The Brecon Beacon’s National Park is celebrated for its beautiful landscape, but the landscape of the National Park is also important for its heritage. This is not confined to individual archaeological sites or Listed Buildings, the landscape as a whole holds a series of clues about how it has changed and been used over time.
The landscape of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park is a direct link to our ancestors that helped to shape the modern landscape. It would not be such a beautiful, diverse and breath-taking place as it is today without being shaped by humans for thousands of years. The landscape needs to be carefully managed in order to maintain these important links to the past.
In recognition of the cultural and historical importance of landscapes and their need for careful management, Cadw has produced a Register of Landscapes of Outstanding and Special Historic Interest in Wales identifying 58 Historic Landscapes across Wales that are of national importance. Eight of these nationally important Historic Landscapes lie, at least partly, within the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, including the Black Mountain and Mynydd Myddfai, the Middle Wye Valley, East Fforest Fawr and Mynydd-y-Glog and the Middle Usk Valley.
Further Reading:
Cadw (1998) Register of
Historic Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest in Wales Cardiff: Cadw
Cadw (2001) Register of
Historic Landscape of Special Historic Interest in Wales Cardiff: Cadw
Cadw (2003) Caring for
Historic Landscapes Cardiff: Cadw