Pistyll Rhaeadr (“spring of the waterfall”) is a waterfall, located a few miles from the village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant in Powys, Wales, twelve miles west of Oswestry.
Description
Pistyll Rhaeadr is formed by the Afon Disgynfa’s falling, in three stages, over a 240-foot (73 m) Silurian cliff-face, after which the river is known as the Afon Rhaeadr. The tallest stage is estimated at about 40 metres. It is counted as one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The 19th-century author George Borrow, in his book Wild Wales, remarked of the waterfall: “What shall I liken it to? I scarcely know, unless it is to an immense skein of silk agitated and disturbed by tempestuous blasts, or to the long tail of a grey courser at furious speed. I never saw water falling so gracefully, so much like thin, beautiful threads as here.”
There is car parking space at the foot of the waterfall for people who want to explore the waterfall, with a café and a B&B alongside.
The waterfall is often referred to by the media, government sources, and other sources as the tallest in Wales or the tallest single drop in the United Kingdom. However, it is not a single drop, and both its single drop height and total height are surpassed by both the Devil’s Appendix and Pistyll y Llyn, as well as several other waterfalls.