Llangynog (Montgomeryshire)
A small community in the upper Tanat valley which in the 19th century to exploit slate quarries and lead mines. The opening of the Tanat Valley Light railway allowed the community access to markets further away.
The map below shows the village of Llangynog on an Ordnance Survey map of 1902.
The map below shows the village of Llangynog on an Ordnance Survey map of 1902.
Llanidloes: Chartist Riot
Even after Lord Grey’s Reform Act of 1832 the textile workers of the Severn valley were still without the vote and excluded from all forms of the official life of the county unless they were property owners. As elsewhere in Britain interest in the struggle for civil liberties was given a focus by the Chartist movement. In the flannel producing towns of Llanidloes and Newtown Chartist groups were set up in 1838. It was in Llanidloes however that the sense of dissatisfaction was triggered into violence. While the Chartist movement had clear and direct political aims much of its support came from families afraid of poverty, the price of corn, the new workhouses and the failing flannel industry in general.
Local authorities were made anxious by reports of violence elsewhere and rumours of activity locally responded by brining in forces from outside to support the local watchmen and parish constables. Three professional constables were brought to Llanidloes from London and local landowner Thomas Marsh formed his own armed band of 300 men armed with sticks. They were probably his employees and tenants who – although quite possibly Chartist themselves in sympathy – could not afford to offend their employer or landlord.
Local authorities were made anxious by reports of violence elsewhere and rumours of activity locally responded by brining in forces from outside to support the local watchmen and parish constables. Three professional constables were brought to Llanidloes from London and local landowner Thomas Marsh formed his own armed band of 300 men armed with sticks. They were probably his employees and tenants who – although quite possibly Chartist themselves in sympathy – could not afford to offend their employer or landlord.
April 1839
Thomas Marsh
A Chartist meeting was being held in Llanidloes on April 30th, 1839 when three of their members were arrested by the policemen from London and taken to the Trewythen Arms in Great Oak Street. As word of the arrests spread a crowd gathered outside the building only to find it defended by Thomas Marsh’s ‘special constables’ armed with sticks. Feelings ran high and the crowd the crowd who stormed the building and set free the arrested men damage to the inside. One of the London policemen was badly beaten, but the other two escaped and hid, terrified of the mob. The authorities claimed that there was a serious armed revolution going on and persuaded the Lord Lieutenant at Powis Castle to send in the troops.
On Saturday 4th May, 1839 a force of infantry soldiers from Brecon and a combined force of around 200 Yeoman Cavalry arrived on the scene to find the crowd dispersed and life tense but apparently normal.
The troops sealed off the town and arrested over thirty Chartists, including three women, and sent them to Montgomery jail. Although there was little resistance to be found in the town a military force stayed in the town until the following year. Following the trial of those involved in the release of the arrested Chartists, three Llanidloes men were sentenced to be transported from Woolwich in October 1839.
[MC 62; Welsh History Review vol 6; Hamer]
On Saturday 4th May, 1839 a force of infantry soldiers from Brecon and a combined force of around 200 Yeoman Cavalry arrived on the scene to find the crowd dispersed and life tense but apparently normal.
The troops sealed off the town and arrested over thirty Chartists, including three women, and sent them to Montgomery jail. Although there was little resistance to be found in the town a military force stayed in the town until the following year. Following the trial of those involved in the release of the arrested Chartists, three Llanidloes men were sentenced to be transported from Woolwich in October 1839.
[MC 62; Welsh History Review vol 6; Hamer]
Llanidloes: Flannel Industry
Montgomeryshire was the most important centre of the woven textile industry in Wales from the mid 16th century, and until around 1790 wool was carded, spun and woven into fabric in almost all farmhouses and cottages as a winter activity to supplement the often meagre living from upland farming. Weaving is among the earliest trades recorded in parish registers. The area had always been noted for the production of soft flannel. The early stages of industrialisation saw the arrival of handloom weaving shops housed in tall three or four storey buildings in the town. A common feature of weavers’ houses are the large windows in the upper floors to admit as much light as possible. It was estimated that there were some 25 weaving workshops with a total of around 815 hand looms in operation in Llanidloes in 1838.
By this time the local industry was in decline and it was the mechanisation of the process using steam power to drive the looms and other machines in specialised factories which kept it going. In 1850 there were nine factories in Llanidloes employing up to 800 workers making flannel, tweeds and shawls, but the modernisation of the industry in the county had taken too long and the coming of the railways brought in cheaper cloth from outside and in more distant markets Montgomeryshire flannel had to compete with cheaper flannel produced in the huge mills in the north of England.
The photograph to the right above (courtesy of the Llanidloes Museum) shows cloth stretched on tenters behind the Cambrian Mill in Llanidloes.
By this time the local industry was in decline and it was the mechanisation of the process using steam power to drive the looms and other machines in specialised factories which kept it going. In 1850 there were nine factories in Llanidloes employing up to 800 workers making flannel, tweeds and shawls, but the modernisation of the industry in the county had taken too long and the coming of the railways brought in cheaper cloth from outside and in more distant markets Montgomeryshire flannel had to compete with cheaper flannel produced in the huge mills in the north of England.
The photograph to the right above (courtesy of the Llanidloes Museum) shows cloth stretched on tenters behind the Cambrian Mill in Llanidloes.
Llanidloes: Market Hall
The exact date of construction is not known but documentary evidence and comparison with similar structures would place it around 1600. It is situated at the central crossroads of the town's 13th century plan. It was probably used, as was the now disappeared market hall in Newtown, as a courtroom and lock-up with the market in the shelter underneath. It was probably used for the Assizes of 1606 and records show it used by later Assizes and a Commission of the Court of the Exchequer. It was used also by many nonconformist denominations as a meeting place. The Quakers are recorded as seeking permission of the local magistrates for a meeting in 1701. John Wesley preached to local congregations both outside and inside the hall in the 1760's. In 1838 new Public Rooms were built and the Old Market Hall declined in importance as a venue for large public meetings. By the 1850's there were calls for its removal and these continued until the building was scheduled by the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in 1910.
Throughout the seventeenth century the hall belonged to the Lloyds of Berthlwyd, each of whom served as Sheriff of the County. It then passed through marriage to the Lloyds of Halkyn in Flintshire, one of whom, 2nd Baron Mostyn sold it with the Berthlwyd estate in 1854. Local flannel manufacturer Edward Jenkins bought the hall and it was his descendant Col. John Davies-Jenkins of Penygreen who sold it to the Mayor and Corporation in 1918. This private ownership preserved the building through the years when the calls for its demolition were many.
The Market Bell on the roof was rung at 8 p.m. as a sign to traders to close. Also by the hall were the stocks and whipping post.
[MC 61; Haslam]
Throughout the seventeenth century the hall belonged to the Lloyds of Berthlwyd, each of whom served as Sheriff of the County. It then passed through marriage to the Lloyds of Halkyn in Flintshire, one of whom, 2nd Baron Mostyn sold it with the Berthlwyd estate in 1854. Local flannel manufacturer Edward Jenkins bought the hall and it was his descendant Col. John Davies-Jenkins of Penygreen who sold it to the Mayor and Corporation in 1918. This private ownership preserved the building through the years when the calls for its demolition were many.
The Market Bell on the roof was rung at 8 p.m. as a sign to traders to close. Also by the hall were the stocks and whipping post.
[MC 61; Haslam]