Glyntawe
Glyntawe
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 View north from the Gwyn Arms, Glyntawe, in the Brecon Beacons National Park |
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 Glyntawe
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| Glyntawe shown within Powys | |
| OS grid reference | SN 84472 16362 |
| Community |
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| Principal area | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Dialling code | 01874 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | |
| Welsh Assembly | |
Glyntawe is a hamlet and parish on the upper reaches of the River Tawe in Powys, Wales. It has always been sparsely populated. Today it attracts tourists for outdoor activities in the Brecon Beacons National Park and for caving.
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849) describes Glyntawe as, "a chapelry, attached to the parish of Devynock, in the hundred of Devynock, union and county of Brecknock, South Wales, 15 miles (W. S. W.) from Brecknock. It is situated at the south-western extremity of the extensive parish of Devynock, in a vale between elevated and dreary mountains, not far from the source of the river Tawe."Theophilus Jones in 1809 wrote of Devynock parish that,
The third chapel in this parish, in the vale of Tawe, is sometimes called Cael Glyntawe and sometimes Capel Callwen, a corruption of Cellwen, Fairwood chapel, or the chapel in the fair wood, descriptive no doubt of its early appearance; but so rude has been the hand of time and the equally denuding industry of man, so changed are the habiliments of nature in the course of ages, that she has here been disrobed of her verdant livery, which has been succeeded by a comfortless and slight russet mantle, incumbered by large stones and pebbles, and where the oak formerly grew in luxuriancy, the lichen at present barely vegetates."
A prehistoric site at Waun Fignen Felen, Glyntawe, has been carefully studied by paleo-ecologists and archaeologists. During the Mesolithic the area contained a small open lake that was gradually choked by weeds. At first it was surrounded by open country, but later this gradually changed to woodland. Stone tools and debris from knapping from the early and late Mesolithic were found in different locations around the lake. They seem to have been occupied only for short periods, and perhaps were hunting camps. Tools at the site are made of stones from some distance away, perhaps acquired by trade.
The Ogof yr Esgyrn cave at the source of the Afon Llynfell, part of a very large system of solution caves under the Cribarth plateau to the west of the upper Tawe, was discovered in 1922 and excavated between 1923 and 1950. Finds date from the post-glacial period through the Roman era to historic times. The cave was used for habitation and for burial. The strata from different eras were mixed together, and included a bronze rapier, bronze razor, bronze awl, gold bead, bone awl and weaving comb, as well as pottery sherds from the Bronze Age.
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Wikipedia