74-484: Fforest Fach is a small area of unenclosed land within Brecon Beacons National Park southwest of Sennybridge in the county of Powys , Wales . Translating from Welsh as 'little forest', it is named in opposition to the much larger area of unenclosed land to the south which is known as Fforest Fawr or the 'great forest'. Whilst Fforest Fawr and Fforest Fach have been distinct areas for many centuries,
148-627: A British settlement at the top of the hill (close to which "much Romaine mony is found"), the Saxon and medieval town further south, and a more recent riverside development at Wigford. He was able to judge that the existing fabric of Ripon Minster "indubitately was made sins the Conquest ". He correctly distinguished what he called "Briton brykes" (actually Roman bricks ) at several geographically dispersed sites, including Verulamium , Richborough , Lympne , Dover Castle , Canterbury , and Bewcastle . He
222-407: A "huge blow". Most of the national park is bare, grassy moorland grazed by Welsh mountain ponies and Welsh mountain sheep , with scattered forestry plantations , and pasture in the valleys. Common ravens , red kites , peregrine falcons , northern wheatears , ring ouzels , and the rare merlin breeds in the park. The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957, the third of
296-443: A bilingual nation as it did not treat English and Welsh languages equally, and ambassadors of the park were not consulted on the name change. A digital marketer dismissed the campaigner's argument, stating tourism would not be impacted, and the national park authority stated they are prioritising Welsh names going forward. John Leland (antiquary) John Leland or Leyland (13 September, c. 1503 – 18 April 1552)
370-545: A continuous massif of high ground above 300 metres (1000'). The A470 road forms the approximate boundary between the central Beacons and Fforest Fawr. The highest peak of the Black Mountain is Fan Brycheiniog , at 802.5 metres (2,633 ft). There are notable waterfalls in this area, including the 90-foot (27 m) Henrhyd Falls and the Ystradfellte falls to the south of Fforest Fawr. The Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system
444-659: A few fragmentary notes survive. Leland kept notebooks on his travels, in which he entered and assessed information from personal observation, and from books, charters and oral sources. It is this material which we now know as his 'Itinerary'. In the 1906–10 edition, the Itinerary runs to five printed volumes. It comprises rough notes and very early drafts, the raw materials for a more digested description of England and Wales – Leland would not have envisaged publishing it in anything like its present form. The county on which he appears to have made greatest progress in organising his material
518-400: A formal appointment as "king's antiquary": however, it is now understood to have been merely Leland's own preferred way of describing himself. There is no evidence that he personally oversaw the relocation of the books to their new home or received a librarian's wages. What he did do was to compile his lists of important volumes, and to take measures to encourage their preservation. Even after
592-451: A hole worlde of thinges very memorable. He also described what use he intended to make of the information he had accumulated. He noted four projects: Of these projects, De uiris illustribus was already largely complete (it was written in two phases, in c. 1535 –36 and c. 1543 –46), but the others would never come to fruition. Polydore Vergil appears to have suggested that Leland had been unrealistically over-ambitious: he
666-426: A iiii. or v. myles of Monemuth , and on the other side as nere to Cairmerdin ( Carmarthen ). Though this be al one montayne, yet many partes of him have sundry names. Leland ascribes the name "Banne Brekeniauc" to the hills surrounding "Artures Hille" (Pen-y-Fan), also calling the range the "Banne Hilles". The term "Brecknock Beacons" was used in the eighteenth century and referred to the area around Pen y Fan, which
740-471: A pseudonym for Vergil, was a type-name drawn from Juvenal for a wretched and dreary hack-poet.) He followed this with a longer published work, the Assertio inclytissimi Arturii regis Britannia (1544). In both texts, Leland drew on a wide range of literary, etymological, archaeological and oral sources to defend the historicity of Arthur. Although his central belief was flawed, his work preserved much evidence for
814-486: A series of journeys which lasted six years. Probably over the summer of 1538 (though there may also have been earlier and/or later trips), he made an extended excursion through Wales. He subsequently made a number of journeys in England: the exact sequence and their dates are again uncertain, but there seem to have been five major English itineraries, taken over the summers of the years 1539 to 1543. His one firmly dated itinerary
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#1732885085327888-568: A significant role during the Industrial Revolution as various raw materials including limestone, silica sand and ironstone were quarried for transport southwards to the furnaces of the industrialising South Wales Valleys . The Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre was opened in 1966 to help visitors understand and enjoy the area. This western half of the national park gained European and global status in 2005 as Fforest Fawr Geopark , which includes
962-516: A slightly smaller area than it does presently. A 'Variation Order' was made in June 1966 to extend it by about 4.5 square miles (12 km ) at its southeastern extremity. West of the canal, the boundary had previously been drawn along the boundary between the (then) administrative parishes of Llanover and Goytre. The park is managed by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority, a special purpose local authority with responsibilities to conserve and enhance
1036-516: Is a new and authoritative edition (with English translation) of the work previously published by Hall as Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis . This edition, based on Toulmin Smith's, rearranges Leland's topographical descriptions of England (with Wales added in the second edition) in county chapters, and renders them in modern English. It is less authoritative for scholarly purposes, but considerably more accessible and easier to navigate. It also corrects
1110-535: Is also a standards committee with three members. Between 1995 and 2020 the park authority had 24 members, sixteen appointed by the local authorities and eight by the government. Outdoor activities in Brecon Beacons National Park include walking , cycling , mountain biking and horse riding , as well as sailing , windsurfing , canoeing , fishing , rock climbing , hang-gliding , caravanning , camping and caving . A long-distance cycling route,
1184-471: Is also provided by a couple of bridleways, one of which cuts east–west across the hill between Cwm Treweryn and Cwm Crai. 51°55′44″N 3°35′51″W / 51.9289°N 3.5975°W / 51.9289; -3.5975 Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon Beacons National Park , officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park ( Welsh pronunciation ), is a national park in Wales. It
1258-498: Is located two miles (3 km) north of Merthyr Tydfil town centre. Mountain rescue in south Wales is provided by five volunteer groups, with the police having overall command. In serious situations they were historically aided by Royal Navy or Royal Air Force helicopters from RM Chivenor or RAF Valley , but since 2015 this task has been performed by Bristow Helicopters on behalf of HM Coastguard . The five groups are: The groups are funded primarily by donations. Their work
1332-509: Is named after the Brecon Beacons ( Welsh : Bannau Brycheiniog ), the mountain range at its centre. The national park includes the highest mountain in South Wales, Pen y Fan , which has an elevation of 886 metres (2,907 ft). The national park has a total area of 1,344 square kilometres (519 sq mi). The Brecon Beacons and Fforest Fawr uplands form the central section of
1406-541: Is not restricted to mountain rescue – they frequently assist the police in their search for missing or vulnerable people in the community. The Brecon Beacons are used for training members of the UK armed forces and military reservists . The Army ’s Infantry Battle School is located at Brecon, and the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service use the area to test the fitness of applicants. An exercise unique to
1480-442: Is on the southwestern edge of Fforest Fawr. Numerous town and community councils operate within these areas and include the town councils for Brecon and Hay on Wye and the community councils for Cefn-coed-y-cymmer , Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine , Llangattock , Llangors , Llanthony , Llywel , Pontsticill , Pontsarn and Vaynor , Talybont-on-Usk , Trallong , Trecastle and Ystradfellte . The geology of
1554-604: Is that of 1542, which took him to the West Country . By that date he had been on a tour to the north-west, which went via the Welsh marches to Cheshire , Lancashire and Cumberland ; while other itineraries took him to the west Midlands , the north-east (reaching Yorkshire and County Durham ), and the Bristol region. He probably explored the south-east in shorter excursions. He is not known to have toured East Anglia , for which only
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#17328850853271628-515: Is the highest of the Black Mountain. The park was founded in 1957 and is the third and most recently designated national park in Wales , after Snowdonia (Eryri) and the Pembrokeshire Coast . It is visited by approximately 4.4 million people each year. The name Bannau Brycheiniog is first attested in the sixteenth century, and 'Brecon Beacons' first occurs in the eighteenth century as "Brecknock Beacons". Bannau Brycheiniog derives from
1702-783: The Black Mountains in the east, the Brecon Beacons and Fforest Fawr uplands in the centre, and the Black Mountain in the west. The park is entirely within Wales and therefore excludes the Olchon Valley and Black Hill , which are part of the Black Mountains but in the English county of Herefordshire . The central Brecon Beacons range comprises six main peaks, which from west to east are: Corn Du, 873 metres (2,864 ft); Pen y Fan,
1776-576: The Brecon Mountain Railway . The railway is a 1 ft 11 + 3 ⁄ 4 in ( 603 mm ) narrow gauge tourist railway on the south side of the Brecon Beacons. It climbs northwards from Pant along the full length of the Pontsticill Reservoir (also called 'Taf Fechan' reservoir by Welsh Water ) and continues past the adjoining Pentwyn Reservoir to Torpantau railway station . The railway's starting point at Pant
1850-659: The Caledonian orogeny . Further faulting and folding, particularly in the south of the park is associated with the Variscan orogeny . The area was inhabited during the Neolithic and the succeeding Bronze Age , the most obvious legacy of the latter being the numerous burial cairns which adorn the hills of the centre and west of the National Park. There are remnants of round barrows on Fan Brycheiniog, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. The former
1924-584: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , Leland did not abandon his hunt for books. For instance, he obtained official permission to avail himself of the library belonging to the defunct monastery of Bury St Edmunds . The descriptions of Britain which he encountered in the manuscripts, however, and his personal experiences of travel, also sparked off fresh interests. By about 1538, Leland had turned his attention to English and Welsh topography and antiquities, embarking on
1998-618: The Taff Trail , passes over the Beacons on its way from Brecon to Cardiff , and in 2005 the first walk to span the entire length of the park was opened. The 99-mile (159 km) route, called the Beacons Way , runs from Abergavenny via The Skirrid ( Ysgyryd Fawr ) in the east and ends in the village of Llangadog in Carmarthenshire in the west. A railway with narrow gauge trains is run by
2072-417: The 1530s and 1540s, the royal library was reorganised to accommodate hundreds of books that were previously kept in monastic collections. Leland himself describes how Henry's palaces at Greenwich , Hampton Court and Westminster were adapted for the purpose. Leland's part in this is uncertain. In humanist fashion, Leland styled himself antiquarius , a title which was at one time interpreted as referring to
2146-523: The Arthurian tradition that might otherwise have been lost. Leland's material provides invaluable evidence for reconstructing the lost "tomb monument" of Arthur (thought to be a fabrication of the twelfth century) at Glastonbury Abbey . He was probably also responsible for making a drawing of the lead cross that identified the grave as Arthur's, afterwards published as a woodcut in the 1607 edition of Camden's Britannia . On his itinerary of 1542, Leland
2220-586: The Black Mountain, the historic extent of Fforest Fawr, and much of the Brecon Beacons range and surrounding lowlands. The entire national park achieved the status of being an International Dark Sky Reserve in February 2013. In 2006 and 2007, controversy surrounded the government decision to build the South Wales Gas Pipeline through the park, the National Park Authority calling the decision
2294-547: The Brecons Beacons range from the national park, the range is sometimes called the "Central Beacons". In April 2023, the national park changed its name to Bannau Brycheiniog in English , abandoning the previous English name Brecon Beacons . The area covered by the national park stretches from Llandeilo in the west to Hay-on-Wye in the northeast and Pontypool in the southeast, covering 519 square miles (1,340 km ). It principally consists of three mountain ranges;
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2368-452: The King for January 1546, but James Carley has shown that it must have been composed in late 1543 or early 1544 (so that if it was presented at the new year, which is not certain, it would have been in 1544). In the letter, Leland reported on his endeavours to preserve books, and the extent and thoroughness of his travels through England and Wales: I have so travelid yn yowr dominions booth by
2442-687: The Romans came to Wales in 43 CE, they stationed more than 600 soldiers in the area. Y Gaer , near the town of Brecon was their main base. During the Norman Conquest many castles were erected throughout the park, including Carreg Cennen Castle . Brecon Castle is of Norman origin. There are many old tracks which were used over the centuries by drovers to take their cattle and geese to market in England. The drovers brought back gorse seed , which they sowed to provide food for their sheep . The area played
2516-506: The Welsh bannau , "peaks", and Brycheiniog , the name of an early medieval kingdom which covered the area. The English name is derived from the Welsh one; in the eleventh century the town of Brecon is recorded as 'Brecheniauc', which became "Brecknock" and "Brecon". In a paragraph on Brecknockshire, John Leland 's 1536–1539 Itinerary notes that: Blak Montayne is most famose, for he strecchith, as I have lerned, his rootes on one side within
2590-680: The acquaintance of humanist scholars whom he much admired, such as Guillaume Budé and Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples . A scholar of particular importance for Leland was François Dubois (Silvius), professor at the Collège de Tournai , who had a profound effect on his poetic as well as antiquarian interests. While in France, Leland kept in touch with his friends and sponsors in England, probably including Thomas Wolsey (d. 1530), Cardinal and Lord Chancellor, who made him rector at Laverstoke , Hampshire. By 1529, Leland had returned to England. When Wolsey fell from
2664-582: The antiquary, William Burton . Burton subsequently managed to recover several of the items given to Hales, and in 1632 and 1642–3 donated most of the collection—comprising the Collectanea , De scriptoribus and several of the Itinerary notebooks—to the Bodleian Library , Oxford, where the volumes remain. The Leland Trail is a 28-mile (45 km) footpath , which follows the footsteps of John Leland as he traversed South Somerset between 1535 and 1543 in
2738-635: The area is the ' Fan dance ', which takes place on Pen y Fan. In July 2013 three soldiers died from overheating or heatstroke on an SAS selection exercise. An army captain had been found dead on Corn Du earlier in the year after training in freezing weather for the SAS. On 17 April 2023 it was announced that the National Park had officially adopted the name Bannau Brycheiniog in both Welsh and English. The new official English name became Bannau Brycheiniog National Park , or "the Bannau" for short. The change took effect on
2812-517: The course of his investigation of the region's antiquities. The Leland Trail begins at King Alfred's Tower on the Wiltshire / Somerset border and finishes at Ham Hill Country Park . Leland's prose writings, published and unpublished, include: Leland's writings are an invaluable primary source , not only for the local history and the geography of England, but also for literary history , archaeology , social history , and economic history . This
2886-947: The custody of Sir John Cheke . John Bale consulted some of them at this time. Cheke fell from favour on the accession of Queen Mary , and departed for mainland Europe in 1554: from that point onwards, and continuing after Cheke's death in 1557, the library was dispersed. Books were acquired by collectors including Sir William Cecil , William, Lord Paget , John Dee and Archbishop Matthew Parker . Leland's own manuscript notebooks were inherited by Cheke's son, Henry, and in 1576 they were borrowed and transcribed by John Stow , allowing their contents to begin to circulate in antiquarian circles. Antiquaries who gained access to them through Stow included William Camden , William Harrison , Robert Glover and Francis Thynne . The original notebooks passed from Henry Cheke to Humphrey Purefoy, and so (following his death in 1598) to Humphrey's son Thomas, who divided many of them between his two cousins John Hales and
2960-619: The decision, with its leader Jane Dodds comparing it to movements in New Zealand. Conservative MP James Evans described the move as "not a priority" for locals and raised concerns over cost, and the local Conservative MP, Fay Jones , argued that the English name could have been kept. Upon the news of the name change the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated "I'm going to keep calling it the Brecon Beacons, and I would imagine most people will do that too." Catherine Mealing-Jones,
3034-577: The earliest archaeological field report. Leland was a staunch patriot, and believed firmly in the historical veracity of King Arthur . He therefore took offence when the Italian scholar Polydore Vergil cast doubts on certain elements in the Arthurian legend in his Anglica Historia (published in 1534). Leland's first response was an unpublished tract, written perhaps in 1536, the Codrus sive Laus et Defensio Gallofridi Arturii contra Polydorum Vergilium . ("Codrus",
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3108-678: The ex- Carmelite churchman and fellow antiquary John Bale , who much admired his work and offered his assistance. In 1536, not long after the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 commanding the dissolution of lesser monasteries was passed, Leland lamented the spoliation of monastic libraries and addressed Thomas Cromwell in a letter seeking aid for the rescue of books. He complained that The Germans perceive our desidiousness, and do send daily young scholars hither that spoileth [books], and cutteth them out of libraries, returning home and putting them abroad as monuments of their own country. In
3182-459: The highest peak, 886 metres (2,907 ft); Cribyn , 795 metres (2,608 ft); Fan y Bîg , 719 metres (2,359 ft); Bwlch y Ddwyallt , 754 metres (2,474 ft); and Waun Rydd , 769 metres (2,523 ft). These summits form a long ridge , and the sections joining the first four form a horseshoe shape around the head of the Taf Fechan , which flows away to the southeast. To the northeast of
3256-426: The hill which is readily seen from the road. A legacy of the glaciation of this area during the last ice age is the presence of glacial till around the flanks of the hill. The sides of Cwm Clydach which cuts into the eastern side of the hill show evidence of landslips having occurred, probably in early post-glacial times. The summit plateau of the hill is open country across which walkers may wander at will. Access
3330-559: The hill. Fforest Fach is formed from sandstones and mudstones of the St. Maughans Formation of the Old Red Sandstone laid down during the Devonian period . Some of the sandstone beds on the north-eastern spur of the hill have been quarried in the past for building stone or possibly for use as roof tiles. The now disused Pantymaes Quarry is a major working of the sandstone on the eastern side of
3404-492: The king appears to have entrusted Leland with a document, "a moste gratius commission" (or principis diploma as he called it in Latin), which authorized him to examine and use the libraries of all religious houses in England. Leland spent the next few years travelling from house to house, for the most part shortly before they were dissolved, compiling numerous lists of significant or unusual books in their libraries. About 1535, he met
3478-555: The king sent Leland to Oxford , where as Anthony Wood later claimed from tradition, he became a fellow of All Souls College . He would later deplore the state of education at Oxford, which he felt was too conservative in its approach to classical studies. Between 1526 and 1528, Leland proceeded to Paris , studying along with many fellow expatriates, both English and German. His original plan to study in Italy, too, never succeeded. Leland honed his skills at composing Latin poetry and sought
3552-523: The king's favour in that year, Leland appears to have sought the patronage of Thomas Cromwell , a relationship which would help explain his rising fortunes over the next few years. He was appointed one of the chaplains to King Henry VIII , who gave him the rectory of Peuplingues (Pepeling), in the marshes of Calais (though he may never have visited the place). In 1533, Leland received papal dispensation for four benefices, on condition that he became subdeacon within two years and priest within seven. He
3626-402: The mid-1540s, Leland wrote a letter to Henry VIII in which he outlined his achievements so far, and his future plans. It was subsequently published by John Bale in 1549 (with Bale's own additional commentary) under the title The laboryouse journey & serche of Johan Leylande for Englandes antiquitees . The letter has traditionally (following Bale) been regarded as a "New Year's gift" to
3700-557: The mountain simply 'Beacon'. A slightly wider definition was used in 1809 by the Breconshire historian Theophilus Jones , who wrote that 'of the lofty summits of the Brecknock Beacons, that most southwards is the lowest, and the other two nearly of a height, they are sometimes called Cader Arthur or Arthur's chair'. This implies that "Brecknock Beacons" referred to only three summits, including Pen y Fan and Corn Du. To distinguish
3774-450: The national park consists of a thick succession of sedimentary rocks laid down from the late Ordovician through the Silurian and Devonian to the late Carboniferous period. The rock sequence most closely associated with the park is the Old Red Sandstone from which most of its mountains are formed. The older parts of the succession, in the northwest, were folded and faulted during
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#17328850853273848-535: The natural beauty of the park, aid visitors' enjoyment of the park, and support the economic and social well-being of local communities. The National Park Authority has 18 members, twelve are appointed by the area's local authorities and six by the Welsh Government. Of the local authority members six are appointed by Powys County Council, and one each by the councils of Blaenau Gwent, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Torfaen. There
3922-478: The odd situation now arises where Fforest Fach now finds itself within Fforest Fawr Geopark , the boundaries of which are drawn rather more widely than those of the traditional royal hunting forest. The hill possesses two indistinct summits, the higher of which at 382m is in the south whilst that to the north at 381m is crowned by a trig point . There was formerly a rifle range at the north-western corner of
3996-441: The park authority's CEO, stated: "the name Brecon Beacons doesn't make any sense – the translation Brecon Beacons doesn't really mean anything in Welsh", adding that "a massive carbon-burning brazier is not a good look for an environmental organisation". Mealing-Jones admitted that people can refer to the park by either name, and that the change "isn't compulsory", but hoped the emphasis on the Welsh name would encourage people to use
4070-449: The park. To the east are the Black Mountains , which extend beyond the national park boundary into England, and to the west is the similarly named but distinct Black Mountain range. These ranges share much of the same basic geology, the southerly dip of the rock strata leading to north-facing escarpments. The highest peak of the Black Mountains is Waun Fach (811 metres (2,661 ft)), and Fan Brycheiniog (802.5 metres (2,633 ft))
4144-527: The ridge, interspersed with long parallel spurs, are four cirques (Welsh: cwm ) or four round-headed valleys, which from west to east these are Cwm Sere, Cwm Cynwyn, Cwm Oergwm and Cwm Cwareli. The Black Mountains in the east are clearly separated from the central Beacons range by the Usk valley between Brecon and Abergavenny. Waun Fach (811 metres (2,661 ft)) is the highest mountain in this range. The Brecon Beacons range, Fforest Fawr, and Black Mountain form
4218-422: The same day, the 66th anniversary of the park's designation. The authority stated that the change was to promote the area's culture and heritage, as well as part of a wider overhaul of how the park is managed and to address environmental issues , such as climate change , and removing references to carbon-emitting beacons. The plan for the park to become net zero by 2035 and to address environmental concerns
4292-429: The se costes and the midle partes, sparing nother labor nor costes, by the space of these vi. yeres paste, that there is almoste nother cape, nor bay, haven, creke or peere, river or confluence of rivers, breches, waschis, lakes, meres, fenny waters, montaynes, valleis, mores, hethes, forestes, wooddes, cities, burges, castelles, principale manor placis, monasteries, and colleges, but I have seene them; and notid yn so doing
4366-405: The term. She stated: "We’d always had the name Bannau Brycheiniog as the Welsh translation and [...] we wanted to be celebrating Welsh people, Welsh culture, Welsh food, Welsh farming". In May 2023 more than 50 local businesses in the national park campaigned for the "Brecon Beacons" name be restored alongside the Welsh name as a dual name. The campaigners say the decision did not respect Wales as
4440-583: The three Welsh parks after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in 1952. It covers an area of 519 square miles (1,340 km ), which is much larger than the Brecon Beacons range. Over half of the park is in the south of Powys ; the remainder of the park is split between northwestern Monmouthshire , eastern Carmarthenshire , northern Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil , and very small areas of Blaenau Gwent , and Torfaen . The Park as designated in 1957 covered
4514-636: The time of Henry's death, "he fell besides his wits". Leland was certified insane in March 1550 and died, still mentally deranged, on 18 April 1552, aged about 48. Leland was buried in the church of St Michael-le-Querne near his home. However the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and not rebuilt, and so Leland's tomb has been lost. Following Leland's death or (more probably) his descent into madness, King Edward VI arranged for Leland's library, including many medieval manuscripts, to be placed in
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#17328850853274588-512: The valuable rectory of Great Haseley , Oxfordshire . The year following he preferred him to a canonry of King's College, now Christ Church, Oxford , and about the same time, collated him to a prebend in the church of Sarum . He was an absentee pluralist, with the income and leisure to pursue his interests. He retired with his collections to his house in the parish of St Michael-le-Querne , adjoining Cheapside , London, where he intended to work on his various projects. However, in February 1547 near
4662-482: Was Kent . "Let this be the firste chapitre of the booke", he wrote; "The King hymself was borne yn Kent. Kent is the key of al Englande." John Bale later listed an Itinerarium Cantiae (Itinerary of Kent) among Leland's writings. Although Leland's Itinerary notes remained unpublished until the eighteenth century, they provided a significant quarry of data and descriptions for William Camden 's Britannia (first edition, 1586), and many other antiquarian works. In
4736-417: Was "a vaynegloryouse persone, whyche woulde promyse more, than ever he was able or intended to perfourme". Leland was concerned to record evidence for the history of England and Wales as it was visible in the landscape, and he therefore took pains to note all kinds of archaeological remains, including megaliths , hillforts , and Roman and medieval ruins. He came across several Roman inscriptions , though he
4810-470: Was an English poet and antiquary . Leland has been described as "the father of English local history and bibliography". His Itinerary provided a unique source of observations and raw materials for many subsequent antiquaries, and introduced the county as the basic unit for studying the local history of England, an idea that has been influential ever since. Most evidence for Leland's life and career comes from his own writings, especially his poetry. He
4884-550: Was appointed prebendary of Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire in 1535 and received two adjacent benefices. Leland and Nicholas Udall composed verses to be read or recited at the pageant of Anne Boleyn 's arrival in London in 1533, which was staged for the occasion of her coronation. Their common patron was probably Thomas, Duke of Norfolk and Cornwall. The poets worked together again during 1533 and 1534, when Leland contributed verses for Udall's Floures for Latine Spekynge . In 1533,
4958-448: Was born in London on 13 September, most probably in about 1503, and had an older brother, also named John. Having lost both his parents at an early age, he and his brother were raised by Thomas Myles. Leland was educated at St Paul's School , London, under its first headmaster, William Lily . It was here that he already met some of his future benefactors, notably William Paget . Leland
5032-644: Was excavated in 2002–4 and the ashes in the central cist dated to about 2000 BCE using radiocarbon dating . A wreath of meadowsweet was probably placed in the burial. Over twenty hillforts were established in the area during the Iron Age . The largest, and indeed the largest in South Wales , were the pair of forts atop y Garn Goch near Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire – y Gaer Fawr and y Gaer Fach – literally "the big fort" and "the little fort". The forts are thought to have once been trading and political centres. When
5106-569: Was itself was sometimes called 'the (Brecknock) Beacon'. For instance, Emanuel Bowen's A New and accurate map of South Wales (1729) labels the peak as 'The Vann or Brecknock Beacon', John Clark's 1794 General View of the Agriculture of the County of Brecknock refers to 'the Vann, or Brecknock Beacon, the undisputed sovereign of all the mountains in South Wales', and an 1839 tithe map of Cantref parish labels
5180-456: Was normally content to record surface remains and recovered artefacts, but on one occasion he adopted a more interventionist approach. At the hillfort at Burrough Hill , Leicestershire, he pulled some stones from the gateway to establish whether it had been walled or not: they were mortared with lime, which persuaded him that it had been. The account included in Leland's Itinerary may be regarded as
5254-451: Was subsequently sent to Christ's College, Cambridge , graduating in 1522 (BA). While studying there, he was for a short time imprisoned, having accused a certain knight of collaborating with Richard de la Pole , the Yorkist claimant to the throne (d. 1525). He proceeded to Lambeth, London, serving Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk , as tutor to his son Thomas . When the duke died in 1524,
5328-474: Was supported by Welsh actor Michael Sheen . The change was described by a local as "pride" for Welsh-speakers, while others admitted both names would probably continue to be used. As part of the name change, the park also adopted a different logo, replacing its previous logo showing a lit beacon. Plaid Cymru's Welsh language spokesperson supported the move, while the Welsh Liberal Democrats welcomed
5402-577: Was the first to record the tradition (possibly influenced by the proximity of the villages of Queen Camel and West Camel ) identifying the hillfort of Cadbury Castle in Somerset as Arthur's Camelot : At the very south ende of the chirch of South-Cadbyri standeth Camallate, sumtyme a famose toun or castelle, apon a very torre or hille, wunderfully enstregnthenid of nature.... The people can telle nothing ther but that they have hard say that Arture much resortid to Camalat. In 1542, Henry presented Leland with
5476-539: Was unable to read most of them, complaining of one that it was made up of "letters for whole words, and 2. or 3. letters conveid in one". He often reported finds of coins, writing of Richborough , Kent, for example, that more Roman money had been discovered there "then in any place els of England". He investigated and recorded building materials in some detail. He was sometimes able to make astute and informed deductions from what he saw. At Lincoln , for example, he identified three phases of urban development, beginning with
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