The small village of Scethrog is situated just off the A40 trunk road, approximately four and a half miles south east of Brecon.
'The name has been taken to mean a "rough" or "rocky" settlement derived from the Welsh sgathrog. In the early 13th century it was committed to paper as Skathrok and there is a steady flow of references throughout the medieval era and into Tudor times with Skethrog appearing in 1578 and Skatherogg in 1583.
The nature of the settlement remains uncertain. That there was something here in the Middle Ages is indicated by the occurrence of the place-names noted above but these could refer only to a manorial centre. It has also been suggested that this could have been the centre of an early sub-lordship centred on the Llansantffraed area. Speed at the beginning of the 17th century, and presumably Saxton before him, included Scethrog on his county map implying that settlement was sufficiently distinctive to merit recording, yet perhaps significantly Ogilby in 1675 failed to mention it on his road map, even though the Abergavenny to Brecon road passed close by it. By the beginning of the 19th century the Ordnance Survey were able to record a concentration of dwellings beside the lane leading northwards from the turnpike road with just a couple of dwellings beside the main road itself, and this is a pattern that has not changed that much up to the present day.'
Notable builidngs in Scethrog include Scethrog Tower (NPRN 16271), which is ' one of only two confirmed tower houses in Breconshire. On the basis of some of the stonework, it may have originated in the 14th century, although much of the structure is of 16th-century date and there were further alterations in the 18th century.' Yr Hen Bersondy, or The Old Rectory, (NPRN 25957) 'was probably built in the 17th century but was substantially altered in the early 19th century,' whilst Scethrog House (NPRN 16167) 'retains a datestone of 1619 (which is thought to be an error for 1691) and some late 17th-century windows even though most of the structure appears to be of the 18th century.'
Source: 'Historic settlements in the Brecon Beacons National Park' by R J Silvester, C H R Martin and S E Watson (April 2013)
RCAHMW, 12th September 2018.