The name derives from a Brythonic word Gobannia meaning
"river of the blacksmiths",
and relates to the town's pre-Roman importance in iron smelting.
The name is related to the modern Welsh word gof (blacksmith),
and so is also associated with the Welsh smith Gofannon from folklore.
The river later became, in Welsh, Gafenni, and the town's name became Abergavenny,
meaning "mouth of (Welsh: Aber) the Gavenny (Gafenni)".
In Welsh, the shortened form Y Fenni may have come into use for a very short period after about the 15th century, although pronounced similarly in English or Welsh the English spelling Abergavenny is in general use.[7]
Roman period[edit]
Gobannium was a Roman fort guarding the road along the valley of the River Usk,[4] which linked the legionary fortress of Burrium (Usk) and later Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, (Caerleon) in the south with Y Gaer, Brecon and Mid Wales. It was also built to keep the peace among the local British Iron Age tribe, the Silures.[citation needed]
Remains of the walls of this fort were discovered west of the castle when excavating the foundations for a new post office and telephone exchange building in the late 1960s.[citation needed]
11th century[edit]
St Mary's Priory Church
Abergavenny grew as a town in early Norman times under the protection of the Lords of Abergavenny. The first Baron was Hamelin de Balun, from Ballon, a small town and castle in Maine-Anjou called "Gateway to Maine", near Le Mans, today in the Sarthe département of France. He founded the Benedictine priory, now the Priory Church of St Mary, in the late 11th century. The Priory belonged originally to the Benedictine foundation of St. Vincent Abbaye at Le Mans. It was subsequently endowed by William de Braose, with a tenth or "tithe" of the profits of the castle and town. The church contains some unique alabaster effigies, church monuments and unique medieval wood carving, such as the Tree of Jesse.
