Builth Wells

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Builth Wells
Welsh Llanfair ym Muallt
Coordinates 52 ° 8 ′  N , 3 ° 25 ′  W Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′  N , 3 ° 25 ′  W
OS National Grid SO035505
Builth Wells (Wales)
Builth Wells
Builth Wells
Residents 2352 (2001)
administration
Post town BUILTH WELLS
ZIP code section LD2
prefix 01982
Part of the country Wales
Preserved County Powys
Unitary authority Powys
British Parliament Brecon and Radnorshire
Welsh Parliament Brecon and Radnorshire
Bronze bull in Builth Wells

Builth Wells ( Welsh : Llanfair ym Muallt ) is a town in the Welsh Unitary Authority Powys on the River Wye .

Builth Wells is known for the Royal Welsh Show , an agricultural show that is held annually near the town.

history

Buallt or Buellt was originally the name of a small Welsh kingdom. The name is said to come from the Welsh words bu and allt , which translated means the wild ox of the wooded slopes . The Cantref stretched between the Wye and Tywi rivers and to the north to Erword and Llanwrtyd . Welsh rule was conquered around 1095 by the Anglo-Norman baron Philip de Braose , who built a first castle around 1100 to secure his rule at a strategically important crossing over the Wye. Around the castle called Builth Castle an English settlement developed, which was named after the church built outside the castle walls St Mary Llanfair ym Muellt (Welsh for St Mary in the Cantref of Builth ). Builth Castle was often fought over between Anglo-Norman or English and Welsh in the 12th and 13th centuries and was finally completely destroyed around 1260. During the conquest of Wales by King Edward I , the castle was rebuilt as a stone fortress, at the same time the settlement was granted a royal charter in 1277 and was promoted to borough . In December 1282, near the town in what is now the suburb of Cilmeri, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , the last ruler of an independent Wales, was killed in an ambush by the English.

The name of the Cantrefs was eventually transferred to the city and Anglicized to Builth . A major fire on December 27, 1690 destroyed over 40 houses. To rebuild the city, the remains of the ruined castle were used as a quarry, so that today only earth walls are evidence of the once mighty fortress.

The small market town had almost 700 inhabitants around 1800. With the construction of a new bridge over the Wye in 1779 and the construction of a road from north to south Wales through Builth in 1820, the town quickly gained importance in the 19th century. The mineral springs first mentioned in 1740 made the city a local health resort from 1830 onwards. The Park Wells with a saltworks and the Glanne Wells with a sulfur spring were created for the swimming pool . In the 1860s the town received a railway connection and the town name was expanded to Builth Wells because of the bathing operations.

The bathing business is no longer important today, but the small town is an economic and administrative center of northern Brecknockshire . The city is well known for the Royal Welsh Show , which takes place on the Royal Welsh Showground (although this is actually on the other side of the river in the area of ​​the neighboring municipality of Llanelwedd (formerly Radnorshire ; see Traditional Counties of Wales )).

The city post office was one of the few to use the rare stamp of King Edward VIII , the uncrowned king whose abdication led to a constitutional crisis in 1936.

traffic

Station Builth Road

The station Builth Road is on the Heart of Wales Railway approached and is approximately 1.5 km north of the city after the original central lying station of the Mid-Wales Railway by the suspension of operations on the railway line Llanidloes-Talyllyn Junction as a result of closure measures by the beeching ax can no longer be used. One of the main highways of Wales, the A483, now passes the city on the old railway line. The plan is to create a cycle path along the road that will connect the city with Swansea in the future . About 20 km of it have already been laid out.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Davies, et al .: The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. 2008, ISBN 9780708319536 , p. 96.
  2. Builth Wells. Official homepage. Retrieved September 22, 2013 .
  3. ^ Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust Historical Settlements Survey: Builth Wells. (PDF; 1.0 MB) Retrieved September 22, 2013 .

Web links

Commons : Builth Wells  - collection of images, videos and audio files