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Crickhowell (Crug Hywel/Crucywel), Powys, Mid Wales
A winter journey to a small Welsh town
(Photos © urban75, 27th December 2009)
Taking its name from the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel, the Welsh town of Crickhowell lies on the River Usk, on the southern edge of the Black Mountains at the eastern part of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
It's a small town with just a population of 2,000, and features a seventeenth-century stone bridge and a castle dating back to 1120.
The town's most famous son is mapping expert, explorer and Surveyor-General of India, Sir George Everest (1798-1866) who has Mount Everest named after him.
There's some spectacular countryside surrounding Crickhowell, much of it in the Brecon beacons.
Crickhowell town centre.
Looking down from the mound, you can see the spire of Crickhowell church, one of the larger churches in Powys, dating back to the beginning of the 14th century.
Built on a true east/west alignment, the church has been substantially altered over the years, with a west porch being added in 1832/33.
Originally a motte and bailey affair, the walled Crickhowell castle was refortified in stone from 1242 with substantial stone towers and a large bailey added.
With tensions rising on the borders, a further refortification was ordered by KingHenry IV in 1400, but that wasn't enough to stop it being ruined during the uprising led by Owain Glyndŵr to 1412.
The ruins of the stone double tower still stands on the Castle Green.
Slender remains of a tower.
The Britannia Inn.
Clarence Hall, Crickhowell. Built in 1892, the imposing Clarence Hall on Beaufort Road was named after the Duke of Clarence, who laid the foundation stone in 1890.
Town view, with the snow peaked mountain in the background.
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