Hay-on-Wye, or simplyHay (Welsh:Y Gelli Gandryll;Welsh pronunciation:[əˈɡɛɬiˈgandrɪɬ] or simplyY Gelli), is amarket town andcommunity inPowys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a"town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the site of the annualHay Festival. The community had a population of 1,675 at the2021 census.
The adjacent parish ofCusop lies on the English side of the Dulas Brook, with parts of the urban area of Hay now crossing the border into the parish of Cusop. The nearest city isHereford,county town of Herefordshire, some 22 miles (35 km) to the east.[10] Hereford serves as thepost town for Hay, so that its official postal address is "Hay-on-Wye, Hereford", despite Hay being in Wales and Hereford in England.[11]
The settlement's name is first referred to between 1135 and 1147 asHaya; in 1299 the name ofLa Haye is used. By the 16th century it was simply calledHay, and the use of the river as a suffix is a later addition. In 1215, a Welsh name,Gelli was recorded, andGelli gandrell in 1614; the two names may have been used concurrently in 1625. The English language name,Hay, is derived fromOld Englishhæg, possibly meaning a "fenced area" and a noun used in late Saxon and Norman times for an enclosure in a forest. The Welsh wordcelli (lenited toGelli) has a range of meanings, including wooded areas of various extents.[16]
The legal name of thecommunity is Hay rather than Hay-on-Wye.[17] In 1947 theGeneral Post Office changed the name of thepostal locality from Hay to Hay-on-Wye.[18] The change of postal address did not change the name of theurban district which then covered the town, which retained the name Hay and was subsequently converted into a community called Hay in 1974.[19]
The village ofLlanigon is about 2 miles (3 km) south-west of the town of Hay-on-Wye. Before theNorman Conquest, Hay-on-Wye was part of the parish of Llanigon. The church of St. Eigon (possibly identified withSaint Eigen) in Llanigon was the principal church for the area. This was because thesettlement in Llanigon predated the settlement in Hay-on-Wye.[16][20]
Brycheiniog (an independent kingdom in Wales) was conquered between 1088 and 1095 following the secondNorman invasion of Wales. The Norman invaders were led byBernard de Neufmarché, amarcher Lord. He divided Brycheiniog into smallerlordships, which were gifted to theknights who contributed to the conquest.[21] The Llanthomas lordship (in Llanigon) was part of the Hay lordship owned by William Revel, one of Bernard's knights.[22][23]Motte and bailey castles were typically built soon after a lordship was allocated to a knight.[24]
Hay-on-Wye Tump
Hay-on-Wye grew after theconquest. Around 1121, a motte and bailey castle was built nearSt. Mary's. It is thought to have been built by William Revel. The castle remains are known as Hay Tump.[25][26] The church of St Mary's was built around 1135 and took over the role of the principal church and parish for the area. St. Mary's is near Login Brook and theRiver Wye.[27][28]
The main part of the town was subsequently developed on a spur of land between the River Wye and Dulas Brook, about 200 metres east of Hay Tump. The town was fortified with walls and defended byHay Castle,[29] which appears to have been built from the late 12th century onwards. The earlier centre of settlement around Hay Tump and St Mary's Church lay outside the later town walls.[25] A chapel dedicated to St John was subsequently built inside the town walls around 1254.[30]
In post-conquest times, Hay-on-Wye was divided between twomanors, known as an Englishry (i.e. English Hay or Haya Anglicana) and a Welshry (i.e. Welsh Hay or Haya Wallensis).[31] The Englishry was within the fortified town of Hay. TheWelshry was outside the fortified town; it included some rural land, the village of Llanigon and the hamlet of Glynfach.[32][33][34]
In 1894,[35] Hay Urban parish was created from part of the Hay Urban District. Hay Tump is within the Hay Urban parish. Hay Rural parish was created from the rural part of the parish of Hay, and includes another Norman castle calledLlanthomas Castle Mound.[36][37] It is on the same lane as theHay Festival fields (Dairy Meadows).D. J. Cathcart King's list of UK castles numbers Hay Castle as Hay No. 1, Hay Tump as Hay No. 2 and Llanthomas Castle Mound as Hay No. 3.[38]
Hay Castle initially took the form of an earthringwork with a stonegate-tower.[39] It was reinforced in stone around 1200 with acurtain wall.[40] The castle was damaged during the Welsh rebellion led byOwain Glyndŵr around 1401, and again in 1460 during theWars of the Roses.[41] It was substantially expanded in the 17th century, creating aJacobean mansion.[42] Substantial restoration work on Hay Castle was completed in 2022.[43][44][45]
Hay-on-Wye is a destination forbibliophiles in the United Kingdom, with two dozenbookshops, many selling specialist and second-handbooks,[46] although the number has declined sharply in recent years, many becoming general antique shops and similar.[47] Hay-on-Wye was already well known for its many bookshops before the festival was launched.Richard Booth opened his first shop there, called The Old Fire Station, in 1962,[48][49] and by the 1970s Hay had gained the nickname "The Town of Books".[50]
Since 1988, theHay Festival based in Hay-on-Wye has been the venue for an annualliterary festival, now sponsored byThe Daily Telegraph newspaper, which draws a claimed 80,000 visitors over ten days at the end of May or beginning of June to see and hear big literary names from all over the world. Devised by Norman, Rhoda andPeter Florence in 1988, the festival was described byBill Clinton in 2001 as "TheWoodstock of the mind".[51][52]Tony Benn said: "In my mind it's replaced Christmas".[51][53] In late July 2021, co-founder and director Peter Florence resigned as Festival Director.[54]
There are two tiers of local government covering Hay, atcommunity (town) andcounty level: Hay Town Council andPowys County Council. The town council is based at offices on Brecon Road.[55] For elections to Powys County Council, there is award called Hay which covers the same area as the community of Hay.[56]
Hay-on-Wye, Brecknockshire 1860Marcher lordships in the 14th-century Wales
The parish of Hay was created around 1135 from the north-eastern parts of the older parish of Llanigon.[28] Until 1536 Hay was amarcher lordship. In 1536 the Hay lordship was included in the new county of Brecknockshire.[57]
The area of the fortified town was sometimes described as aborough, but it was never given acharter and it appears that no borough council ever operated; instead the town was administered by officials appointed by thelord of the manor.[58] Any residual claim Hay may have had to be called a borough was extinguished under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1883.[59]
In 1864 the north-eastern part of the parish of Hay, covering the built-up area as it then was and some adjacent areas, was made alocal government district, administered by an elected local board.[60] Such districts were reconstituted asurban districts under theLocal Government Act 1894. The 1894 Act also directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle district boundaries, and so the parish of Hay was split into a Hay Urban parish covering the same area as the urban district, and a Hay Rural parish covering the part of the old parish outside the urban district.[19]
Hay Urban District was abolished in 1974, with its area instead becoming a community called Hay within theBorough of Brecknock in the new county ofPowys. The former urban district council's functions therefore passed to Brecknock Borough Council, which was in turn abolished in 1996 and its functions passed to Powys County Council.[61][62] The Hay Rural parish also became a community in 1974, but was abolished in 1986 and its area absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Llanigon.[63]
Former Hay-on-Wye Town Hall, the Cheese Market (Statue of Henry VII)
The town was formerly served by train services atHay-on-Wye railway station[67] on theHereford, Hay and Brecon line. On a stormy night in 1880, a goods train on the way to Brecon was derailed and destroyed a 3-arch masonry bridge. The train fell into Digeddi Brook at Little Ffordd Fawr, near Llanigon. The driver George Parker died, and his stoker John Williams had life changing injuries.[68][65] The line closed in 1962, due to the line's commercial underperformance.[69][70]
Hay hosts a philosophy and music festival,HowTheLightGetsIn, which occurs annually in May. It aims "to get philosophy out of the academy and into people's lives."[82]
In 2013, Hay-on-Wye had 145 Listed Building entries.[83] All are Grade II listed apart from Hay Castle[84][85] which is Grade I listed. Other listed buildings includeSt Mary's parish church,[86][87]Dulas Bridge (Newport St),[88] the Swan Hotel (Church St),[89][90] Harley’s Almshouses (4 Brecon Rd),[91] Post Office (3 High Town),[92] Ashbrook House (1 Brecon Rd),[93][94] part of the town wall[95] and many of the town centre inns and shops.[96] Oakfield is a Grade II listed Regency house located south of the town centre: built in about 1820, it was recorded in 1842 as the home of Henry Allen Junior.[97]
Church of St Mary, Hay-on-Wye
The Butter Market[98] was commissioned by William Enoch and erected in the form of a Doric temple in 1833.[99] TheCheese Market[100] was commissioned bySir Joseph Bailey, 1st Baronet and completed in 1835.[101] The Butter Market and the Cheese Market had an arcaded ground floor to sell butter and cheese and dairy products, respectively.[102] The first-floor assembly room has now been renovated to serve as holiday accommodation. On the end wall is a sculpture of Henry VII.
Hay-on-Wye has a Victorianclock tower about 50 ft high. The tower was erected in 1881 at a cost of £300.[103] It is built of dressedBath stone and native stone from Christfield quarry. It was known by locals as the "clockless tower". The clock faces and bell were added in 1884 after fund-raising byCanon Bevan and family. It was set going onChristmas Day 1884. The bell was paid for by a donation as a memorial to T. W. Higgins, Hay, and Guidfa House, Radnorshire.[65]
Former Ebenezer Methodist Chapel
Christian chapels and churches in Hay-on-Wye include:
TabernacleCalvinistic Methodist (now the Presbyterian Church of Wales), a Chapel located in Belmont Road, built in 1828, developed in 1872[111][112] and active until about 1963. It was repurposed as aRoman Catholic church in 1967.
SalemBaptist Chapel located in Bell Bank, built around 1650 and developed in 1814 and 1877.[114][115][116][117] The second oldestNonconformist chapel in Wales. The associated schoolroom may be the oldest schoolroom in Wales. Repurposed as a Yoga studio in 2018.[118][119]
TrinityWesleyan Methodist Chapel located in St. Mary's Road (1771) now a private dwelling, then the assembly room over theCheese Market inCastle Street (1823) and then Oxford Road (built in 1872 and developed in 1903) and active until about 1910. Repurposed as the Oxford Road post office in 2021.[120][121][122][123]
On 1 April 1977bibliophileRichard Booth conceived a publicity stunt in which he declared Hay-on-Wye to be an "independent kingdom" with himself as its monarch, and a National Anthem written byLes Penning. The tongue-in-cheekmicronation of Hay-on-Wye has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based on literary interests, for which some credit Booth.[132]
In 2005, Booth announced plans to sell his bookshop and move toGermany; on this occasion, the localMP,Roger Williams, was quoted as saying: "His legacy will be that Hay changed from a small market town into a mecca for second and book lovers and this transformed the local economy."[133]
Henry Norman Grant (1892–1916), son of H.R. and Jane Victoria Grant who ran a newsagents in Castle St.Francis Kilvert was a frequent visitor to the newsagents, in the time of its previous owner George Horden.[144] Henry was declaredmissing in action on the first day of theSomme offensive. It was more than a year before his death was confirmed.[145][146][147][148] He is commemorated on the Hay-on-Wye andCusop War Memorial.[149][150]
Bridget Gubbins (née Ashton) (born 1947), grew up in Hay-on-Wye. Authored books on social history, travel writing and her memoirsHay before the bookshops or the Beeman's family.[151][152][153][154]
Rhys Thomas Pryddererch (or Prytherch) (1883-1917), Calvinistic Methodist Tabernacle Minister in Belmont Rd. He died within 10 days of arriving on theWestern Front inWorld War I.[160][161][162] He is commemorated on the Hay-on-Wye andCusop War Memorial.[163][164][165][166]
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