Brecon and Hay Map Launch
The latest map published by the Historic Towns Trust in April 2026 is the historical map of Brecon and Hay-on-Wye. These Marcher towns have rich histories and topographies, from Norman castles to Georgian and Victorian town houses and shops.
The map has had two launches, one for each town. In Hay, the map was launched in May during the Hay Literary Festival and the launch was hosted by the Hay Castle Trust. Within one of the old castle rooms, about 50 people met to hear about the history of Hay and its beautifully restored castle, followed by a tour of the castle by Richard Suggett from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, one of the contributors to the gazetteer.
The Brecon launch was held on 10 October at the historic Guild Hall in the centre of Brecon. A huge turnout of around 150 people testified to the community interest in Brecon’s history, supported by the Brecknock Society who helped to fund the map and hosted the launch. Speakers at the launch included James Winterbotham, the Chair of the Historic Towns Trust, and Helen Fulton, who edited the map, alongside a number of contributors to the gazetteer, John Gibbs, Nigel Clubb, Sophie Houlton, and Felicity Kirkpatrick, from Christ College Brecon, which features on the map and in the gazetteer. The event was entertainingly chaired by Mike Williams, editor of Brycheiniog, the journal of the Brecknock Society, and an expert on the history of Brecon priory and castle.
It is fairly unusual for the Trust to design a map of two towns, rather than one — the only other examples are Alnwick and Alnmouth, Windsor and Eton, and Swansea and the Mumbles. Although Brecon and Hay-on-Wye are relatively far apart (about 16 miles), the Trust agreed that their similar histories of Norman settlement and subsequent development as border towns made them a good pair for a single map. As both towns are in Wales (with the border running right at the edges of Hay), the Trust is preparing a Welsh-language version of the map, to match its Welsh map of Swansea and the Mumbles, the first-ever map of a Welsh town all in Welsh.
As always, the Trust is grateful to the sponsors of the Brecon and Hay map: University of Bristol, Brecknock Society, Brecon Art Trust, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, and a number of individual donors.
