{"id":6530,"date":"2019-08-28T23:31:06","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T22:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6530"},"modified":"2019-08-28T23:35:26","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T22:35:26","slug":"llanthony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6530","title":{"rendered":"Llanthony"},"content":{"rendered":"

Llanthony <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

We parked at Llanthony Priory, in the care of Cadw and freely open to the public. The hamlet of Llanthony nestles in the heart of the beautiful Vale of Ewyas. This is the easternmost valley of the Black mountains, described by Gerald of Wales in 1188 as \u2018encircled on all sides by lofty mountains, but no more than three arrow shots in width\u2019.<\/p>\n

Here in this remote and tranquil valley an Augustinian priory was founded early in the 12th century. A wealthy nobleman, William de Lacy, sheltered in the ruined Celtic chapel of St David, and overcome by devotion decided to found the priory. The Augustinians, popularly known as Black Canons from the colour of their outer garments, were organised on monastic lines but were ordained priests going out to preach and hold services in nearby churches. Nothing remains of the original buildings as the monks were forced to retreat to Hereford and Gloucester by attacks from the primarily English community. The structures visible today date from the 13th century, when the priory was re-established and the Priory church built. Completed around 1230, it was closed 300 years later by Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries. Later a house, now a hotel, was built amongst the ruins where the monks once lived and worshipped.<\/p>\n

As soon as we got out of the cars we could hear the loud reverberations of bleating sheep. Nearly all of us peeped over the stone wall (it was high) surrounding the car park to find a huge flock of hundreds of sheep on the other side \u2013 had they been brought down for shearing or market?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We walked past the priory taking the footpath towards Hatterall Ridge; it is quite steep in places but a lovely climb on good grass paths which narrow near the top due to bracken. We glanced back at the priory as we climbed and it appeared to shrink while the panorama of the countryside grew. The sweeping upland moorland is shaped by livestock grazing and traditional practices such as heather burning. Here a very special moth, the Silurian Moth, makes its home. The spring buds and leaves of the bilberry plant (known locally as the \u2018whimberry\u2019) feed the moth. The purple berries can be foraged by humans but they weren\u2019t quite ripe enough for us. A sign reminded us that by law dogs must be kept on a lead between 1st March and 31st July and whenever livestock is nearby. This practice protects ground nesting birds such as red grouse.<\/p>\n

A cairn marked the point at which we met the Offa\u2019s Dyke path, the border between England and Wales. As we progressed along the ridge grazing horses came into view and larks briefly soared. On the side of the next ridge, in Wales, were curious circles shown clearly in the landscape we wondered how and for what purpose they were created. In one photograph I can count 17 of these circles and they seem to be connected by narrow tracks. A mystery!<\/p>\n

We strode quite quickly along the ridge as the path is a pavement and thoroughly enjoyed the unusual freedom of not having to look where we were stepping. We took in the view around us: on our right and east, England relatively flat with rolling farmland and to our left, the wild hills of Wales and the Brecon Beacons National Park.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At a large cairn we stopped for a time contemplating and then turned towards Wales, starting our descent through the bracken covered hillside. We lost height quickly and came to a signpost directing us to Capel y Ffin. Now that we were lower the temperature rose and we enjoyed the local flora including some splendid foxgloves and thistles.<\/p>\n

Arriving in the valley we disturbed a couple of black sheep, hiding in the bracken, and climbing a stile followed the road back to Llanthony. One of us had camped here many years ago and was able to share stories of all the various haunts they had explored.<\/p>\n

On reaching Llanthony we walked around the ruins of the priory and the church of St David\u2019s. A sign stated \u2018Welcome to St David\u2019s built on the earlier site of the monastic cell of \"\"St David, patron saint of Wales. This is one of the ancient and holy sites of Wales and has welcomed pilgrims throughout its history.\u2019 It had a peaceful atmosphere andone of its stained glass windows has a white dove against a rich blue background \u2013 beautiful.<\/p>\n

Walk7.25miles 1200ft ascent. Map OL13<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Llanthony We parked at Llanthony Priory, in the care of Cadw and freely open to the public. The hamlet of Llanthony nestles in the heart of the beautiful Vale of Ewyas. This is the easternmost valley of the Black mountains, described by Gerald of Wales in 1188 as \u2018encircled on all sides by lofty mountains, but no more than three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-1Hk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15578,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15578","url_meta":{"origin":6530,"position":0},"title":"Brecon & Llanthony Priory","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Brecon\u00a0 This was a delightful walk, we parked north of Brecon and took a footpath through the cathedral grounds. The mixed woodland (oak, beech, hazel and alder trees) of Priory Groves borders the river Honddu, and is about a mile long. Birds sang, the river tinkled, the scent of bluebells\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Footsteps1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6583,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6583","url_meta":{"origin":6530,"position":1},"title":"Capel-y-ffin","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Capel-y-ffin Getting to Capel-y-ffin (the Chapel at the end) is not easy. We drove to Llanthony and then along the valley following a narrow windy lane for over 2 miles; parking is restricted. A red kite swooped over us as we travelled. This and the sight of a cyclist (male)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Pic-04.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8726,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8726","url_meta":{"origin":6530,"position":2},"title":"The Welsh Have No Use For Orchards!","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Welsh Have No Use For Orchards nor Gardens! (The Welsh) have no use for orchards nor gardens'. So said Gerald of Wales, the 12th\/13th century historian and archdeacon of Brecon. We described in the previous two issues something of the background and history of the sweet apple - so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Picture7.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16569,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16569","url_meta":{"origin":6530,"position":3},"title":"Ewenny – A Glorious Morning","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Ewenny - A Glorious Morning As we approached Ewenny Priory, to park, we could hear shooting. Leaving the cars the sound intensified and the dog that was with us jumped back into the car and started to shake. We could see men, down on the banks of the river Ewenny,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Footsteps-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9769,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9769","url_meta":{"origin":6530,"position":4},"title":"Wye Valley","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st June 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Wye Valley At last, we have freedom to travel for our walks and to meet in increasing numbers. Four of us travelled to Goodrich Castle (English Heritage) in Herefordshire for a walk beside the river Wye. The beginning of the walk was along the road to Kerne bridge, a beautiful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14450,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14450","url_meta":{"origin":6530,"position":5},"title":"Monmouth","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Monmouth Monmouth\u2019s history goes back at least 2000 years to the presence of a Roman garrison. Its position at the meeting place of 3 rivers \u2013 the Trothy, Monnow and Wye, and one of the few places where the Wye could be safely crossed, allowed it to grow from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Picture11.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6530"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6530"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6533,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6530\/revisions\/6533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}