Eardisley

"EARDISLEY, a parish in the hundred of HUNTINGTON, county of HEREFORD, 6 miles (S. by W.) from Kington, containing 683 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £7. 12. 6., and in the patronage of Thomas Perry, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. Here is a National school Courts leet and baron are held occasionally; and fairs for cattle, cheese, and butter, are on May 15th and October. 18th. The Brecon and Kington rail-road passes at the south end of the village. Several helmets have been dug up; and there are slight remains of a castle. Half a mile hence is a remarkable oak tree, held in great respect by the poor inhabitants, and supposed to be four hundred years old. Some of its branches average about two feet in diameter; its girth at the bottom is sixty feet, and it covers a surface of three hundred and twenty-four feet in circular extent." [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England  (1831) ©Mel Lockie]