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by Iiiii inftitutions ; amonp; which were two priories approprU 

 ated rifpcclivcly to Ikiicdidiiies and Dominicans. One of 

 tlicfe was converted into a college bv Henry VI II., and the 

 principal building of the other is now a parifli church. The 

 remaining fragments cf the caftle prove tl'.dt it has been an 

 extenfive and grand pile of building. Part of the keep, and 

 a tower called llly-tovver, ilill remain. The latter is fo 

 natned from Dr. Morton, bllhop of Ely, who was confined 

 here by order of Richard III., where, in conjunftion with 

 his keeper, the dilappointcd duke ot Buckingham, they 

 planned the union of the two houfes of York and Lancafter, 

 ;ind tlie fucceflion of Henry VII. Their plan was com- 

 plete!) digclled, and eventually brought to a fucccfslul ter- 

 mination, though the projeftors of it experienced very oppo- 

 lite fates. The duke, who was the moll aclive in this tranf- 

 adion, was detected, fei/.cd, and executed ; but the more 

 fortunate bifliop efcaped from the caltle, kept quiet, and 

 hved to become, iu the enfuing reign, a privy counfellor, 

 and was further advanced to (ill the metropolitan fee of 

 Canterbury. The callie is divided from the town by the 

 river Hodny or Honddy. Its main body, with all the princi- 

 pal part«, are Hid to be traced, though the tower juft men- 

 tioned is the only large mafs of building that remains to 

 charaderizc its architedure ai-d gloomy dignity. 



Brecknock was formerly furrounded with an embattled 

 wall, and entered by four gates, named, according to their 

 rcfpcdive fituations, Eaft-gate, Well gate, High-gate, and 

 Water-gate. There was alfo another gate in the fuburb, 

 called Portherne S. Manx. The town confills, at prefent, 

 of three principal fpacious ftreets, and, according to Mr. 

 Alalkin's (latemeut, " is one of the beil built in Wales," 

 though fome of the fmallcr ftreets, occupied by poor inha- 

 bitants, are " miferably deficient in general arrangements." 

 The trade, though not very confiderable, is progreffivcly 

 increafing fince ttie coinpletion of its canal ; and fome ma- 

 nufactories of woollens and hats are ellablifhed on a refpeft- 

 able fcale. " Brecknock," obferves Mr. Malkin, " appears 

 in moll refpcfts to be a very defirable refidence, and is much 

 inhabited by clergy and gentry of independent fortunes. 

 The number of fpacious and modern-built houfes is greater, 

 in proportion to its fize, than perhaps in any town of Wales. 

 The markets are well, but not very cheaply, fupplied. The 

 broken fummit of the mountainous ridge, continued into 

 Monmouthfhire in irregular lines ; the dil'mantlcd towers of 

 Aberhodny, with its mouldering walls in wild and various 

 ruins, while the unpidurtfque compaftnefs of the modern 

 buildings^ is favourably concealed, render this one of the mod 

 linking fituations, near any town in the principality." The 

 iituation of the priory and callie, with the fecluded and in- 

 tcrelling walks formed near thcfe ruins, are peculiarly de- 

 lightful, and invariably attradt the attention and admiration 

 of all ftrangers. Brecon is a borough, and returns one 

 member to parliament. 



Here were buried the three bilTiops of St. David's, Main- 

 waring, Lucy, and Bull. In the town and its vicinity have 

 been found feveral Roman antiquities, with coins, &c. and 

 fome large intrenchments are to be feen on the neighbouring 

 hills ; but the moll remarkable fortification is Y-Gaer, about 

 trt-o miles N.W. from the town. This was probably occu- 

 pied, if not made, by the Romans. It is feated on a gen- 

 tle eminence, overlooking the river Uflc ; parts of its walls 

 remain ; and within the area of the camp fome Roman 

 bricki have been found, fimilar to thofe at Caerleon, with 

 the infcription LEG U AUG. Contiguous to the camp, 

 in the middle of a highway, is a rude carved pillar, about 

 fix feet high, called Maen-y-jMorimoti, or the Virgin's 

 ftone. Another fragment of Roman antiquity is a fepul- 



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chral pillar, noticed by Gibfoii and Cough, fta/iding up- 

 right by the road-fide, with a defaced infcription, of which 

 only the word VICTOR INI is legible. 



Brecknock confills of three parillies, and contains 540 

 houfes, and 2^76 inhabitants. It is 171 miles well from 

 London, and has two weekly markets on Wednefdays and 

 Saturdays, and four fairs yearly. Evans's Cambrian Itine- 

 rary, 8vo. i Sol. Malkin'a Scenery, Antiquities and Bio- 

 graphy of South Wales, 4to. 1S04. Gough's Edition of 

 Camden's Britannia, vol. li. 



Brfcknock Canal, in Inland Nai>igalt(m, joins that from 

 Momnouthfliire, eight milts and a half from Newport, and 

 about one from Pontypooi. It crDfies the river Avon, and 

 palTes the high ground by means of a tunnel 220 yards long, 

 and, inclining towards the river Uflc, paflls Abergavenny. 

 It then runs parallel with the Uflc to the town of Breck- 

 nock ; making a courfe of nearly thirty-three miles, with 

 fixty-eight feet rife. A rail-road extends from Aberga- 

 venny to the canal, one mile in length ; and from the canal 

 at Cwm Clydach to the coal and iron works at Wain Dew, 

 four miles and three quarters. Another rail-road, from the 

 canal to Llangroincy, crofTes the river Ufiv, and is in length 

 one mile and a quarter. The rates of carriage for all kinds 

 of merchandize, materials, horfes, cattle, &c. are particu- 

 larly fpecified by the a£l of parliament. Philips's Hiftory of 

 Inland Navigation, 410. 



BRECKNOCKSHIRE, deriving its name from Brecan, 

 adillinguifhed charaderin legendary ilory, who fucceeded to 

 it about the year 400, one of the counties of South Wales, 

 is bounded on the north and eaft by Radnorfhire, having the 

 river Wye for its natutal divifion. A fmall part of He- 

 refordfhire alfo attaches to its eaftem limits ; on the fouth- 

 tall and fouth the county of Monmouth forms its boundary ; 

 and a fmall part of Glamorganfhire, with Caermarthenlhire 

 and Cardigan (hire, bound its weftern and fouth-weftern ex- 

 tremities. The length of this area, north and fouth, is efti- 

 mated at twenty -nine miles, and its breadth at the fouthem 

 bafis about thirty-four miles, making nearly 900 fquare 

 miles, and containing about 600,000 acres. This dillrid 

 is divided into the fix hundreds of Builth, Crickhowelj 

 Deuynnoch, Merthyr, Penkelly, and Talgarth, and con- 

 tains 4 towns, and 67 parifhes. Thefe, with the hamlets, are 

 populated by 31,633 pcrfons, and contain 6794 houfes. 



This county is defcribed in the following terms by Gi- 

 raldus Cambrenfis, who wrote at the latter end of the twelfth 

 century, and was archdeacon of St. David's, in which dio- 

 cefe this county is included. 



" Brechiniane (fays he, in his Itinerary of Wales) is a 

 county abounding with corn ; and if ever any deficiency- 

 happens, it is plentifully fupplied from its neighbour, Eng- 

 land. It is rich in pafturcs and woods, deer and herds, and 

 abounds alfo with river-fifli in the Ulk on one hand, and 

 the Wye on the other ; both yielding falmon and trout in 

 plenty, but the Wye greater quantities of the excellent filh 

 called umbrtt. It is enclofed on every fide, except the north, 

 by high mountains ; having on the well the mountains of 

 Canterbochan ; on the fouth the fouthern hills, the chief of 

 which is Cader- Arthur, or Arthur's chair, from its two 

 fummits (it being ^ixofujoj, double-topped) refembling a chair; 

 and this chair, being on a high and ileep place, is by the 

 vulgar afcribed to the greatell and moft fovcrtign monarch 

 of Britain, Arthur. On the top of this hill rifes a fpring, 

 deep like a well, but fquart ; and though no Itream runs 

 out of it, they find trout in it. Thcfe mountains, forming abar- 

 rier to the fouth, keep out the fun, while cool breezes, and 

 the native falubrity of the air, render the country extremely 

 tf mperate. On the eaft. ftretch the Tolgar and Ewias hills." 

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