Llanbister
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| coordinates = {{coord|52.3514|-3.3061|display=inline,title}}
| country = Wales
| official_name = Llanbister
| welsh_name =
| static_image_name =
| static_image_caption =
| constituency_welsh_assembly = Brecon and Radnorshire
| community_wales = Llanbister
| unitary_wales = Powys
| lieutenancy_wales = Powys
| constituency_westminster = Brecon & Radnorshire
| post_town = LLANDRINDOD WELLS
| postcode_area = LD
| postcode_district = LD1
| dial_code = 01597
| os_grid_reference = SO111733
| population =
| population_ref = 382 (2011)
| module= {{Collapsible list
| framestyle=border:none;text-align:center; padding:0; |title=Community map
|1=240px
Map of the community
}}
}}
Llanbister ({{pronunciation|LL-Q9309 (cym)-Jason.nlw-Llanbister.wav|Welsh pronunciation}}) is a small village and community with a 2011 population of 382[http://static.powys.gov.uk/uploads/media/C2011KSCCW04000288_Llanbister_en.pdf Llanbister] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227014219/http://static.powys.gov.uk/uploads/media/C2011KSCCW04000288_Llanbister_en.pdf |date=27 February 2014 }} 2011 Census Key Statistics Llanbister Community Council, accessed 20 February 2014 in Powys, mid Wales, in the historic county of Radnorshire. It is on the river Ithon, at the junction of the A483 road (which follows the river north towards Newtown and south towards Llandrindod Wells) and the B4356. It is served by Llanbister Road railway station on the Heart of Wales Line, but the station is some 4 miles east of the village (and longer by road).
Facilities
The village is not directly served by a railway station: the nearest is Llanbister Road railway station which is about 5 miles east of the village. It is served by a bus service (the T4 operated by Stagecoach Wales) which connects Cardiff to Newtown via Merthyr Tydfil, Brecon, Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells.
Llanbister is situated on the A483 main road from Newtown to Llandrindod Wells, at its junction with the B4356 road. It also lies next to the River Ithon which flows southward just west of the village.
In the past, there was a police station in Llanbister, on the north west outskirts of the village, but this has since been sold off as private housing.[http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30693708 Zoopla property search], accessed 19 February 2014
Other facilities include a primary school, Llanbister C P School,[http://www.llanbister.powys.sch.uk/ Llanbister School] www.llanbister.powys.sch.ukaccessed 25 December 2022 a children's play area[http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=13480&L=0 Llanbister Play Area] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227012444/http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=13480&L=0 |date=2014-02-27 }} Powys Play Areas, accessed 20 February 2014 and a 200-person capacity community hall built in 1996 which has a stage and a 6.25m × 4m dance floor.[https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/6413/Find-a-village-hall?pageSessionId=c8124654-2d1c-48ff-adc8-6334193804f8&fsn=70ad7527-0a36-4b5b-82a6-6521cf850f3e Powys Village and Community Halls] accessed 25 December 2022 There used to be a Post Office in the centre of the village but it is no longer operating: it was proposed for closure in 2008.[http://www.powys.gov.uk/uploads/media/PO14_Llanbister_bi.pdf Powys County Council Post Office Closure Impact Report April 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227015056/http://www.powys.gov.uk/uploads/media/PO14_Llanbister_bi.pdf |date=2014-02-27 }}, accessed 20 February 2014
File:The Lion Hotel, Llanbister - geograph.org.uk - 154298.jpg
There is a Victorian pub and bed and breakfast hotel (The Lion Hotel) in the village and a caravan and camping site to the north west of the village, near the former police station.
There is an area of common land to the east of the village, named Llanbister Common. In July 1991 an unlicensed free music festival was held there, which was not well received by the local population, so in summer 1992 manure was spread on the land to make a repeat less likely.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/roads-closed-as-police-seal-off-hippie-festival-farmers-condemn-the-invasion-of-a-farm-in-a-remote-part-of-wales-by-an-estimated-4000-travellers-1535848.html Roads closed as police seal off hippie festival], Stephen Ward, The Independent, Monday 27 July 1992, accessed 25 December 2022 There is evidence of possible medieval ridge and furrow cultivation on Llanbister Common.[http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/511970/details/CEFN+LLANBISTER,+CULTIVATION+RIDGES/ Cefn Llanbister, Cultivation Ridges], National Monuments Record of Wales online database, accessed 12 March 2014
In 2018 the horror film You Should Have Left was partly filmed at a property near Llanbister,{{cite web|url=http://www.brecon-radnor.co.uk/article.cfm?id=108979&headline=Hollywood%20star%20Kevin%20Bacon%20stays%20in%20Llandrindod%20Wells%20hotel§ionIs=news&searchyear=2018|title=Hollywood star Kevin Bacon stays in Llandrindod Wells hotel|work=The Brecon & Radnor Express|date=2 October 2018|access-date=22 July 2020}} the John Pawson-designed Life House (Tŷ Bywyd) just east of the village.[https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/hotels/life-house-wales-review-ty-bywyd-living-architecture-alain-de-botton-a6993026.html Review: Life House, Living Architecture's latest venture in Wales],
Robert Bevan, The Independent, Friday 22 April 2016. accessed 22 July 2020
Churches
The village has an Anglican church in the centre, St Cynllo's Parish Church (part of the Church in Wales), parts of which date from around AD 1300.[http://www.walesdirectory.co.uk/Towns/Llanbister.htm Llanbister at Wales Directory] www.walesdirectory.co.uk accessed 25 December 2022 It is listed with Cadw as Grade II*.[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-15013-church-of-st-cynllo-llanbister#.VfE2W5fbWVA www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk]; retrieved 2015
There is also a Methodist church on the southern outskirts.