Llanwrtyd

infobox British Anglican Parish
Parish= Llanwrtyd
Dedication= St David
GridReference= SN863477
Diocese= Swansea and Brecon
TradCounty= Brecknockshire
Registers= 1748-1991

Llanwrtyd (Welsh: "Llan Wrth y Rhyd" - The Church by the Ford) is a rural parish in Powys, mid Wales, through which flows the River Irfon.

The parish church of St David dates from the 11th century and is surrounded by scattered farms. During the 19th century the main population centre became Llanwrtyd Wells which grew up around the sulphur springs about a mile and a half down river from the church.

The town is served by Llanwrtyd railway station.

A brief history of Llanwrtyd

Theophilus Jones in his A History of the County of Brecknock was fairly disparaging of the parish. When describing the church he states "there is nothing deserving of notice in this miserable fabric, unless it be an inscription on the wall, to the memory of an old woman of the name of Jones."

The population in 1801 was about 500 which had risen to 854 by the 1901 census. After the coming of the railway the parish played host to at least 12,000 visitors annually to drink the mineral waters.

The parish of Llanwrtyd was made separate from that of Llangammarch in 1871. The parish church of St David, which now stands next to a bridge that replaced the earlier ford, was restored in 1862. In 1897 the church of St James was built in the village of Llanwrtyd Wells.