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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

  • National Gazetteer, 1868
  • Lewis 1833

    National Gazetteer, 1868

    [Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]"BEGUILDY, (and Lower Beguildy, or Llanfihangel Beguildy), a parish in the hundred of Knighton, in the county of Radnor, South Wales, 7 miles to the N.W. of Knighton. It is situated in a hilly district on the river Teme, not far from its source, and contains the townships of Pennant, Creegbyther, and Mydwalled, with part of the borough of Knucklass, or Cnwclas. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of St. David's, value £164, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. The annual value of the parochial charities is £17."

    "CREEGBYTHER, a township in the parish of Beguildy, in the county of Radnor, 8 miles N.W. of Knighton."

    "KNUCKLASS, (or Cnwclas), a municipal and parliamentary borough in the parishes of Beguildy and Heyop, county Radnor, 2 miles N. of Knighton. It is a crown manor, and had formerly a castle of the Mortimers, built in 1242. Although but a small village, situated on the river Teme, which rises a few miles distant, at the foot of Fynnon-menyn, it has the privileges of a borough, and is governed by a bailiff, burgesses, and other officers. It is a contributory borough to Radnor, in returning one member to parliament. In the vicinity is Dol-y-Felin, an old seat of the Richardses. Vavasour Powell, the Nonconformist preacher, was born here. The surrounding country is hilly and barren, part being an extensive common."

    "MYDWALLED, (or Medwalleth), a township in the parish of Upper Beguildy, county Radnor, 5 miles S.E. of Newtown."

    "PENNANT, a township in the parish of Beguildy, county Radnor, 4 miles N.W of Knighton. It is situated on the river Teme."

    [Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
    Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

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    A Topographical Dictionary of Wales Samuel Lewis, 1833

    BEGUILDY (BUGEILDY), a parish in the hundred of KNIGHTON, County of RADNOR, SOUTH WALES, 6 1/2 miles (N. W. by W.) from Knighton, comprising the upper and lower divisions, and containing 1043 inhabitants, of which number, 591 are in the upper, and 452 in the lower, division. This parish is situated on the river Teme, and, towards the north, borders on the county of Montgomery ; it is in general mountainous, but there is a long narrow tract of great fertility, affording good pasturage for cattle, and on the hills are fed vast numbers of sheep, which form the principal dependence of the farmers, very little of the land comparatively being in a state of tillage.

    The neighbourhood abounds with pleasing and picturesque scenery, and the higher grounds command extensive and finely varied prospects over the counties of Radnor, Montgomery, and Salop. Part of the borough of Cnwclas is within this parish, the remainder being in that of Heyop, and the court-house in which the burgesses of that place are elected is situated in the township of Beguildy. The parish comprises four townships, namely, Beguildy, Crag y Byddar, Mudwalledd, and Pennant ; which are distinct as regards the collection of the county stock and the repair of the roads, but are united for the maintenance of the poor.

    The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Brecknock, and diocese of St. David's, rated in the king's books at £7.15.7 1/2., and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. David's. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, consists of a nave and chancel, but is not remarkable for any architectural character. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists at Velindre, in this parish.

    The free school is endowed with a rent-charge of £ 10, given by Lord Robert Wharton, on an estate called Maesgwynne, formerly the property of the noble family of Harley, but sold by the late Earl of Oxford. The Rev. John Davies, in 1741, bequeathed £ 100, now secured on a tenement called Pen y Garragl, to poor housekeepers of this parish; the Rev. Vavasour Griffiths, in 1741, bequeathed £20 ; and there are also some other charitable donations and bequests for distribution among the poor. Here are the remains of an ancient British fortification, said to have been occupied by the renowned Uthyr Pendragon ; and at the foot of a hill is a place called the Bloody Field, where a battle is said to have been fought. On the south-western border of the parish is the site of Cnwclas castle, on the summit of a conical artificial mound. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £363. 16.

    Cnwclas

    CNWCLAS, a borough partly in the parish of BEGUILDY, but chiefly in that of HEYOP, of which latter it constitutes a division, in the hundred of KNIGHTON, county of RADNOR, SOUTH WALES, 2 1/2 miles (N. W. by W.) from Knighton. The population is returned with the respective parishes. This place is pleasantly situated near the right bank of the Teme, which here separates Radnorshire from Shropshire, and had formerly a castle, originally built by Ralph Mortimer, about the year 1242, on the summit of a conical artificial mound. The village consists of about a dozen cottages, situated not very close to each other : the manor belongs to the crown. There is a considerable extent of pasture land in the vicinity, especially near the river Teme, the cattle fed on which are principally taken to the market at Knighton, and to Bishop's Castle in Shropshire. The borough is under the superintendence of a bailiff and burgesses, the latter of whom are made by a presentation of a jury of burgesses, selected by the steward of the manor. Jointly with Kevenlleece, Knighton, Rhaiadr, and (by the late act for amending the representation of the people) Presteign, it contributes, with Radnor, to return a representative to parliament : the right of voting was formerly vested in the burgesses at large, many of whom are resident within seven miles of the borough, but is now, by the late act, vested in the resident burgesses only, if duly qualified according to the provisions of the act, and in every male person of full age occupying, either as owner or as tenant under the same landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of not less than ten pounds, provided he be capable of registering as the act directs : the number of tenements valued at ten pounds a year and upwards, within the limits , of the borough, which were not altered by the late boundary act, is seventeen. The court-house, where the burgesses are created, is situated in that part of the borough which is in the parish of Beguildy. The Rev. Vavasour Powell, who distinguished himself in the civil and religious disputes of the seventeenth century, more particularly in connexion with the Welsh non-conformists, was a native of this borough.

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