Builth & the Wye
Disserth and the Ithon
One of the least altered churches in Wales, beside the Ithon, with a short loop through the fields around it.
- Distance
- 2.2 mi / 3.5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 10
- Ascent
- 35 m
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Shape
- Circular
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
From the churchyard, take the riverside path and field paths in a circuit through the meadows, returning along the lane. Level and short.
Worth knowing
- Go inside. The box pews still carry the names and dates of the families who paid for them, and the three-decker pulpit is intact.
- The church escaped Victorian restoration because the parish had no money, which is why it looks like this.
- Riverside sections flood; check after rain.
What you’ll see
The Ithon, meadow, and a church interior essentially unchanged since the eighteenth century.
Background
Disserth sits away from any village, which is common in this part of Wales where settlement was scattered. Its untouched interior is nationally significant precisely because nothing happened to it.