Radnor and West Herefordshire Hunt
Kennels: Titley, Herefordshire. Couple of hounds: 30. Master: Major E Longueville. Huntsman: The Master. Whipper in: W Jackson kh. Secretary: Rev W Marshall, Sarnesfield Court, Weobley. Hunt Uniform: Scarlet, silver buttons lettered "RWHH", Evening dress - Scarlet, grey velvet collar, grey silk facings, hunt buttons. Subscription: £5 and upwards. Hunting days: Monday, Friday. Description of Country "Hilly in the West and North and the remainder fair hunting country, for which a good free galloper is needed". Hunting centres: Presteigne, Kington, Eardisley and Pembridge. Principal Meets: Almeley, Bollingham, Bradnor Green, Broxwood Court, Broxwood, Byletts, Bylon, Castle Weir, Dilwyn, Eardisland, Eardisley, Evenjobb, Eywood, Huntington, Kennels, Kinnersley, Kington, Kinsham Bridge, Letton, Luntley, Mahollam Bridge, Nieuport Sanitorium, Penrhos, Sarnesfield, Shobden, Stapleton, The Buck Wooton, The Rodd.
[The foxhunters' yearbook 1930-1931]
[The foxhunters' yearbook 1930-1931]
Radnor: coat-of-arms
A coat-of-arms was proposed for the county at Radnor Higher County Council in 1949, as prepared by a special sub-committee - a shield quartered Elystan lion regardant with the three boars' heads (for Cadwgan son of Elystan)surrounded by a border of gold and blue pieces from the arms of the Mortimer Earls of March, the shield ensigned with a mural crown. The inclusion of the Mortimers' arms caused controversy at the time.
[Newspaper cutting, un-named, but dated 13.8.1949]
[Newspaper cutting, un-named, but dated 13.8.1949]
Radnor Forest
Radnor Forest is a f forest in the medieval sense of a wasteland set aside for hunting (cf. chase). The summit plateau was established by the Nature Conservancy for Wales as a site of Special Scientific Interest as an example of submontane heather moorland. 67 acres of the heather moorland was acquired on a 99-year lease by the Herefordshire & Radnorshire Nature Trust from the Forestry Commission of Wales.
[Mid Wales Journal of 5 Jan 1979]
[Mid Wales Journal of 5 Jan 1979]
Radnorshire
Established by the Act of Union of 1536. Briefly, it took in the commotes of Cymwd Deuddwr and Gwrtheyrnion, and the cantrefs of Maelienydd and Elfael. The Act says:
"VI. And it is enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Lordships, Townships, Parishes, Commotes and Cantreds of New Radnor, Elistherman, Elue-les, Bonghred, Glasebery, Glawdistre, Mihelles Church, Meleneth, Blewagh, Knighton, Norton, Preston, Commothuder, Rayder, Gwerthronyon and Stanage. . . shall stand and be for ever, from the said Feast of All-Saints, guildable, and shall be reputed, accepted, named and taken as Parts and Members of the said County or Shire of Radnor; (2) and that the said Town of New Radnor shall be named, accepted, reputed, used, had and taken, Head and Shire-town of the said County or Shire of Radnor; (3) and that the Shire-court or County of and for the said County or Shire of Radnor, shall be holden and kept one Time at the said Town of New Radnor, and the next Time at the Town of Rothergowy, in the same County or Shire, and so to be kept in the said two Towns alternis vicibus for ever, and in none other Place."
The county was divided into six hundreds: Radnor, Painscastle, Knighton, Cefnllys, Colwyn and Rhayader. [G.R.]
[Statutes at Large]
"VI. And it is enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Lordships, Townships, Parishes, Commotes and Cantreds of New Radnor, Elistherman, Elue-les, Bonghred, Glasebery, Glawdistre, Mihelles Church, Meleneth, Blewagh, Knighton, Norton, Preston, Commothuder, Rayder, Gwerthronyon and Stanage. . . shall stand and be for ever, from the said Feast of All-Saints, guildable, and shall be reputed, accepted, named and taken as Parts and Members of the said County or Shire of Radnor; (2) and that the said Town of New Radnor shall be named, accepted, reputed, used, had and taken, Head and Shire-town of the said County or Shire of Radnor; (3) and that the Shire-court or County of and for the said County or Shire of Radnor, shall be holden and kept one Time at the said Town of New Radnor, and the next Time at the Town of Rothergowy, in the same County or Shire, and so to be kept in the said two Towns alternis vicibus for ever, and in none other Place."
The county was divided into six hundreds: Radnor, Painscastle, Knighton, Cefnllys, Colwyn and Rhayader. [G.R.]
[Statutes at Large]
Raikes, Robert & Frances
Of Llangasty Tal-y-llyn. From Yorkshire originally, married c. late 1830s. Raikes was a kinsman of the earlier Robert Raikes, one of the founders of the Sunday School movement. He had been at Oxford in the 1830s, where he came under the influence of the Oxford Movement, to such an extent that he gave up his partnership in the family bank to look for a country parish in which he could put his Tractarian ("High Church") principles into practice. This he found at Llangasty, where in 1847 he engaged a young architect, John Loughborough Pearson, to rebuild the church, and to build a church school (near the entrance to the churchyard, since 1925 a private house), and a house for himself at Treberfedd. .
[Leaflet on the history of Llangasty Tal-y-llyn Parish Church]
[Leaflet on the history of Llangasty Tal-y-llyn Parish Church]
Railways:Bishops Castle Railway Co.
The Bishops Castle Railway Co. was authorised by Act of July 1861, for a main line connecting the Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway north of Craven Arms to the Oswestry & Newtown Railway near Montgomery station, with a branch line from Lydham Heath to Bishops Castle.
After the initial enthusiasm for the scheme died down, a lack of money caused a delay in construction which was not started until 1863. Thomas Savin was the contractor but following some disagreement with the directors, G.M. Davies of Plowden completed the section from Stretford Bridge Junction near Craven Arms to Lydham Heath, together with the line to Bishops Castle which was opened to all traffic on 1 February 1866.
A further Act of 1866 authorised an extension from Chirbury to Minsterley, the terminus of the LNWR & GWR joint line from Shrewsbury. This line was never built, and plans to complete the line to Montgomery station although revived from time to time up until 1920, (which included persuading the Great Western Railway to build it and take the company over) came to nothing. The financial crisis of 1866 had lead the BCR into receivership the following year. Bailiffs had picketed the line in 1877 for non payment of debts forcing closure until 2 July 1877. The company remained in the hands of the receiver until final closure came in April 1935. [British Railway Journal No 10 Vol. II, Winter 1986]
After the initial enthusiasm for the scheme died down, a lack of money caused a delay in construction which was not started until 1863. Thomas Savin was the contractor but following some disagreement with the directors, G.M. Davies of Plowden completed the section from Stretford Bridge Junction near Craven Arms to Lydham Heath, together with the line to Bishops Castle which was opened to all traffic on 1 February 1866.
A further Act of 1866 authorised an extension from Chirbury to Minsterley, the terminus of the LNWR & GWR joint line from Shrewsbury. This line was never built, and plans to complete the line to Montgomery station although revived from time to time up until 1920, (which included persuading the Great Western Railway to build it and take the company over) came to nothing. The financial crisis of 1866 had lead the BCR into receivership the following year. Bailiffs had picketed the line in 1877 for non payment of debts forcing closure until 2 July 1877. The company remained in the hands of the receiver until final closure came in April 1935. [British Railway Journal No 10 Vol. II, Winter 1986]