Packhorse Bridge, Aberbeeg, South Wales

Its amazing the information you find when you are in the process of looking for something else. All this information on the packhorse bridge at Aberbeeg was logged on the following geocaching site. From the reviews, the bridge is probably harder to find than the cache hidden close to it.

Have been looking for information on this fascinating little bridge for quite a while...

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache

Although covered with a concrete surface and a modern handrail and fence, the Aberbeeg Bridge is a well-preserved example of a 17th century packhorse bridge and comprises single-span, stone-built arch some 10.5m long, 2.2m wide.

The earliest known record of the bridge is found in a survey of the boundaries and customs of the manor of Wentsland and Bryngwyn (of which the parish of Llanhilleth formed a part) dated 1659: 

“a river there called Eboth which said Brook and River are the mears Between the parish of Lanhilleth and parish of Mynuthusloin and so upward . . . to a place called Cymmarddwy Eboyth which is the meeting of two Rivers of that name in which place are the meeting of  Three parishes that is to say Lanhilleth, Aberustruth and Mynuthusloin and so along the river called Eboyth vychan to the middle of a bridge there called Pont y Cymmar and from thence as the Highway leadeth towards the parish Church of Lanhilleth . . .”(Bradney, p. 465)

At this time, the bridge was known as “Pont y Cymmer” (“the bridge at the confluence of two rivers”).  In this case, the confluence was that of the rivers Ebwy Fawr and Ebwy Fach that formed the boundary between the parishes of Aberystruth and Llanhilleth.  By 1775, it was known as Llanhilleth Bridge and the Minute and Account Book of the parish of Aberystruth (GRO D.739 Vol I) records repairs carried out in that year by a John Watkins at a cost of 12 shillings, one penny and ha’pence!  In 1779, Edmund Jones recorded that there were ten stone bridges in the parish of Aberystruth (Jones, p. 56).  Aberbeeg Bridge is the sole survivor.

Local tradition maintains that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, preached at the bridge.  However, despite the fact that John Wesley did visit the parish in April 1740 during his second visit to Wales, there is no mention of the place in either his Diary or Journal.  On Tuesday, April 8th, in the company of Howell Harris, he travelled from Pontypool to Llanhilleth and preached there on the text “I know that in me dwelleth no good thing”.  He stayed overnight and, the next morning, read prayers at St. Illtyd’s church before preaching on “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely”.  He then travelled on to Cardiff (Williams,
pp. 6-7).

The nearby Ebbw Fach Trail from Brynmawr to Llanhilleth (the old railway line)

By 1828, the Monmouthshire Tramroad, which ran from Nantyglo Ironworks to Newport, ran past the bridge on the east bank of Ebwy Fach (GRO D.397.390).  The 1843 tithe map for the parish of Llanhilleth (GRO D.1163) shows that by this time William Webb had already established his brewery and public house near the eastern end of the bridge.