Welsh Journals

Manor of Llanfihangel y Gofion by G.W.Gunter Bernard Newmarch, the Norman conqueror of Brecknockshire, was established in Hereford- shire, where by 1088 he had a number of manors, and had begun to advance into Wales itself. When he secured Brycheiniog by the defeat of Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1093, he retained in his own hands Talgarth, the ancient capital. At Bronllys nearby, the Norman family of Clifford had a castle upon an imposing site. Of their origin we learn that Walter, son of Richard Fitzpons, inherited lands in Herefordshire from his father's brothers, Walter and Drago; and that he married Margaret, asserted to be the widow of Ralph deTony, lord marcher of Clifford Castle near Hay. The family, thenceforward named Clifford, came into possession of many properties, of which one was the Manor of Llanfihangel y Gofion, held by half a knight's fee. In 1397, instructions in the name of Richard II were sent to the escheator in Herefordshire, and the March of Wales adjacent, to give Phillipa, widow of John de Hastings, lord of Abergavenny, livery of much property and rents, including the fourth part of one knight's fee in the manor of St Michael upon Usk held by the heirs of Howel Clifford. The other moiety, with the manor house and the alternate presentation of the Church, came to beheld bylewis ap Howell Gunter, and subsequently inl586by his grandson, JohnGunter, whose ancestors, themselves Norman, had held for seven generations lands called Tregunter at Talgarth; lands which had been given by Bernard Newmarch to their forebear Peter Gunter, knight, for the part he had played accompanying him into Brecknockshire. Llanfihangel Manor House