thomas Lewis, supposed
to have been a brother of Howel, bequeathed, in 1675, a tenement called Pen-y-Rhiw, adjoining Tir Twppa, to the poor of
the two parishes, in equal portions; and a moiety of the present annual income arising from this tenement, amounting to
£15, is distributed, according to the will of the testator, by the minister and officers of this parish.