Glasbury (), also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village and community in Powys, Wales. The village lies at an important crossing point on the River Wye, connecting the historic counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, and is located just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park, north of the Black Mountains. The village is split between the communities of Glasbury and Gwernyfed. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some to the north east. The nearest city is Hereford in England, some to the east. Glasbury is a popular location for river fishing, canoeing and kayaking. The population of Glasbury community in Radnorshire was 994 (census 2011), in 1841 it was 838.
History
Saint Cynidr and early settlement
The early village grew north of the river crossing, where a church was built dedicated to St Cynidr, a 6th-century bishop said to be buried in Glasbury. The name 'Glasbury' derives from the Welsh 'clas', which signifies a glebe or church land. St Cynidr's name is retained in the small settlement of Ffynnon Gynydd to the north of the village, where Cynidr's well is still visible. From the 6th century to the 11th century, Glasbury formed part of the Kingdom of Brycheiniog, ruled from nearby Talgarth.
Bishops of Glasbury
The importance of this early church was such that Glasbury was made a diocese. A list of the bishops of Glasbury still exists and gives the last bishop as Tryferyn, who died in 1055. The diocese was subsumed by the bishopric of Glamorgan, later Llandaff.
Battle of Glasbury
In the mid 11th century, the Welsh kingdoms (including Brycheiniog) were temporarily united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales. On 16 June 1056, a battle was fought at Glasbury between an English force, led by Bishop Leofgar of Hereford, and a Welsh force led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, at which the warrior bishop was killed.
Marcher lordship
After the Norman invasion, the kingdom of Brycheiniog (including Glasbury) was conquered or otherwise acquired by Bernard de Neufmarché, one of the Marcher Lords. In 1088, he presented the Manor and church of Glasbury to the Abbey of St Peter's at Gloucester and the parish church of St. Cynidr was rededicated to St Peter. The patronage of the church was later transferred to the Bishop of Gloucester and subsequently to the Bishop of St David's, with whom it remains today.
In 1144, as part of an exchange, the lordship of the Manor of Glasbury passed from Gloucester Abbey to Walter de Clifford, after which time it was frequently contested by the marcher families. Following a dispute with John Giffard, the lordship passed to John de Braose of Glasbury (son of John de Braose) in 1275. In 1299, it passed to Margaret Longespee and her husband Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln and in 1330 to Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. The lordship was seized by the crown in 1331, and granted to Eubulo le Strange, but returned to Mortimer's grandson Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March in 1354 and in 1360 to his son Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. In 1404, King Henry IV granted the lordship to Sir Robert Whitney "in consequence of his father...having been killed in the royal service and his property burnt by the Welsh rebels".
Glasbury Castle
Glasbury Castle, north of the river, was first mentioned in 1144 when it was granted (with the manor) to Walter de Clifford. In August 1233, the castle was attacked and captured by King Henry III following a baronial rebellion by the Cliffords, but little more is recorded after that, though it was still in existence in a survey of Glasbury Manor dated 1561 Remains of its earthworks were visible near the centre of the village until housing development in the 1970s.
Split between Radnorshire and Breconshire
Following the end of the semi-autonomous Marcher Lordships with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, the parish and village of Glasbury north of the Wye together with the village south of the Wye were placed in the hundred of Painscastle in the county of Radnorshire, whilst the outlying parts of the parish south of the Wye (including Felindre, Pipton, and Tregoyd) were placed in the hundred of Talgarth in the county of Brecknockshire. This continued till 1844, when all of Glasbury south of the Wye was transferred to Brecknockshire.