'Brecknocks'

[Greensleeves]

Okay you clever lot - does anyone know what a 'brecknock' was?  I am researching the history of Talgarth Mill in Powys (formerly Brecknock/Breconshire).  The Cadw site says that it is thought to have originally been a weaving mill for the production of 'brecknocks' (their quotes).  Elsewhere it is recorded as having been a fulling mill at some point in its history.  So, what was a brecknock?  I have tried googling but have been unable to find anything.

Regards
GS

[despair]

Is it an Anglicisation of Brycheiniog?

Roger

[Brentor boy]

Might it be an article of clothing designed to protect against inclement weather in the Brecon Beacons? Like Ulster and Inverness capes.

[willyam]

In Welsh Newspapers Online, in The Brecon County Times issue of 1st May 1919, there is an (illustrated) advert for:
"Brecknocks. The Brecknock Collar still increases in popularity, because of its durability and good appearance. 9d each."

Willyam

[Greensleeves]

Is it an Anglicisation of Brycheiniog?

Roger

I think it is Roger, but what it or they were I have no idea.

Might it be an article of clothing designed to protect against inclement weather in the Brecon Beacons? Like Ulster and Inverness capes.

Presumably as in "If you're going up Pen-y-fan in this weather, boyo, you'd better take your brecknock(s) with you". 

So - socks?  hats? rustic outer garments?

Post Script - Oh Willyam, great find!  So some kind of shirt perhaps?

[Kiltpin]

I thought it was a padded jacket.   

Regards 

Chas

[willyam]

Further, from the The Brecon Radnor Express issue of 6th December 1917:
"For Breconshire People - The most satisfactory linen collar - well made - called 'Brecknock' and only obtainable at Watts, The Clothier".

No, not a shirt but a shirt collar from the time when shirts came without collars - which were purchased separately and which were then attached to the shirt by means of collar studs.

I believe that the advantage of this arrangement was that when the collar wore out sooner than the rest of the shirt it was cheaper to just replace the collar than it was to buy a whole new shirt with a collar permanently attached.

I recall quite clearly that my grandfather had such collars but when they fell out of fashion the life of the (new-style) shirts with collars were extended by unstitching the attached collar and "turning" it for re-attachment.

Willyam

[mazi]

Its time as a fulling/weaving mill may have pre-dated its time as a corn mill, as the two are very different, a weaving mill does not need the three floors to feed the grain by gravity.

Given that it is messy to make a wollen garment waterproof I wonder if, as already suggested, a brecknock  is a warm undergarment, known elsewhere as long johns .

Good luck with your history, even the mills archive is not too helpful.

Mike

[Greensleeves]

Thanks Mike - you know that feeling when you know you've come across something before but can't pin it down?  I feel the same about 'brecknocks'.

You are right about the fact that its time as a fulling mill pre-dated its time as a corn mill.  The buildings as they are now (three floors) are only about 200 years old, and coincide with conversion to a corn mill.  The weaving/fulling activities were much earlier, though I'm not sure of dates.