The Black Mountains (Welsh: Y Mynyddoedd Duon) are a group of hills in south-eastern Wales [1], and a small part of Herefordshire, England [2].
Location
They are the easternmost of the three groups of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are frequently confused with the westernmost, which are collectively called the Black Mountain [3]. (To confuse matters further, there is a peak in the Black Mountains called Black Mountain.) They may be roughly defined as those hills north of Abergavenny, south of Hay-on-Wye, east of the A479 road (the Rhiangoll valley) and west of, or on, the English border. The Offa's Dyke long-distance footpath runs along the border [4]. The area is popular with hillwalkers and pony trekkers.
Local Area
There are quite a few villages in this area and one youth hostel [5], at Capel-y-ffin. The Skirrid Mountain Inn also has a wider reputation, being claimed as the oldest public house in Wales, being mentioned in records from AD 1100. Antiquities include Llanthony Priory, ruined Craswall Priory, Tretower Castle, Tretower Court, the Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel, and Castell Dinas, an 11th- to 13th-century castle built on an Iron Age hillfort site between Talgarth and Crickhowell. The highest mountain in the group is Waun Fach [6] (811 metres (2,661 ft); other Marilyns include the Sugar Loaf [7], Ysgyryd Fawr [8], Mynydd Troed [9], Graig Syfyrddin [10], Allt yr Esgair [11], Myarth, Mynydd Llangorse [12], Bryn Arw [13], and Black Mountain [14]. Ysgyryd Fawr is also known as the Skirrid, Skyrrid or 'Holy Mountain'. The towns around the Black Mountains – Hay-on-Wye [15], Llangorse Lake [16], Talgarth [17], Crickhowell [18], Abergavenny [19] and Longtown, Herefordshire [20] – all provide bases for accessing the hills all year round.
Fiction
Books set in or around the Black Mountains include:
