Loop 5. TALGARTH TO ST. DAVID'S AND HAVERFORDWEST.
The road from Talgarth to Brecon presents no special features except those of picturesque hill and dale, with various streams crossing the road at intervals.
BRECON
Brecon, the county town of Brecknockshire, lies upon the River Usk, and was formerly defended by walls and gates. Of the castle, destroyed as usual during the Civil War, only a few fragments near the Castle Hotel have survived, and one restored section facing the river.
St. Mary's Church has suffered so much from bad restoration that practically nothing of archæological interest remains in it.
The Priory Church.—This building is only excelled in Wales by the Cathedrals of St. David's and Llandaff. It is a massive cruciform structure, with a central tower, high roof and gables, and an external aspect almost devoid of ornamentation. The eastern portions are of Early English work, and the nave was gradually transformed during the fourteenth century into a Decorated building, with great octagonal piers, broad arches, and a lofty clerestory. The carved Norman font should be noticed, and also a number of effigies, one dating from 1359. An interesting feature are the chapels on either side of the presbytery, called respectively the Chapel of the Normans and the Chapel of the Men of Battle, the priory being a cell of Battle Abbey. The guilds of the town had chapels in the nave, those of the tailors, weavers, tuckers, and courvisors, or shoemakers, being at the west end. The domestic buildings still remain, and are attached to the southern side of the west end of the nave; the building has been restored by Sir Gilbert Scott. The town is a pleasant one by reason of the many public walks in and about it, and fine views may be obtained of the well-known Beacons, some of them approaching 3,000 feet in height.
The district round Brecon abounds in prehistoric camps and various remains of the British, Roman, and Saxon occupations. On the road to Llandovery, for instance, near Llanspyddyd, there is a Roman fort, and another of unknown origin adjoining, with a Roman road passing round them. Senny Bridge merely consists of a long street of uninteresting houses. At Trecastle there is an important mound, at one time crowned with a fortalice. From the centre of this village there is a steep ascent. The River Usk accompanies the road, and appears under various surroundings—now as a placid stream winding through meadowlands, and again as a foaming torrent in a deep, tree-shaded glen. This road through the outliers of the Beacons abounds in picturesque views of a well-wooded country, backed by the great swarthy slopes of the hills, called the Black Mountains, although the dark brown sandstone of which they are composed is the same colour as the brown heath upon them.
LLANDOVERY