:Defynnog

An important place in the past, Defynnog lost much of its importance as Sennybridge became more developed. The village (which has also been referred to historically as 'Devynnock') is located in the Brecon Beacons National Park one mile south of Sennybridge, beside the Afon Senni just south of its confluence with the River Usk and where the A4215 road meets the A4065.{{cite web |url= |title=Ordnance Survey map 141: Brecon |work=One inch series |publisher=Ordnance Survey }} The Welsh name signifies the 'territory belonging to Dyfwn'.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area'Owen, H.W. & Morgan, R. 2007 'Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales' Gomer Press, Ceredigion

To the southwest of the village is "Y Gaer", a small oval hillfort with a sub-rectangular annex standing on a ridge. The ramparts and ditches are covered with bracken.{{cite book|title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Brecknock (Brycheiniog): Hill-forts and Roman remains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ihOZpXRFZCQC&pg=PA32 |year=1986 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|isbn=978-0-11-300003-6|page=32}}

The Church of St Cynog contains an ancient stone with ogham inscriptions and is a grade I listed building.{{cite web|url = http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-6774-church-of-saint-cynog-maescar| title= Church of Saint Cynog, Maescar|publisher= British Listed Buildings|accessdate = 17 December 2013}}

In 1836 a chapel in the parish of Defynnog was dedicated to Saint Callwen.{{citation |last=Rees|first=Rice|title=An Essay on the Welsh Saints Or the Primitive Christians, Usually Considered to Have Been the Founders of the Churches in Wales|page=153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4gOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA139|accessdate=2016-04-07 |year=1836|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman}}

The churchyard contains several yew trees, of which the largest, the Defynnog Yew has a girth large enough for it to be 1300–3000 years old. An adjacent yew was reported in 2014 to be genetically identical to the largest, leading to conjecture in the popular press that the two trees were remnants of a single 5000-year-old tree;{{cite news |last=Aslet |first=Clive |date=2014-07-09 |title=The ancient, sacred, regenerative, death-defying yew tree|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/countryside/10954261/The-ancient-sacred-regenerative-death-defying-yew-tree.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=London|access-date=2020-04-25}}{{cite news |title=Found yew! The 'oldest tree in Europe' discovered in a Welsh cemetery |author=Ingham, John |url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/487395/Found-yew-The-tree-that-s-5-000-years-old-and-older-than-the-Pyramids |newspaper=Express |date=8 July 2014 |accessdate=29 April 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/5000-years-and-counting/ |title=5000 years and counting |publisher=Woodlands.co.uk |accessdate=29 April 2016}} but this conjecture has been disputed on the grounds that layering is a more plausible origin for the adjacent tree.{{cite web |url=https://www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Defynnog%20v4f5.pdf|title=Addressing the claim that the Defynnog yews in Powys may be 5,000 years old|last=Hindson |first=Toby|year=2014 |publisher=Ancient Yew Group|language=English|access-date=2020-04-25 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224063025/https://www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Defynnog%20v4f5.pdf|archive-date=2018-12-24}} The crown of the largest tree is 60 ft in diameter.

The rectory within the church grounds was once the property of Moses Williams FRS and his inscription is to found on the beams of one of the attics.{{cite book|author=Barnes, David |title=The Companion Guide to Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Np_H_j3hXUEC&pg=PA93 |year=2005 |publisher=Companion Guides |isbn=978-1-900639-43-9 |pages=93}} The property immediately south of the lychgate (Ty Defynnog, Defynnog House) may have been made up of two former cottages. Its cellar contains a stone slab of uncertain purpose. It is a Grade II listed building.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-86909-defynnog-house-ty-defynnog-maescar#.VyJVZOTGA4A |title=Defynnog House / Tŷ Defynnog, Maescar |publisher=British Listed Buildings |accessdate=28 April 2016}}

File:Old stone, with an Ogham inscription, Defynnog Church, Breconshire.jpg

File:Tŷ Defynnog and lychgate, Defynnog, Breconshire.jpg

The Sir John Davy School is now a cafe and antiques centre.{{cite web |url= http://www.ipernity.com/tag/594807/keyword/952351|title=Cold War Warrior's photos with the Organist |author= |date= |website= |publisher=ipernity |accessdate=28 April 2016}} The Sir John Davy Alms houses are sited close to a former police station and court, later a brass rubbing centre and now a bed and breakfast, complete with police cells.{{cite web|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/23193/details|title=Sir John Davy School; Alms houses, Defynnog|work=Coflein Database Record|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|accessdate=28 November 2016}}

The Tanners Arms has a long and colourful history. The main building ( now the bar and restaurant ) dates to the early 1800s and was originally three separate cottages, all being homes for the workers at the nearby Tannery. Thomas Jenkins, father of David Jenkins, a defender of Rorke's Drift, was landlord of the Tanners Arms in 1871.

File:Defynnog 1906.jpg

• Moses Davies (1799–1866), a Welsh musician and composer.
• Isabella Gifford (1825–1891), a Welsh-born botanist, primarily an algologist, studying algae.
• Gwenllian Morgan (1852–1939), an antiquary and the first woman in Wales to hold the office of Mayor.
• William Havard MC (1889–1956), a Welsh clergyman and rugby union international player.

• List of oldest trees
• Fortingall Yew

{{Reflist}}

• Law and Disorder in Breconshire, Dewi Davies, published by D.G and A.S. Evans, Brecon.

• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=21402064 images of Defynnog and surrounding area on Geograph website]
• [http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/23193/details/SIR+JOHN+DAVY'S+SCHOOL%3B+ALMSHOUSES,+DEFYNNOG/ Sir John Davy's School]
• Tanners Arms [http://tannersarmspub.com/history.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019182410/http://tannersarmspub.com/history.html |date=19 October 2016 }}

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Category:Fforest Fawr

Category:Villages in Powys