Tanat Valley

Various historic sites, including the Iron Age hillfort Llwyn Bryn-Dinas and the medieval St Melangell's Church are located along the valley.

[1] The tributary streams of the Afon Tanat have their sources in the Aran and Berwyn ranges along the northwestern borders of Powys.

[7][8] The earliest evidence of human presence in the Tanat Valley dates to the Upper Palaeolithic; a barbed point from c. 12,000 BC indicates temporary hunting settlements in the area.

[9] Although no settlements from the Late Neolithic period are known, several Bronze Age funerary sites are located around the valley, including henges, burial mounds, and cairns.

An Iron Age hut circle has been found at Garnedd Wen, east of Craig Rhiwarth.

[12] Pennant Melangell and Llanrhaeadr, the principal settlements of the largely rural agrarian valley, were both founded as ecclesiastical sites in the medieval period.

[1] Mining operations at Llangynog led to large-scale heavy metal contamination across the whole of the valley.

[15] The Tanat Valley Light Railway was opened in 1904 to serve the communities in the region, continuing operations until 1964.