Bannau Brycheiniog derives from the Welsh
bannau, "peaks" and
Brycheiniog, the early medieval kingdom which covered the area. The English name is derived from the Welsh. This name is first attested in the sixteenth century in
John Leland's 1536–1539
Itinerary of Wales. Under his description of the Brecknockshire landscape Leland states : The name
Brecon Beacons first occurs in the eighteenth century (as "Brecknock Beacons") and referred to the area around Pen y Fan (which itself was sometimes referred to as "the Brecknock Beacon"). For instance, Emanuel Bowen's
A New and accurate map of South Wales (1729) labels the peak as 'The Vann or Brecknock Beacon', John Clark's 1794
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Brecknock refers to 'the Vann, or Brecknock Beacon, the undisputed sovereign of all the mountains in South Wales', and an 1839
tithe map of Cantref parish labels the mountain simply 'Beacon'. A slightly wider definition was used in 1809 by the Breconshire historian
Theophilus Jones, who wrote that 'of the lofty summits of the Brecknock Beacons, that most southwards is the lowest, and the other two nearly of a height, they are sometimes called Cader Arthur or Arthur's chair'. This implies that "Brecknock Beacons" referred to only three summits, including Pen y Fan and Corn Du. To distinguish the Brecons Beacons range from the national park, the range is sometimes called the "Central Beacons". ==Geography==