At Easter two years later he led his troops against the Welsh of the Kingdom of Deheubarth (into which the ancient Kingdom of Brycheiniog had been absorbed) and triumphed. It seems that Bernard had reached the area of the confluence of the Rivers Usk and Honddu by 1091, and decided that it was a good site for a castle. The Normans always paid their dues.Īnd thus it was in Brecon. Invariably their focus then turned to the Church, never too far from the medieval mindset and after all, William the Bastard’s appropriation of the English crown (and therefore the material rewards his followers had all gained as a result) had succeeded largely because of the support of Pope Alexander II. When circumstances allowed the timber would be replaced by stone to give them stronger and more permanent headquarters. Typically, once they had taken control of an area the Normans would build a wooden fort as protection and as a base from which to begin their overlordship. No disrespect intended to anyone but Bernard seems to me to be such a mild-mannered name that it’s difficult to think of it as belonging to this ruthless man, one of a never-ending line of brutish Normans who moved on from England into Wales to satisfy their greed for land and power. The cathedral was founded in 1093 by Bernard de Neufmarché, son of the hilariously labelled Geoffrey the Incompetent, of Le Neuf-Marché en Lyons in Northern France. Path to the north entrance of Brecon Cathedral The Regiment has earned honours in many campaigns and is probably best known for the part it played in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 when its soldiers won nine Victoria Crosses in a single day’s fighting. Due to the particular obsession I have with all things medieval I concentrated mostly on these aspects, though I will say here that the Havard Chapel in the north transept is the Regimental Chapel of the South Wales Borderers (24th Regiment), a regiment first raised in 1689. We went there today to have a wander around the cathedral, which isn’t the biggest, the most spectacular or the oldest in the country but is certainly worth a visit and has some interesting bits and pieces. The town itself is quiet and pleasant and not that much different from my childhood memory of it. It’s a trip I now make once a week when I go to my Welsh class and I always enjoy it because it’s just so, so pretty whatever the season and whatever the weather – even the fog or rain lend something to the views. It was mid-March and the A40 took us past the snow covered peaks of the Beacons, along the route followed by Roman legions. When we moved here two and a bit years ago one of the first trips we made was to Brecon to do some shopping. Interestingly my mother was one of the least political individuals I’ve ever known and would walk a mile in bare feet to avoid controversy of any kind, but for some reason this tale of poor, innocent Dic would always wind her up.įast forward half a century and I now live in Breconshire, within the boundaries of the Brecon Beacons National Park. He was hanged in Cardiff Jail and has been seen as something of a martyr ever since forty years after his execution another man confessed to the crime on his death bed. Obviously Dic was innocent (he was on Aberdare mountain at the time of the attack!) but it didn’t make any difference (sad shake of the head.). In case you don’t know (I can just see my mother tutting and shaking her head at you…) Dic Penderyn was a young miner who was (falsely…tut…) accused of stabbing one of the soldiers who’d been sent from Brecon to quell riots in Merthyr Tydfil back in 1831. One of the few things I knew about Brecon was that there was an army garrison there and I knew this because every time we walked past St Mary’s Church in Aberavon my mother would tut and shake her head and tell us – again – the story of Dic Penderyn, who was buried there. When I first visited Brecon as a child it was a bustling market town and the trip was something of a treat – the place was almost exotic in comparison with grey, industrial Port Talbot where we lived.
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