Aberyscir

Aberyscir, or Aberescir (Aber-Esgair) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
ABERYSCIR, or ABERESCIR (ABERESGAIR), a parish, in the union of Brecknock, hundred of Merthyr-Cynog, county of Brecknock, South Wales, 3½ miles (W. N. W.) from Brecknock; containing 117 inhabitants. This place is pleasantly situated on the river Yscir, near its confluence with the Usk, and from that circumstance derives its name. The former of these rivers is crossed by two bridges in the vicinity, namely, Pont ar Yscir, to the west of the parish of Battle, and Pont ar Vran, on the road to Trallong; and the latter river by Aberbrân bridge, by a handsome stone bridge from the grounds of Penpont, another of the same material in the grounds of Abercamlais, and a small suspension bridge near the latter residence. The river Brân runs along the parish on the west, and here falls into the Usk. The mesne lordship of Aberyscir, formerly held under the lords of Cantref-Selyf, and separated only by the Yscir from the ruined town of Caer-Bannau, once the capital of the district, was given by Bernard Newmarch to Sir Hugh Surdwal, or "Sir Hugh of the Solitary Vale," whose residence is stated by tradition to have occupied the site of a more modern house, near the junction of the rivers, now a farmhouse. The parish comprises 1918 acres, chiefly arable; 336 acres are common or waste land. The soil consists of light loam mixed with gravel, well adapted for the production of turnips, barley, and clover; the ground on the south is of easy ascent, but on the west and east sides of the parish rather steep, terminating in a hill.
The living, formerly a discharged vicarage, is now a rectory, having been endowed with the great tithes; it is rated as a vicarage in the king's books at £3. 6. 3.: patron and incumbent, the Rev. David Jones. The tithes have been commuted for a rentcharge of £150. The church, which belonged to the priory of Malvern, is dedicated, according to some authorities, to St. Mary, and according to others to St. Cynidr: it is beautifully situated on the western bank of the river Yscir, in the angle between that river and the Usk; but is a mean-looking building, possessing no claim to architectural notice. There is neither parsonage-house nor glebe land attached to the living. Close to the church is a farm of about thirty-five acres, with a house, barn, and out-buildings, now in a dilapidated state, called "The Parsonage;" but whether or not it ever belonged to the Church, at any period, has not been ascertained; if so, it may have been alienated during the protectorate of Cromwell. In the parish is a place of worship for Independents, with a Sunday school held in it. Aberyscir participates in a donation of land by the Rev. Mr. Powell, vicar of Boughrood, in the year 1686, for apprenticing poor children.
Nearly opposite the church, on the eastern bank of the Yscir, is the Roman station called the Gaer, or Caer Bannau, whence the Sarn Helen, in its course to Neath, the Nidum of the Romans, joined the Via Julia Maritima at some distance from this place: it crossed the Yscir a little above the church, and proceeded through the parish nearly in the direction of the present turnpike-road to Aberbrân. Near the margin of the Usk is an artificial mount surrounded by a moat, which was probably occupied by the keep belonging to the ancient mansion of the Surdwals. Of this family was Hywel Surdwal, one of the heraldic bards of Wales, who flourished towards the close of the fifteenth century; he was employed by Edward IV. to certify the pedigree of the first Earl of Pembroke of the Herbert family.