BUILTH WELLS

Welsh Llanfair ym Muallt market town, Powys county, historic county of Brecknockshire (Sir Frycheiniog), Wales, in the upper Wye valley. The Normans made the surrounding district of Buellt a marcher lordship (i.e., part of the political buffer zone between Wales and England) and constructed a fine motte-and-bailey castle at Builth. But the town and castle suffered severely from Welsh attacks, notably by Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1260. Llywelyn was killed nearby in 1282, and his death ended most Welsh resistance to English conquest. Builth was once an important collecting point in the cattle-driving trade between Welsh breeding areas and England. It has also been a spa and continues to attract tourists drawn by its setting among the mountain scenery of Powys. Pop. (1991) 2,474.