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Maesyfed / New Radnor

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"RADNOR (NEW), or MAES - YVED, a borough and parish, having exclusive jurisdiction, and formerly of sufficient importance to have given its name to the county of RADNOR, SOUTH WALES, 8 miles (W. S. W.) from Presteign, and 157 (W. N. W.) from London, containing 472 inhabitants. Its Welsh name, signifying "the imbibing meadow,", is derived from the circumstance of the little river Somergil sinking into the earth in its vicinity, .............. Though at present little more than an inconsiderable village, it was anciently a place of some importance, and most probably owed its origin to the erection of a castle here by the Mortimers...........The present town is situated on the banks of the small river Somergil, near its descent from the mountains into the Vale of Radnor, and consists only of a few houses ............. With the exception of a few maltsters and handicraftsmen the entire population is engaged in agriculture. The market, formerly held on Tuesday, after several ineffectual attempts to revive it, has altogether fallen into disuse. Fairs are held annually on August 14th and October 28th and 29th, ...........The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £ 13. 10. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, ........... The poor are maintained by an average annual expenditure amounting to £ 192. " ( A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, Samuel Lewis, 1833)

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Bibliography

Cole, E J L            New Radnor town charters           Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 23  1953      Welsh Journals Online

Cole, E J L              New Radnor murage grant, 1283           Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 27  1957      Welsh Journals Online  

Cole, E J L           Account of the keeper of Radnor Castle, 9-10 Edward III             Radnorshire Society Transactions      vol. 33  1963   Welsh Journals Online

Downie, J A            Robert Harley, Sir Rowland Gwynne, and the New Radnor Election of 1690         Radnorshire Society Transactions  vol. 46  1976   Welsh Journals Online   

Howse, William H.         Radnor old and new. Kington : Mid-Border Books, 1989. 54p

Howse, W H        New Radnor            Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 18 1948           Welsh Journals Online

Howse, William H.      Some historical notes on New Radnor. Leominster : Leominster Printing Co, [19--] 8p

Howse, W H         The church at New Radnor            Radnorshire Society Transactions      vol. 15  1945     Welsh Journals Online

Howse, W H         The last royal visit to Radnor Castle               Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 24  1954      Welsh Journals Online &   vol. 70 2000    Welsh Journals Online

Howse, W H        The Harley V. Lewis affray at New Radnor in 1693          Radnorshire Society Transactions   Vol 26 1956          Welsh Journals Online

Howese, W H               A family feud at New Radnor and its results             Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 28  1958      Welsh Journals Online 

Howse, W H         New Radnor Castle             Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 28  1958      Welsh Journals Online 

Jones, Nigel W. Excavations at the Porth, New Radnor, 1991-2. Transactions of the Radnorshire Society 63 (1993), p. 38-41

Lloyd, Alun R          The Anglicisation of Welsh place names in the New Radnor area           Radnorshire Society Transactions      vol. 19  1949     Welsh Journals Online

Matthews, D Hugh. Bedyddwyr (Baptists) Maesyfed yn y 17eg ganrif : gwers mewn goddefgarwch. Trafodion Cymdeithas Hanes y Bedyddwyr (1986), p. 1-13

Morgan, Richard. Enwau lleoedd Buallt a Maesyfed. Capel Garmon : Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 1993.

Oliver, Reginald C B. The Lewis family of Downtown [sic] House, New Radnor, 1758-1858. Radnorshire Society Transactions, vol. 61 1991    Welsh Journals Online

OLiver, R C B    The complaint of New Radnor church              Radnorshire Society Transactions Vol 48 1978          Welsh Journals Online

Owain Glyndwr ym Maesyfed. Llafar Gwlad 41 (1993), p. 17

Oppitz, Leslie. When the train ran to New Radnor. Country Quest (January 1996), p. 22-3

Silvester, R J. New Radnor on old maps. Radnorshire Society Transactions, vol. 64 1994    Welsh Journals Online

Smith, Laurence. New Radnor : the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace 1827-1886. New Radnor : Picture it, 2002. 49p

The monument to Sir George Cornewall Lewis at New Radnor               Radnorshire Society Transactions      vol. 14  1944     Welsh Journals Online

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Church History

Church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by   I.G   Jones, & D. Williams. UWP,  Cardiff, 1976. The names given towards the end of each entry are those of the informants.

New Radnor Parish (Diocese Hereford); Statistics; Area 3342 acres; Population 249 males, 232 females, total 481

  • New Radnor Parish Church      Attendance - morning 82 + 35 scholars, afternoon 56 + 23 scholars    "There wd be a longer attendance of children at church both morning and afternoon if there was on General good School which is sorley weenting in this parish "    William Neaton, Rector
  • Zion Chapel, Calvinistic Methodist        Erected 1832       Attendance - morning 37, afternoon 33 scholars, evening 110        Moses Williams, Assistant Minister to the Rev Ebenezer, Mission House, Penybont

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of New Radnor St Mary

See John Ball's site Welsh Churches and Chapels Collection for a photograph/data re St Mary's Church

Church of St Mary, New Radnor on the Radnorshire Churches Survey site

New Radnor church interior on the People's Collection Wales site

New Radnor church in 1828 on the People's Collection Wales site

Baptist chapel New Radnor on the People's Collection Wales site

Presbyterian church New Radnor on the People's Collection Wales site

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    Church Records

    Detailed information on deposited registers and transcripts for this parish is given on the Powys Archives page Radnorshire parish registers

    As a guide only, the principal extant parochial church records for this parish span the dates shown below (as detailed in Parish Registers of Wales, NLW 2000) but exact current holdings should be confirmed with the individual Archives;

    • Baptisms 1644-1903; Marriages 1644-1971; Burials 1644-1918; Banns 1823-1942
      Parish Registers, or copies, for all or part of these dates are held at the NLW and/or Powys Archives.  
      Bishops Transcripts for various periods are held at the Hereford Archives and/or Powys Archives   
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    Description & Travel

    New Radnor Castle on the Castle Wales site

    Aerial photograph of New Radnor, 2001 - on the People's Collection Wales site

    Aerial photograph of Black Mixen round barrow, New Radnor, 2001   - on the People's Collection Wales site

    You can see pictures of Maesyfed / New Radnor which are provided by:

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    Gazetteers

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    History

    Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

    • New Radnor Borough Charters     "Charter of incorporation of the borough of New Radnor,Radnorshire, 1562, and charter of re-incorporation, 1739."

    Sheep Dipping in New Radnor c1910 on the People's Collection Wales site

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    Maps

    Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R., Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: History Data Service, UK Data Archive [distributor], 17 May 2001. SN: 4348. Here is a gazetteer/finding aid plus a set of overview maps to accurately identify the position of parishes within the county

    Family Search have an interactive map called "England and Wales Jurisdictions 1851" showing parish (and other) boundaries with optional background maps such as Ordnance Survey. There is also a Search facility, do read the guidance notes to get maximum benefit from this useful resource. See here for further background information to assist in the interpretation of this data

    Victorian Powys for schools site - Map of New Radnor in 1904, and 1835

    You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SO221615 (Lat/Lon: 52.245799, -3.14239), Maesyfed / New Radnor which are provided by:

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    Newspapers

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    Public Records

    Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

    • New Radnor (Maesyfed) Parish and Community Council Records  1894-1988    
    • New Radnor Rural District Council Records  1906-1974
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    Schools

    The school New Radnor on the People's Collection Wales site