| Radnorshire Sir Faesyfed (Welsh) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historic county anddistrict | |||||||
| 1536–1974/1996 | |||||||
 Show location in Wales Show location in England and Wales Show location in the United Kingdom | |||||||
| Area | |||||||
| • 1831 | 272,128 acres (1,101.26 km2) | ||||||
| • 1911 | 301,165 acres (1,218.77 km2) | ||||||
| • 1961 | 301,165 acres (1,218.77 km2) | ||||||
| Population | |||||||
| • 1831 | 24,651[1] | ||||||
| • 1901 | 23,281 | ||||||
| • 1971 | 18,271 | ||||||
| • 1992[2] | 24,000 | ||||||
| Density | |||||||
| • 1831 | 0.1/acre | ||||||
| Status | Non-administrative county (1536–1889) Administrative county (1889–1974) District ofPowys (1974–1996) Historic county (non-administrative) | ||||||
| Chapman code | RAD | ||||||
| Government | Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996) | ||||||
| • HQ |
| ||||||
| • Motto | Ewch yn Uwch (Go Higher) | ||||||
 | |||||||
| History | |||||||
• Established | 1536 | ||||||
• Council established | 1889 | ||||||
• Disestablished | 1974/1996 | ||||||
• District status | 1974–1996 | ||||||
| Subdivisions | |||||||
| • Type | Hundreds,sanitary districts,urban districts,rural districts | ||||||
| |||||||
.svg)
Radnorshire (Welsh:Sir Faesyfed) wasone of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974, later becoming adistrict ofPowys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populated area, and was bounded to the north byMontgomeryshire andShropshire, to the east byHerefordshire, to the south byBrecknockshire and to the west byCardiganshire.
The county was formed in 1536[a] from severalMarcher lordships under theLaws in Wales Acts, as part of the formal annexation of Wales into theKingdom of England byHenry VIII. The county was named afterNew Radnor, which was the original county town. From 1543 onwards theassizes were held alternately at New Radnor andPresteigne, later settling at Presteigne alone. Presteigne then served as the county's administrative centre until 1889 when Radnorshire County Council was established and chose to base itself inLlandrindod Wells instead.
The administrative county was abolished in 1974, with the area becoming the lower-tier Radnor district within the new county ofPowys. The district was renamed Radnorshire in 1989.[3] Radnorshire District Council was abolished in 1996 when Powys became aunitary authority.[4]Powys County Council then had a Radnorshire"shire committee" until 2018.
The largest town in Radnorshire was Llandrindod Wells, with other towns beingKnighton, Presteigne, andRhayader. TheRadnor Forest is an area of high ground covering a large part of the east of former county.
The geographic territory of what was Radnorshire roughly corresponds with the Welsh territory ofRhwng Gwy a Hafren (English:Between Wye and Severn) which fell under the control of theMarcher Lords at the end of the 11th century. The area that would become Radnorshire includedCwmhir Abbey, aCistercian monastery founded in 1176 atAbbeycwmhir. TheBattle of Bryn Glas was fought on 22 June 1402 atPilleth during the rebellion ofOwain Glyndŵr.
Until theLaws in Wales Act 1535, Radnor was outside thePrincipality of Wales. This peculiarMarcher status and its wont of Welsh speakers gave weight to the traditional local expression, "Neither Wales nor England, just Radnorsheer"[5]
The 1535 act created Radnorshire from a number of former territories, including thecantrefs ofMaelienydd andElfael and thecommotes ofGwrtheyrnion and Deuddwr. The act also specified thatNew Radnor was the county town, and directed that the county'sassizes andquarter sessions should be held alternately at New Radnor and Rhayader.[6] A judge was murdered at Rhayader a few years later, highlighting the dangers to English judges in that part of the county.[7] In 1543 the law was changed, directing that the assizes should no longer be held at Rhayader, but should instead alternate between New Radnor and Presteigne.[8] The practice of holding sessions alternately at New Radnor and Presteigne later gave way to all sessions being held at Presteigne.
The county's poverty was remarked upon thus in the 17th century by an anonymous visitor:
Poor Radnorsheer, poor Radnorsheer,
Never a park, and never a deer,
Never a squire of five hundred a year,
Save Richard Fowler of Abbey-Cwm-hir
Apart from a handful of parishes along the English border theWelsh language remained the first language of the county well into the second half of the eighteenth century.[9] By 1850 the language had retreated to the western parishes ofRhayader,Llanyre,Cwmdauddwr,St Harmon andNantmel.[10] By 1900 Welsh was still spoken by a sizeable minority west of the town ofRhayader, the language disappearing as the century progressed. Of course there were Welsh speakers living in Radnorshire who had come from other parts of Wales, and today their number has been swollen by children being educated through the medium of Welsh in school.
When elected county councils were established in 1889 under theLocal Government Act 1888, taking over the local government functions of the oldcourt of quarter sessions, the new Radnorshire County Council decided to meet at Llandrindod Wells rather than Presteigne.[11] The county council was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972.[12][13]
The area became the lower-tier Radnor district within the new county ofPowys. The district was renamed Radnorshire in 1989. Radnorshire District Council was abolished in 1996 when Powys became aunitary authority.[14]Powys County Council then had a Radnorshire"shire committee" comprising the Powys councillors elected from the wards covering the former Radnorshire district from 1996 until the county council abolished its shire committees in 2018.[15]
In the east and south were some comparatively level tracts, including the Vale of Radnor, but much of the county is forest, moorland and low mountains, with theCambrian Mountains running through the west of the county beyondRhayader. TheRadnor Forest is a slightly isolated dome of hills in the middle of the county near the village ofNew Radnor, and included what was the highest ground in the former county. Here is found the formercounty top ofGreat Rhos, at a height of 660 metres (2,170 ft) above sea level. TheElan Valley contains several huge man-made reservoirs supplying water toBirmingham. The main rivers were theWye, theTeme, the Elan and theIthon. The Teme formed the boundary with Shropshire.
The chief towns wereKnighton,Llandrindod Wells,Presteigne and Rhayader. The backbone of local incomes was tourism, hill farming and the public sector such as care, education and road/public land maintenance. Sheep, dairy/cattle and poultry farming provided more revenue than crops which like much of Scotland, the Pennines and Wales received more than national average precipitation and can be subject to late frosts.
From 1542 there was aRadnorshire constituency for electingmembers of parliament to the English (and later United Kingdom) parliament. The constituency was abolished in 1918, merging with the neighbouringBreconshire constituency to become theBrecon and Radnorshire constituency.Brecon and Radnorshire is also the name of theSenedd constituency covering the area.
On the creation of the county it was divided into sixhundreds. The names of the hundreds, which were not always consistently spelt, were as follows:[10]
In the 19th century new structures of local administration were introduced. ThePoor Law Amendment Act 1834 grouped parishes intopoor law unions. While these were not themselves local authorities, their boundaries were to later be used to define local government districts. PLUs did not conform to county boundaries, but consisted of catchment areas forworkhouses. Most of Radnorshire was included in the three unions of Knighton, Presteigne and Rhayader.[16] Parishes on the edges of the county were included in unions based in other counties: Builth and Hay on Wye in Brecknockshire and Kington in Herefordshire.
There were no town councils in the county until 1850, when alocal board was formed at Knighton.[17] Similar bodies were later formed atLlandrindod Wells (originally named Trefonen) andPresteigne in 1891.[18][19]
The Public Health Act 1875 divided England and Wales intosanitary districts, each governed by a sanitary authority. Instead of creating new bodies, existing local board districts became urban sanitary districts (USDs) and the remaining areas of poor law unions became rural sanitary districts (RSDs). The existing local board or poor law guardians became the sanitary authority for their area. By 1891 therefore, Radnorshire was divided between the following sanitary districts:
TheLocal Government Act 1894 createdurban districts (UDs) andrural districts (RDs) in place of the sanitary districts. Directly elected urban and rural district councils became the governing bodies. The new districts were identical to the sanitary districts, with the exception that where a RSD was divided by a county boundary it was split into separate rural district in each county. Radnorshire was divided into eight UDs and RDs, which were unchanged until their abolition in 1974:
From the medieval period until 1974, Radnorshire was divided intocivil parishes for the purpose of local government; these in large part equated to ecclesiastical parishes (see the table below), most of which still exist as part of the Church in Wales.[21] Chapelries are listed initalics.
Prior to the creation of Radnorshire County Council in 1889, the county was administered by itscourt of quarter sessions, which initially alternated between New Radnor and Rhayader, then between New Radnor and Presteigne, before settling at Presteigne alone. AShire Hall was built in Presteigne in 1542 and rebuilt in 1829, which served as the main administrative building for the county. When the county council was established, during preliminary meetings before the council formally came into being on 1 April 1889, it was decided by 12 votes to 11 that the county council would not meet at Presteigne but inLlandrindod Wells.[11] The Shire Hall in Presteigne continued to serve as a courthouse until the 1990s.[7]
The county council generally held its meetings at the Pump House Hotel on Spa Road East in Llandrindod Wells.[22] In 1909 the county council built itself offices at the "County Buildings" in the High Street at Llandrindod Wells.[23]
_(geograph_4911185).jpg)
The county council then moved its staff to larger offices at the formerGwalia Hotel in Ithon Road in 1950. The former hotel remained the county council headquarters until the county council was abolished in 1974.[23][24]
The district council was based atThe Gwalia, on Ithon Road in Llandrindod Wells, which had been built in 1900 as the Gwalia Hotel and had served as the offices of the old Radnorshire County Council since 1950.[23][25][26] After the council's abolition The Gwalia became an area office for Powys County Council.[27]
Until 1954 Radnorshire County Council used a version of the arms of theMortimers,Earls of March:Barry of six or and azure on a chief of the last two pallets azure between as may gyrons of the first.[28][29] The council received a grant ofarmorial bearings by theCollege of Arms in 1954.[30] The arms were made up ofcharges from local families. A gold reguardant lion on red was forElystan Glodrhydd,Prince of Wales c. 1000; black boars' heads on white for his sonCadwgan. Around these was placed a gold and bluecompony bordure based on the Mortimer arms. The motto adopted by the county council wasEwch yn Uwch ("Go Higher"). In 1974 the arms were transferred to Radnor District Council.[31] In 1996 the arms were transferred a second time to Powys County Council, for use by the Radnorshire Shire Committee.[32]
The first election to the district council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. A majority of the seats on the district council were held byindependents throughout the council's existence.[33]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Independent | 1974–1996 | |
No centre in Radnorshire exceeds a population of 6,000; only one (Llandrindod Wells) exceeds 5,000:
TheRadnorshire Society was established in 1930 to promote the study of the archaeology and history of the county.
TheRoyal Welsh Show takes place each July at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Showground at Llanelwedd. The show lasts for four days and attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually.
Radnor Young Farmers Club has 13 clubs throughout the county. It is affiliated to theNational Federation of Young Farmers Clubs.
Radnorshire Arts and Crafts Foundation, Museum of Welsh TextilesWhitton, Powys
The Radnorshire Museumwebsite, in Llandrindod Wells, collects, preserves and interprets the rich cultural heritage of Radnorshire. This is reflected in its diverse collections of Geology, Palaeontology, Archaeology, Natural History, Social History and Fine Art.
TheRadnorshire Wildlife Trust manages 17 nature reserves across the county.
TheLlandrindod Wells Victorian Festival is held annually at the end of August. It offers open-air and street theatre and music, a fairground, craft fair, historical re-enactment, entertainments at theAlbert Hall and exhibitions of old items.
Poverty and agricultural change, decline and industrial progress elsewhere has always made Radnorshire a place of net emigration. Emigrants employed the name of the county in the United States:
Others may have formed part of the Welsh community inPatagonia.[citation needed]
The Gwalia, Llandrindod Wells, LD1 6AA
The leading texts on Radnorshire history are:
 | ||
 Council elections in the preserved county ofPowys | |
|---|---|
| Powys County Council | |
| Brecknock Borough Council | |
| Montgomeryshire District Council | |
| Radnorshire District Council | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
