Partrishow
Partrishow, also known as Patricio, Patrishow, or by its Welsh names Merthyr Isw and Llanisw, is a small village and historic parish in the county of Powys (historically Brecknockshire), close to its border with Monmouthshire. It is in the valley of the Grwyne Fawr, in the Black Mountains of South Wales, within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Name
[edit]The eariest recorded form of the name, as found in the Book of Llandaf (c.1120s), is merthir issiu. This is the Welsh word merthyr ('burial site, shrine, church') and what is probably a personal name which in modern Welsh would be Isiw or Isw. Melville Richards gives Merthyr Isw as a modern form of the parish's name.[1]
In 1555 the name appears as Llanysho.[2] In this case, the element llan ('enclosure, church') has replaced merthyr, as has happened in a number of similar names.[3] The name appears as Pertrissw in the list of parishes in National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS.147 (c.1566).
The modern English form is now Partrishow. In Welsh, the form Llanisw and Merthyr Isw may be found.
History and amenities
[edit]The village is noted for its outstanding grade I listed 11th-century Church of St Issui[4][5][6] with an intricately carved 16th-century rood screen,[7] mediaeval mural paintings,[8] and one of the oldest fonts in Wales. The churchyard also contains a grade II* listed cross. The church was originally called Methur Issui ("Saint Issui the Martyr"), a corruption of Merthyr Ishaw or Ishow. It is now known as St Patrico. It avoided Victorian restoration, and its conservation was undertaken by W. D. Caröe in 1908–09, with further work on the churchyard in 1919.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Richard, Melville (1969). Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780900768088. OCLC 35167.
- ^ Baring-Gould, S.; Fisher, John (1911). The lives of the British Saints: the Saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish Saints as have dedications in Britain. Vol. III. London: The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. p. 321.
- ^ Parsons, David N. (2013). Martyrs and Memorials: ‘Merthyr’ Place-Names and the Church in Early Wales. Aberystwyth: Canolfan Uwchefrydiau Cymreig a Cheltaidd Prifysgol Cymru. ISBN 9781907029158. OCLC 874931175.
- ^ a b "Brecknockshire Churches Survey: Church of St Ishow, Partrishow". Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "Parishes". The Church in Wales. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "Partrisio / Partrishow". GENUKI. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "Partrishow Church". Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "Partrishow church interior, near Crickhowell". Gathering the Jewels. The National Library of Wales. Archived from the original on 27 February 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
