Llanafan Fawr
| Llanafan Fawr | |
|---|---|
 St Afan's Church in Llanafan Fawr |
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 Llanafan Fawr
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| Llanafan Fawr shown within Powys | |
| Population | 470 (2011) |
| Community |
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| Principal area | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Llandrindod Wells |
| Postcode district | LD1 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
Llanafan Fawr is a civil community and ecclesiastical parish in the former cantref of Buellt (Builth) and historic county of Brecknockshire in Wales. It is now part of Powys.
The parish has an area of slightly over 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) (about twenty square miles) and a scattered rural population of more than a thousand. It is named after Saint Afan and was the centre of Cantref Buallt in ancient times, before the building of Builth Wells about 9 miles (14 km) away. The former spa town of Llandrindod Wells is also close by.
The village is also known simply as Llanafan or variantly spelled Llanafan-Fawr. In Welsh placenames, many smaller communities are named for their parish (llan), having grown up around the local church. This name of the village honours its patron saint Afan. "Fawr" is the mutated form of the Welsh mawr, meaning "big" or "great". The title distinguishes the community from the nearby Llanafan Fechan ("Little Llanafan"), although that village is now more often known as "Llanfechan".
Afan was a 6th-century saint supposedly related to the Cuneddan dynasty of Gwynedd. His relics are claimed by the local church, which commemorates him as a bishop, presumably over Brycheiniog but possibly only over the local parish. The c. 1300 inscription on the tomb reads: HIC IACET SANCTUS AVANUS EPISCOPUS. He was said to have been martyred on the banks of the Afon Chwefru during an attack by Irish pirates or Danes.
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Wikipedia