Llansantffraed
village in the county of Powys, Wales
Llansantffraed (Llansantffraed-juxta-Usk) is a parish in the community of Talybont-on-Usk in Powys, Wales, near Brecon. The benefice of Llansantffraed with Llanrhystud and Llanddeiniol falls within the Diocese of St Davids in the Church in Wales.
Church and churchyard
The church of St Ffraed is a Grade II listed building. It was largely restored in 1690 and was completely rebuilt in 1885 by the architect Stephen W. Williams.
The parish is the burial place of the poet Henry Vaughan (1621–1695), who was born in the hamlet of Scethrog within the parish. Vaughan's grave in the churchyard, on the slopes of a hill known as Allt yr Esgair or simply The Allt, overlooks the River Usk. The poets Siegfried Sassoon, Roland Mathias, Brian Morris and Anne Cluysenaar were all inspired to write poems by their visits to the grave. Sassoon's "At the Grave of Henry Vaughan" is the best-known of these and is read every year at the graveside following the Vaughan memorial service.
Another grave of note in the churchyard is a Grade II listed tomb erected for the Gwynne-Holford family, residents of nearby Buckland Hall (see below). The family included James Gwynne-Holford, Conservative Member of Parliament for Brecon (died 1886).
“Llansantffraed” enters the record as village in the county of Powys, Wales. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Llansantffraed, village and county can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Llansantffraed” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Llansantffraed, village and county provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 30, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6661758. Authority coordinates are 51.902, -3.277. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1690, 1885, 1621 and 1695.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Llansantffraed”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Llansantffraed primary sources, Llansantffraed archive and Llansantffraed research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Llansantffraed”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Llansantffraed” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.