Llanfihangel-Nant-Bran is a small, linear village situated about 11.5 kilometres north west of Brecon, on the southern edge of Mynydd Eppynt. The name is derived from it’s church, dedicated to St. Michael (Mihangel in Welsh), and from the stream – Nant Bran – that runs past the south of the village. Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust have noted that ‘the first documented reference to [the village’s name] is a late one, Santi Michaelis de Nantbrane appearing in 1503, though the Bran stream puts in an appearance in documents as early as 1326.’
In common with many smaller settlements, ‘the early history of Llanfihangel Nant Bran is obscure,’ but ‘the village plan seems typical of a smaller medieval settlement comprising a simple linear development running eastward from the church, but the period that this occurred is open to discussion.’ It is thought that St. Michael’s church is perhaps of 14th century origins, although it ‘appears to have been largely restored in 1882. It comprises a simple undivided nave and chancel with a western tower which is almost certainly 16th century.’
The villagers of Llanfihangel Nant Bran had two places of worship available from 1810-1811, when Bethel Calvanistic Methodist chapel was built (NPRN 6108). The 6-inch Ordnance Survey map published in 1887 shows that other amenities in the village at the end of the nineteenth century included a school, a smithy and the Three Horse Shoes public house. Little had changed by the time the updated six inch OS map was published in 1905, except that a post office had appeared opposite the Three Horse Shoes.
In the twenty-first century, the post office, public house, school and chapel have all closed. Additionally, ‘the surviving buildings in Llanfihangel Nant Bran are all of post medieval character, and as many have recently been renovated the settlement now has a modern air to it.’
Sources: modern and historic OS maps; Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust report, PRN 2579, accessed from the Historic Wales website.
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 15th April 2020