Over the long years of Queen Victoria's reign attitudes to crime and the punishments given out to criminals changed considerably.

In this period of many changes, there changes too in the way criminals were detected and dealt with. The first police forces as we know them today were set up across the country. In this corner of Breconshire the forces of law must have found it difficult to keep pace with the growing industrial communities of the Clydach valley.

Some examples of these changes are shown on the following pages. Choose from the menu below.