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A gathering of people at the Rock Park Pump House, Llandrindod, 1920s
During the mid-18th century, the 'healing qualities' of the local spring waters attracted visitors to the area resulting in an economic boom with the building of a 'splendid' hotel at Llandrindod Hall. The medicinal qualities of the springs was first described in detail by the self-proclaimed physician Diederich Wessel Linden.
The most famous of the springs was Cwmygof Well, in the rocky valley of Dolysgallog Farm. The farm became a boarding house in the 1820s to accommodate the growing numbers of visitors. Later, the area of land which was to become 'Rock Park' was set aside for exercise and recreation.
A period of relative decline during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was reversed with the construction of the Heart of Wales line making Llandrindod accessible from south Wales, the Midlands and northwest England. Enclosure of the common in 1862 enabled the expansion of the town with the construction of new streets, hotels, shops and houses.
During the 'season' between May and mid-September, visitors would take the waters at the pump rooms at the Rock Park and Pump House Hotel, entertained by orchestras. Hotels, boarding houses and shops—including the Central Wales Emporium on the corner of Temple Street and Station Crescent—provided for the visitors. In the early 1870s, an ornamental lake was formed by draining marshland near the Pump House Hotel (on the current site of the Council offices), and in 1893 a 9-hole golf course was opened on the common beside the lake (later replaced by the present 18-hole course on the hills above). Horse races (and later air displays) were held on the Rock Ddole meadow beside the river.
In 1893, Archdeacon Henry de Winton, who had responsibility for the area at the time, had Llandrindod old church and Cefnllys church unroofed in order to persuade the congregations to attend the new church in the centre of the town. Both churches were later restored in 1895 following protest.
Llandrindod was the place of the election of the first Archbishop of Wales in 1920, which occurred at the Old Parish Church. Elections for every Archbishop since have continued to be held in Llandrindod, now at Holy Trinity Church in the Town Centre. In 1907, a Catholic church was founded in the town, Our Lady of Ransom and the Holy Souls Church.
Vans Good Food Shop, an example of the style of shops of Llandrindod's Victorian heyday
The town has maintained an important profile in the world of motoring and motorsport. Apart from two of its most symbolic recent buildings being the Tom Norton's Automobile Palace and Pritchard's Garage, it served as the base for many International motorcycle events such as the International Six Days Trial ISDT starting in 1933 with the last visit taking place in 1961, often drawing in crowds of thousands to watch.
The town's boom continued until the First World War during which time soldiers on training courses were billeted in hotels and boarding houses, and refugees and wounded soldiers were accommodated in the town. The Great Depression of the late-1920s and 1930s led to many hotels and boarding houses being turned into private homes and flats. During the Second World War the town was again used for military hospitals and billets, followed by a slump in the post-war years. The Beeching Axe resulted in the closure in the mid-1960s of the Mid-Wales line and with it Llandrindod's connection from nearby Builth Wells direct to Cardiff and to north and west Wales. The town does retain connections to Swansea and Shrewsbury from Llandrindod railway station on the Heart of Wales line.
Prior to 1974, the town housed much of the administration of Radnorshire, although the official county town was Presteigne. The reorganisation of local government in 1974 resulted in Llandrindod becoming the county town of the newly formed administrative county of Powys. This led to an influx of people employed by the new bureaucracies, on salaries determined by national pay scales. The new County Hall was based on Spa Road East in Llandrindod Wells.
