What to See in Rhayader - Top Sights and Attractions

Rhayader Castle is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Rhayader, Powys, Wales. The available documentary sources are not clear enough to distinguish between this site and the castle mound across the river and one or the other was probably built by Rhys ap Gruffydd, Prince of Deheubarth, in 1177. At that time the river formed the border between Gwrtheyrnion and the independent state of Buellt; the town of Rhayader is on the Gwrtheyrnion side of the river.

Rhys had recently conquered Buellt, hitherto ruled by William de Braose, as vengeance for the latter's notorious treatment of Welsh princes at Abergavenny Castle. The exact status of Gwrtheyrnion is unclear, its only recorded ruler having been an unidentified Einion ap Rhys, whose is described as Rhys ap Gruffydd's son-in-law; Rhys did have a son-in-law named Einion, but this was Einion o'r Porth, the son of Einion Clud, and ruler of Elfael.

In 1182, however, Rhys and William de Braose made a peace agreement, with Rhys' son, Gruffydd, being wed to William's daughter. They were on sufficiently friendly terms for William to be allowed to re-establish himself in Buellt.

Einion o'r Porth joined the Third Crusade in 1188, but was murdered upon his return by his brother Gwalter, who seized Elfael. Einion's cousin, Maelgwn ap Cadwallon, was the ruler of the adjacent state of Maelienydd, and used his forces to destroy Rhayader castle, while William de Braose (who was sheriff of Hereford) brought his forces against Elfael; Gwalter was successfully deposed. Rhys rebuilt the castle in 1194.

In 1196, Rhys died, leading to a succession dispute between Gruffydd and his older bastard brother, Maelgwn ap Rhys. Although traditional Welsh law allowed acknowledged bastards to inherit, Rhys had wanted to follow the English practice, and pass Deheubarth to his eldest legitimate son, Gruffydd. Rhayader Castle was again destroyed.

Gwenwynwyn ab Owain, heir of Powys Wenwynwyn, was an ally of Maelgwn ap Rhys, and invaded the lands to the immediate south of Powys Wenwynwyn - Arwystli, Cedewain, and Maelienydd. King Richard I, already unhappy with hegemonic behaviour by Gwenwynwyn, and Rhys before him, gave troops to Roger Mortimer, a nearby magnate, who used them to conquer Maelienydd, and push Gwenwynwyn back to Powys Wenwynwyn. Gwenwynwyn was expelled from Rhayader by them in about 1200. Mortimer either rebuilt or started a new building on the site, but records indicate that it was captured two years later by the welsh; they do not say whether it was by Maelgwn's forces or Gwenwynwyn's.

In 1230, Ralph Mortimer, the son of Roger, married the daughter of Llywelyn Fawr. The following year, Llywelyn destroyed Rhayader castle, and it was not rebuilt. The remnants are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The surviving motte is a roughly rectangular flat-topped mound about 40 by 50 metres (130 by 160 ft). Approaches to the castle were protected by steep slopes or crags above the river on the north-west and southern sides. A rock-cut ditch at least 4 metres (13 ft 1 in) deep and up to 10 metres (33 ft) wide defended the other sides. This ditch is the only visible remnant of the fortifications.^[1]

Theatre in Wales. The Willow Globe Theatre is an open air community theatre in Powys, Wales.

It is a scaled-down version of the Globe Theatre in London, about a third of its size in diameter and similar to the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in London. The theatre is formed from living willow trees that have been woven together from a design by Dr Rebecca Heaton. It seats an audience of around 150 people. The theatre was formally opened on 22 April 2007.

The Willow Globe is part of the charity Shakespeare Link and has a resident company, the Willow Globe Company. Plays by William Shakespeare are performed among others. The theatre also hosts workshops and festivals. It is run by the actors Phil Bowen and Susanna Best.^[2]

Body of water. The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean drinking water for Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. The five lakes are known as the Claerwen, Craig-goch, Pen-y-garreg, Garreg-ddu, and Caban-coch.

Water from the reservoirs is carried by gravity to Frankley Reservoir in Birmingham via the Elan aqueduct. Pumping is not required because the network drops 52 metres (171 ft) along its 73 miles (117 km) length from its source to Frankley. A gradient of 1:2300 maintains a flow of less than 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h); water takes one and a half to two days to reach Birmingham. The aqueduct, which was started in 1896 and opened in 1906, crosses several valleys and features numerous brick tunnels, pipelines, and valve houses.

Work to build the Elan Valley reservoirs was undertaken because the rapid growth of the industrial city of Birmingham in the late 19th century had led to a lack of available clean water. Numerous outbreaks of disease prompted Birmingham City Council to petition the British government which passed the Birmingham Corporation Water Act in 1892. It allowed the corporation to acquire by compulsory purchase all the land within the water catchment area of the Elan Valleys. Thousands of navvies and their families lived in the purpose-built Elan Village during the construction of the first four dams at the turn of the 20th century. In 1952, the Claerwen dam was opened by Elizabeth II in one of her first official engagements as monarch.

Drinking water from the Elan Valley is noted for being exceptionally soft, contrasting with water from local supplies in the West Midlands, not served by the Elan aqueduct, which are noted for hardness.

The reservoirs are now owned and managed by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. The water filtration works further down the valley is run by Severn Trent Water.^[3]