PrehistoryCairns, stone circles, stone alignments, forts and standing stones from the Neolithic to the Iron Age are numerous in the hills that surround Llandovery.
c.AD 70Roman. ‘Alabum’ Roman fort is constructed at Llanfair-ar-y-bryn.
5th centuryEarly Medieval. Dingat, a son of Brychan Brycheiniog, establishes a settlement near the site of Llandingat Church.
1095 Normans. The area around Llandovery is under Norman control by the end of the century.
1116 Llandovery Castle first appears in the historical record, when it is unsuccessfully attacked by Gruffydd ap Rhys.
c1120 Llandovery is declared a borough
1126The Benedictine Priory of Great Malvern, builds a small priory in Llandovery.
1162Rhys ap Gruffydd (The Lord Rhys) takes Llandovery Castle.
1279Llandovery and its castle are in the hands of Edward I.
1400Late Medieval. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Fychan of Caeo is hanged, drawn and quartered in the town.
1403Llandovery is destroyed by Owain Glyndŵr.
1485Tudor. A Charter of Incorporation is granted by Richard III to John Tuchet, Lord of Llandovery.
1497Rhys ap Thomas is granted the Lordship of Llandovery by Henry VII.
1532Llandovery castle is sacked and burned and becomes a source of stone for local houses.
1590Queen Elizabeth reconfirms the town’s charter.
1614Seventeenth Century. James I grants the Lordship of Llandovery to John Vaughan of Golden Grove.
1640Rhys Prytherch of Ystradwallter opens a school for dissenters.
1644Vicar Prichard dies. His poetical teachings combined with moral guidance were later collected in ‘The Welshman’s Candle’.
1689Welsh Quakers purchase a burial ground on the outskirts of the town.
1717Eighteenth Century. Birth of William Williams ‘Pantycelyn’, the foremost writer of Welsh hymns
1764The first Post Office opens with Lucy Lloyd as postmistress.
1799The Bank of the Black Ox is founded by David Jones, a former drover.
1802Nineteenth Century. Viscount Nelson stays with Sir William and Lady Hamilton at the Castle Hotel.
1828The Tonn Press is founded by William Rees and postmaster David Rice Rees.
1831Street lighting by oil is installed in the town.
1832A suspension bridge is built across the River Towy.
1848Llandovery College is founded.
1858Llandovery railway station opens.
1862Llandovery Gas Company is established.
1881Llandovery Rugby Club is a founder member of the Welsh Rugby Union.
1896Llandovery County High school opens as a school for girls. It begins to admit boys in 1910.
190120th Century. The Lewis Fountain is erected in Market Square.
1906W.D. Caroe restores Llandingat Church (and Llanfair in 1913).
1910Llandovery Golf Club is established on land adjacent to the Brecon Road.
1912A livestock mart is opened.
1923Lloyd George given the freedom of the Borough.
1924Llandovery War Memorial is erected.
1926Llandovery Cottage Hospital opens.
1935Llandeilo and Llandovery Rural District Councils are merged.
1988A new mart opens
200121st Century. A statue to Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Fychan is erected on the castle mound.
2016Llandovery Rugby Club wins the SWALEC Cup.
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