LLANGYNIEW (LLAN-GYNYW), a parish, in the union of LLANVYLLIN, lower division of the hundred of MATHRAVAL, county of
MONTGOMERY, NORTH WALES, 2 miles (N. by W.) from LlanvairCaereinion; containing 647 inhabitants. This place derives its
name from the dedication of its church to St. Cynyw, an eminent British saint, who flourished in the sixth century, and
was son of Gwynlliw, and brother of Catwg the Wise. That it is of very remote antiquity is evident from the numerous
British encampments, apparently of the very earliest character, which are scattered over the hills in vari. out; parts of
the parish; and that it was either oecppied by the Romans, or at least known to that people. has been conjectured on
probable grounds by several writers, both from the situation and the quadrangular form of a camp is the hamlet of Math.
naval, which subsequently became the seat of the ancient princes of Powys. This station, situated on the bank of the river
Banwy, at no eat distance from its junction with the other branch of the river Vyrnwy, and at the western extremity of the
Vale of Meivod, near the turnpike-road from Llanvair to Meivod, has not only been supposed to be a Roman station, but by
some antiquaries has been identified with the long lost Mediolanian of the Itineraries. The reasons upon which they
establish their hypothesis are, the common opinion entertained by all writers that, from the coincidence of the situation
with the distances laid down in the Itineraries of Antoninns and Richard of Cirencester, the site of that station is to be
looked for either in the Vale of Meivod, or in that of the Taint; that the western part of the former of these vales must
have been the mspoott wince the ancient Watling-street and the Via Dnaxueu would intersect each other, if continued in
straight lines; that there are no other remains of Roman origin near this place, which at all correspond with the
distances given in the Itineraries; and lastly, the prevailing custom of the early Saxon princes of Britain to erect their
palaces on the sites of stations that had been occupied by the Romans. On the opposite side of the river, in a wood called
Gwern Ddii, is a circular intrenchment; and in a field beyond it is a circular mount, both which Mr. Pennant thinks were
appendages to the principal station at Mathraval, which he concurs with Burton in supposing to have been the Mediolanum of
the Romans. About the latter end of the eighth century, the princes of Powys, in order to guard against the frequent
incursions of Offa, King of Mercia, into the eastern portion of their territories, transferred the seat of their
government from " Pengwern Powys," now Shrewsbury, where it had been previously established, to Mathraval in this parish,
where they either built a palace, or enlarged one previously erected, which continued to be their chief residence till
towards the close of the twelfth century, when Gwenwynwyn, son of Owain Cyveiliog, having taken " Casten Cock yn Mhowys,"
now Powys Castle, removed the seat of government to that place. The Eisteddvodaa, or triennial assemblies of the bards and
minstrels, were regularly held at Mathraval with great solemnity; and Owain Cyveiliog, who, as Prince of Pos, resided in
the castle of this place, and Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, his poet laureate, who lived at Llechwedd-Isiiv, near the banks of
the Vyrnwy, both bards of the first eminence, who flourished during the middle of the twelfth century, the Augustan era of
Welsh poetry, composed on those occasions some of their finest odes, of which many are preserved in the Welsh Archaeology.
After the removal 'of the seat of government to Casten Powys, the palace of Mathraval, which was deserted 9 by the princes
of Powys, fell into the possession of Robert Vipont, a powerful baron in high favour with John, King of England, who
either rebuilt, or at least repaired and fortified, the ancient castle. In 1212, Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of North
Wales, having made an incursion into Powys-land, invested the castle of this place, which, from having been recently
fortified by Vipont, was strong enough to hold outagainst .his assaults, till King John, marching from England with a
considerable force to the relief of the baron, compelled Llewelyn to retire with his confederate forces; and in order to
prevent any similar attempt on the part of that prince, he ordered the castle to be burnt to the ground, since which
period it has been in ruins. The PARISH is situated nearly in the centre of the county, on the turnpike-road leading from
Oswestry to Llanvair; and is bounded on the south and west by the parish of Llanvair, and on the north and east by the
Banwy and Oweddyn, or Meehan, both branchesof the river Vyrnwy, which unite a little below Mathraval, and separate this
parish from those of Uanvibangel and Meivod. It extends nearly four miles in lengthand from a male and a half to three
miles in breadth; and comprises by admeasurement 4440acres, of which, by computation 1300 are arable, 1000 pasture, 1060
meadow, and the remainder woodland. Nearly three-fourths of the lands are old inclosures, and the rest was inclosed under
the provisions of an act obtained in 1810, which extended also to the adjoining parish of Llanvair-Caereinion, and part of
that of CastleCaereinion. The surface n greatly undulated, rising in many places into hills of considerable elevation;
and the surrounding scenery, which is strikingly diversified and picturesque, is in several parts highly enriched with
woods of luxuriant growth, and enlivened by the branches of the river Vyrnwy. At Mathraval Fridd and Park are not lees
than three hundred and fifty acres of woodland, on which are growing some of the finest oak trees in this county, which is
much celebrated for that species of timber: many of the young trees, not more than nine inches in girth at the butt, are
sixty feet in height, and for cleaving are considered to be the best in the kingdom; and those of more mature growth are
unrivalled in the stateliness of their appearance, forming a majestic and beautiful feature in the scenery of the place.
From several of the hills, which are generally of conical form, are some noble and magnificent views over die surrounding
country, comprehending the most picturesque portion of the district called Powysland; and from the summit of Penybortli,
in the hamlet of Cynhinva, more especially, the prospect is almost boundless in extent and unequalled in grandeur. Towards
the east are seen the open and fertile plains of Salop, as far as the high lands of Cheshire and Staffordshire, with the
Wrekin, the Breiddyn, the Clee hills, and the Radnorshire range; and on the west are the lofty mountains of Plinlimmon,
Cader Idris, the Arans, the Berwyn chain, and the Arenigs, with numerous other Welsh hills, among which one of the peaks
of Snowdon is plainly discernible. The soil in the arable land is loamy, in the meadow loamy and alluvial, and clayey in
the pasture and woodland; and the chief produce of the parish is oats, barley, wheat, peas, butter, and cheese: the
rateable annual value of the parish has been returned at £3595. There are several small turbaries that formerly supplied
the inhabitants with fuel, but which are now almost exhausted; tbey appear to have been formed from timber which, being
collected in hollows, and becoming decomposed, constituted a peat soil of considerable depth. In one of these turbaries, a
little to the north of the church, the pieces of timber found in a horizontal position were chiefly oak and birch; but as
the surface was lowered by the removal of the peat for consumption, the stumps of trees which were found in an upright
position were of fir, and, on the application of fire, easily ignited and blazed freely. From this circumstance it is
evident that the fir is a species of timber of no modern date in this part of the principality, and also that turbary
water is a preservative of timber, especially of fir. The substratum of the peat soil, which is now only a few feet deep,
is a shell marl of considerable depth; and between the peat and the marl is a layer of moss and sedges, apparently in
their original state. On analyzing the marl, it was found to contain seven parts and one-tenth of extraneous vegetable
matter, five-tenths of a part of silicious earth, eighty-nine parts and eight-tenths of carbonate of lime, and two parts
and six-tenths of waste, being a portion of water. According to this analysis, the marl, containing nearly ninety per
cent. of carbonate of lime, is highly valuable as a rich calcareous manure for land, though it has not been hitherto much
used for that purpose, the inhabitants having been ignorant of its quality. The branches of the river Vyrnwy still retain
their wonted celebrity for various kinds of fish of very superior quality, which obtained for them the appellation
"Piscosi Amnes." On the Banwy is a beautiful waterfall, near Dolanog bridge, partly within the parish of Llanvair.
Mathraval Castle is the seat of the Earl of Powys, who is lord of the manor and one of the principal landed proprietors.
The parish contains four corn-mills, in each of which about three hands are employed. The living is a rectory, rated in
the king's books at £5. 13. 4.; present net income, £336, with a glebe-house; patron, Bishop of St. Asaph. The church,
dedicated to St. Cyniw, and situated at the eastern extremity of the parish, near the bank of the Banwy, is a venerable
structure, in the early style of English architecture, measuring 49 feet by 21, and containing 177 sittings, of which 53
are free: in the interior are the remains of the ancient screen and rood-loft, embellished with some exquisite carvings
in oak, and in the east window are some small remains of stained glass; the old font, which is of large dimensions, is
still preserved: in the churchyard are six venerable yew trees. There are places of worship for Independents and Welsh
Calvinistic Methodists. Here are two day schools, one of which, on the National plan, and commenced in 1826, contains
about 90 children, and the other, connected with Independents, about 30: in both these the education is at the expense of
the parents. Three Sunday schools are also conducted, one a National school, attended by 70 males and females; and the
other two, which appertain respectively to Independents and Calvinistic Methodists, affording gratuitous instruction to
135 males and females. Some small charitable donations and bequests have been made by various individuals, the produce
arising from which, amounting to £6. 16., is annually distributed in small sums among the poor of the parish  but the
principal bequest, a rent-charge of £5;ba4 Samuel Home, in 1804, is partly distributed in co on St. Thomas's-day. The only
remains of the ancient castle of Math.. ravel, the supposed Roman station Mediolanum, consist of vestiges of the vast
rampart of stones and earth, with a deep fosse on three sides of the quadrangular area which it occupied, -the fourth side
being defended by the steep eminence overhanging the river: the inclosed area is about two acres in extent, each side
being about one hundred and twenty yards in length; at the north-eastern angle, which impends over the river, is a lofty
exploratory mount, on which probably there may have been formerly a castelet, commanding a full view up and down the vale.
Several relics of antiquity have been dug up among the ruins near this spot, among which were some tiles having
protuberances at one extremity, apparently to connect them, also some silver dishes, an old sword, and some silver coins:
within the area is a farm-house, situated near the mount, which, together with the greater part of the hamlet of
Mathraval, belongs to the Powys estate. In the eastern part of the parish are the remains of two other encampments,
forming, with Mathraval, an equilateral triangle, each of the sides of which is about a mile in length: the first of
these, which are thought to be of British origin, is situated on a conical bill called Garthen, in the hamlet of
Llangyniew, and appears to have been surrounded with three ramparts of earth and two fosses, inclosing a circular area
seventy yards in diameter, within the inner wall, and one hundred and forty yards in diameter within the outer: the other
occupies the summit of a hill in Mathraval Fridd, and comprises an elliptical area conformably to the shape of the bill,
seventy-two yards in the longer, and forty-four yards in the shorter, diameter; it is encircled by two ramparts and one
fosse, except on the western side, where, being less defended by the nature of the ground, it is protected by four
ramparts and three fosses; the distance between the two ramparts is twenty yards, and between the additional ramparts on
the western side, ten yards: both these camps occupy an elevated site, commanding an extensive view of the adjacent
country. There is a very powerful spring in the parish, strongly impregnated with sulphur. The late Rev. Dr. Evans, rector
of Llanymynech, and canon of St. Asaph, was born in this parish, and was buried in the church, where a marble tablet has
been erected to his memory: he was a distinguished Welsh scholar and critic, and asisted Dr. Burney in writing his
History of Music, and Mr. Edward Jones in his collection of Welsh airs. Among his papers was lately discovered a letter
from one of his friends, requesting his literary assistance in the following terms: " A Friend of mine, of the name of
Samuel Johnson, talks of writing a dictionary of the English language, and would be much obliged to you for sending a list
of those English words which are derived from the Welsh."