MONTGOMERY, a parish and borough and market-town, in the union of FORDEN, lower division of the hundred of MONTGOMERY,
county of MONTGOMERY, NORTH WALES, 7 miles (S.) from Welshpool, and 172 (W. N. W.) from London, through Shrewsbury, and
169 by way of Ludlow; containing 1208 inhabitants, of whom 882 are in the town. The ancient British name of this place,
Tre Valdwyn, or 64 Baldwyn's Town," was derived from the erection of a castle and the consequent establishment of a town
here by a Norman adventurer of that name, for the security of this part of the principality, which he had reduced by force
of arms, and for which, upon that condition, he had previously done homage to William the Conqueror, by whom he was
appointed lieutenant of the marches. Baldwyn, though justly regarded as the founder of the castle and town, did not long
retain the territories which he had thus gained by conquest. In the reign of William Rufus, Roger de Montgomery, who had
been created Earl of Shrewsbury, and had obtained from that monarch a licence to appropriate to himself such lands on the
west of the river Severn as he could gain by force of arms, entered the principality of Powys with a considerable army,
and, seizing this castle and town, strengthened the fortifications of the' former, and surrounded the latter with a wall:
having thus succeeded in securing permanent possession of them, he was in a short time regarded their second founder, and
they have consequently since that period been distinguished as the castle and town of Montgomery. In the following year
the Welsh, mustering all their force, took the castle by surprise, plundered the town, and laid waste the adjacent
territory: but the castle was soon repaired and the fortifications strengthened by William Rufus, who, hearing while in
Normandy of the dreadful outrages committed by the forces of Grufydd ab Cynan, Prince of North Wales, and the sons of
Bleddyn ab Cynvyn, advanced at the head of a large army to the Welsh frontier, to repress their incursions. His repeated
attacks were, however, attended with very inconsiderable success; the Welsh sustained the conflict with obstinate
intrepidity and persevering vigour, and the only advantage which the English monarch derived from his campaign was the
opportunity of throwing supplies into the castle of Montgomery. The Welsh, elated with their recent success, immediately
after the retreat of the English army, laid siege to this fortress, which at that time was considered the strongest and
best fortified of any in the marches. The garrison opposed a brave and resolute defence, and for many days successfully
repelled the vigorous attacks of the assailants; but the Welsh, having at length made several breaches in the walls, by
undermining them, carried the castle by storm, put the garrison to the sword, and levelled the fortifications with the
ground. This arduous struggle between the Norman lords of the marches, to retain possession of the territories which they
held by right of conquest, and the native Welsh, whose ardent anxiety to regain their lost dominions incited them to acts
of the most desperate valour, was maintained with equal obstinacy on both sides for several years; and many of the leaders
of both parties were slain. But the English finally prevailed; and having, by their superior numbers and discipline,
gained a decisive victory over the stubborn Welsh patriots, compelled them once more to retire to their strongholds in the
mountains. After this, the Earl of Shrewsbury rebuilt the castle of Montgomery; and in 1114, Owain, brother of Grufydd ab
Rhjrs, Prince of South Wales, being taken prisoner by the English, was confined in it; but he effected his escape, and
fled for refuge to the court of Grufydd ab Cynan, Prince of North Wales. In 1223, Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of North
Wales, having made numerous incursions into the territories of the English vassals, and perpetrated various acts of
depredation and violence, for which he refused to render any satisfactory atonement, Henry III., who had taken the field
with a powerful army to chastise his insolence, returning towards the marches from a successful expedition into
Radnorshire, rebuilt the castle of Montgomery in a situation better adapted to check the incursions of the Welsh, and on a
site, the advantages of which, united with its own natural strength, rendered it at that time impregnable. The custody of
this important fortress the English monarch confided to his great justiciary, Hubert de Burgh, with an annual salary of
two hundred marks, which allowance for the maintenance of the garrison was augmented in times of war. In 1228, the
soldiers of the garrison, assisted by such of the natives as were under their control, attempted to open a road through
the adjoining forest, an extensive tract of fifteen miles in length, which had long afforded a secure retreat to the
Welsh, who, concealing themselves in this impenetrable recess, made 230 frequent predatory incursions on the lands of the
English vassals, whom they often surprised and murdered. While the men were engaged in this work, they were suddenly
attacked by a large party of the natives, who, issuing from their concealment, compelled them with great slaughter to
retire for refuge within the castle, to which they afterwards laid regular siege. The garrison, upon this occasion, sent
to England for assistance, and Henry, attended by Hubert de Burgh, coming to their relief with all possible expedition,
the Welsh raised the siege and retired into their strongholds. The King having, soon after his arrival here, received a
reinforcement, resolved to penetrate into the recesses of the forest; and having with great difficulty opened, a road for
his army, by setting fire to the woods, at length reached a solitary abbey of Carmelite friars, called Cridia, which, as
it had hitherto afforded an asylum to his enemies, he reduced to ashes. Upon the site of this monastery Hubert de Burgh
laid the foundation of a castle, in the erection of which Henry's whole army was employed with incredible labour and under
innumerable difficulties. In the middle of a thick forest in the heart of an enemy's country, sun-rounded by skirmishing
parties of the foe, and exposed to every. hazard, the English persevered for three months in the building of this new
fortress, which it was intended to make impregnable. During this period the Welsh, watching every movement, and ready to
take advantage of every favourable opportunity, frequently intercepted the English convoys, and slew their foraging
parties; till at length, from the want of provisions, and a suspicion of treachery in his camp, Henry was induced to
relinquish his undertaking, when it was nearly completed, and to conclude a treaty of peace with the Welsh prince Llewelyn
ab Iorwerth, in which it was stipulated that  this fortress, in the erection of which so much labour, blood, and treasure
had been expended, should be levelled with the ground. In 1231, a party of the Welsh forces having made an incursion into
the territories dependent upon the castle of Montgomery, the English, who had secretly posted themselves in a situation to
cut off their retreat, suddenly attacked them, and, putting the greater number to the sword, conveyed the remainder
captives into the castle, where, by the command of Hubert de Burgh, they were instantly delivered to the executioner, and
their heads sent as a present to the English monarch. Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, to avenge this outrage upon his countrymen,
laid waste the English marches with the most unrelenting fury; and, in the general consternation which the violence and
rapidity of his devastation had excited, Hubert de Burgh was himself compelled to take refuge in England. Llewelyn, intent
upon conquest and revenge, bore down all opposition; and among other fortresses then in the power of the English, of which
he obtained possession, took the castle of Montgomery, which he committed to the flames, and put all the garrison to
death. But the castle was almost immediately recovered by a party of English films, and Llewelyn again attempted to retake
it, for which purpose he encamped his troops on a meadow at a short distance, in part of which was a deep morass. Near
this place was the Cistercian abbey of Cymer, one of the brethren of which was instructed by Llewelyn to deceive the
garrison with false intelligence. The English soldiers, seeing the friar pass under the walls of the castle, entered into
conversation with him, and, being informed that Llewelyn with a small force was waiting for a reinforcement, and might be
easily taken or put to flight, a party of horse was despatched from the castle to attack him by surprise. On their
approach, the Welsh, apparently with great precipitation, retreated into a wood; and the English, in the eagerness of
their pursuit, plunged deep into the morass, in which many were suffocated or drowned, and the rest, encumbered with their
armour and entangled in the bog, became an easy prey to the Welsh, who quickly put them to death with their spears. Henry
had been for some time preparing for a campaign against Wales, and this disaster tended to accelerate the arrival of the
English army, commanded by that monarch in person, who, on his reaching the abbey of Cyiner, in resentment for the
treachery of the friar, set fire to the grange, and would also have burnt the monastery itself, had not the abbot saved it
by the payment of three hundred marks. In 1259, the English monarch concluded a truce for one year with Llewelyn ab
Grufydd, Prince of North Wales, which was ratified by commissioners on both sides at the ford of Montgomery, and on its
expiration was renewed at the same place, with additional stipulations. The castle of Montgomery, together with seveml
other fortresses, was ceded by Simon de Montfort, under the nineties of the English king, to Llewelyn, in 1265; and, in
the year 1268, a conference was held there, and a treaty of peace concluded, between Henry and Llewelyn, through the
mediation of Ottoboni, the pope's legate in England, which was ratified by the contracting parties in person, and received
from the legate the sanction of the pope's authority. By this treaty the territories taken by both parties during the war
were to be restored, the Prince of Wales was to do fealty to the English king for the principality, as had been done by
his predecessors, and was so pay into the English treasury the sum of twenty-five thousand marks. After the melancholy
death of Llewelyn, in the reign of Edward L, awl the entire subjugation of Wales by that monarch, Madoc, an illegitimate
son of the Welsh prince, raised a 'formidable insurrection in the northern parts of the principality, and gained several
brilliant victories over the English, painsularly in he marches; but being at length 23 I attacked by the united forces of
the lords marcher, on the mountain called by the Welsh Mynydd Digoll, and by the English the Long Mountain, about five
miles from Montgomery, he was defeated and slain, with most of his adherents. Edward I. granted to Bogo de Knouill,
constable of the castle of Montgomery, a certain quantity of timber out of his forest of Condon, to defray the expense of
repairing the walls and ditches round this town and castle; and a grant for the same purpose was made by Edward ILL,
under the authority of which a toll was to be taken for seven years on certain articles exposed for sale at the market,
among which squirrels' skins are enumerated. In 1354, the castle, together with the hundred of Chirbury, in which it was
then regarded as being comprised, is mentioned, in an inquisition obtained for the reversal of the attainder against, him,
as forming part of the possessions, of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, at the time of his death; after which it passed,
by the marriage of his sister and sole heiress Anne, to the house of York, and thence came to the Crown. It appears to
have been held, as stewards of the Crown, by the immediate ancestors of Lord Herbert of Chirbury, and to have been the
principal residence of that family. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., the castle was garrisoned for the
king, by Lord Herbert, -whom that monarch had previously appointed governor, but who, in 1644, on the approach of a
parliamentarian army under Sir Thomas Myddelton, embraced the adverse cause, and displaced the royalist troops by a
garrison of republican soldiers, of whom he was entrusted with the command. A detachment of four thousand royalists, under
Lord Byron, soon after Herbert's defection, approaching Montgomery, compelled the forces of Sir Thomas Myddelton to make a
precipitate retreat to Oswestry, leaving Lord Her. bert with a weak garrison but ill supplied with ammunition and
provisions. The king's party at once laid siege to the castle, whieh must soon have bees surrendered; but Sir Thomas,
being strengthened with a reinforcement conducted by Sir William Brereton, Sir John Meldrum, and Sir Thomas Fairfax,
immediately marched to its relief. A general engagement now became inevitable: the royalists, to the number of five
thousand men, were posted en the hill above the castle, and their opponents, to the number of three thousand, were drawn
up in the plain below: the former, descending the bill, consinenoed the attack, and for some tune gained ma. siderable
advantage; bat the parliamentarian eel-diem, led on by some of the ablest of their generals, and urged by the necessity of
throwing succours into this important fortress, rallied, and, after many des. perate efforts, sueeeeeled in reversing the
fortune if the day, and ultimately, after a severe and sanguinary conflict, obtained a complete and decisive 110 tory.
The royalists were pursued towards Shrewsbury: more than fire bundsed of diem were killed in the battle and the pursuit,
and fourteen hundred were taken prisoners: of the parliamentarians, only sixty were killed and one hundred wounded. The
castle was afterwards dismantled by order of the parliament; but it appears that Lord Herbert received a compensation for
the loss which his property sustained on that occasion. The TOWN is pleasingly and romantically situated, partly on the
summit and partly on the declivity of a hill rising from the southern bank of the river Severn, and under the shelter of a
mountain of loftier elevation. Though the county town, it is small in extent and of inconsiderable importance, consisting
only of four streets diverging nearly at right angles from the market-place, which is in the centre: the houses are well
built and of respectable appearance; and the town, which is partially paved, and amply supplied with water, has a
prepossessing aspect, well adapted to render it the residence of genteel families. The environs are strikingly beautiful,
abounding with richly diversified and highly picturesque scenery; and the hill on which the town is built commands a fine
and extensive view of the Vale of Montgomery, watered by the river Severn, and bounded in the distance by the Shropshire
mountains. There is neither any trade nor manufacture carried on: the market, which is well supplied with corn and
provisions of all kinds, is on Thursday; and fairs are held on March 26th, June 7th, September 4th, and November 12th,
for cattle, sheep, and horses. The inhabitants received their first charter of INCORPORATION in the 1 lth of Henry III.,
who made the place a free borough, and endowed it with many privileges and immunities, including freedom from toll, stall-
age, and all other cus- -.; _ toms throughout the CORPORATION SEAL. king's dominions, as well in England as in all other
his lands, together with liberty to hold a weekly market on Thursday, and two yearly fairs, one on the vigil and feast of
St. Bartholomew and two following days, and the other on the vigil and feast of All Saints and six following days; and in
the 51st year of his reign, the same monarch granted letters patent, in which he briefly declares, " Know ye, that we, at
the instance of Edward, our beloved eldest son, have granted, for us and our heirs, to the burgesses and good men of
Montgomery, that they and their heirs for ever be acquitted from payment of murage throughout our whole realm of England."
The above charter was confirmed in the 1st of Edward III., 1st of Richard II., 1st of Henry IV., 1st of Henry V., 7th of
Henry VI., 1st of Henry VII., 28th of Henry VIII., 4th of Elizabeth, and 22nd of Charles II.' and perhaps at other periods
now unknown; but the privileges of the burgesses have not been extended or abridged by the Crown since the time of the
third Henry, whose grants are still in force, and whose regulations for the government of the borough are still observed,
the constitution of this ancient corporation, though infringed upon by the Reform Act, having been left untouched by the
act for the re-casting of municipal corporations passed in the year 1835. The control is vested in two bailiffs, elected
by the burgesses at large in common hall assembled, from six of the freemen nominated by the high steward and coroner, on
Michaelmas-day, or during the previous week; an indefinite number of aldermen, a body which consists of those who have
served the office of bailiff; a high steward, appointed by the  lord of the lordship of Montgomery, and who, by his
deputy, holds courts leet and courts baron; a recorder and town-clerk, offices filled by one person, who also chooses a
deputy; and two serjeantsat-mace, elected by the bailiffs, and of whom one is bellman and crier. The right to the freedom
is possessed by all the sons of a free-born burgess; and the resident freemen number among their privileges a share in the
rents and emoluments of certain lands, in which also their widows participate during widowhood, if they continue to live
within the borough. The elective franchise was conferred in the 27th of Henry VIII., who, as the shire town, empowered it,
in conjunction with its contributory boroughs of Llanidloes, Llanvyllin, Machynlleth, and Welshpool, to send a member to
parliament. Since that period the right of election has undergone material alteration: on a petition to the House of
Commons, in 1685, complaining of an undue return, it was resolved that the right was vested not only in the burgesses of
Montgomery, but also in those of the subordinate towns of Llanidloes, Llunvyllin, and Welshpool; and on a similar
petition, presented to the House in 1728, it was resolved that the elective franchise was confined solely to the borough
of Montgomery, which then continued to return one member, to the exclusion of the above-named contributory places. These
resolutions of the House of Commons being at variance with each other, the burgesses of Llanidloes, Llanvyllin, and
Welshpool, and also those of Machynlleth, the latter having neglected to support their claim at the two former periods,
were, by an act of the 28th of George Ill., allowed the power of asserting their privilege of voting for a member for
Montgomery before another committee of the House, and of appealing within twelve calendar months against any future
decision. By the act of 1832, for " Amending the Representation," these boroughs, with the addition of Newtown, have been
again permitted to share in the return of a member, the franchise having been extended to the resident inhabitants, duly
qualified according to the provisions of the act; and, for the purpose of taking the votes, the bailiffs of Montgomery are
to appoint deputies at each place, who will send to them their poll-books, for the purpose of ascertaining the aggregate
amount, and making the return. The elective franchise was formerly in the burgesses at large, the number of whom claiming
it for the borough of Montgomery was, at the time of passing the Reform Act, about one hundred and eighty-five; but it is
now 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; and the present
number of tenements of this value, within the limits of the borough, which are co-extensive with those of the parish,
including an agricultural district of nearly ten miles in circumference, is about fifty. The bailiffs are justices of the
peace within the borough, in which, however, the county magistrates have a concurrent jurisdiction. The corporation have
power to hold a court of record for the recovery of debts to any amount, every third Tuesday, the jurisdiction of which
extends over the borough; but this privilege has been in disuse for seventy years. Though Montgomery is reputed the
county town, the assizes take place at Welshpool; but the quarter-sessions are always held here. The election of a member
for the shire has hitherto taken place either here or at Machynlleth, being regulated by the sitting of the county court
at the time of issuing the writ. The town-hall, standing in the centre of the town, is a neat plain edifice of brick,
supported on arches inclosing a sheltered area for the use of the market: the upper part, which was very inadequate to
the purpose of holding the quarter-sessions, was taken down in 1828, and two handsome and convenient apartments were
constructed on a plan better adapted to that use, at the sole expense of Lord Clive, to whom the building belongs. The
principal room is sixty-seven feet and a half in length, and twenty feet and a half in width, having a moveable partition
at one end, forming a retiring-room for the jury: this apartment, which is well lighted and handsomely fitted up, is used
for assemblies and public meetings; and in the centre of the west side is the court-room, which is twenty-nine feet and a
half in length, and twenty-one feet wide, and is commodiously arranged for the business of the sessions. The new county-
gaol and house of correction, at the lower end of the town, on the left of the road to Shrewsbury, was built at an expense
of £10,000, defrayed by the county: it is a handsome edifice of stone of a durable quality, procured from the rock on
which the castle formerly stood, and is arranged in the form of a cross, having the governor's house in the centre, the
whole being inclosed within a boundary wall upwards of twenty feet in height: the governor's house commands a view of all
the wards, and the working of the tread-mill, which is a double one, having one wheel in the felons' ward, and the other
in the vagrants' ward, and the machinery is so contrived, that the labour can be regulated according to the force
supplied. The building comprises six wards, with spacious airing-yards to each, in two of which are a tread-wheel and an
engine-house to provide the prison with water; above the engine-house and tread-wheel is an infirmary, with two sick
wards and matron's rooms; and over the governor's apartments is the chapel, to which there is a separate entrance from
each ward: beyond the chapel is an ante-room leading to a committee-room for the visiting magistrates, and two waiting-
rooms; and on the roof, over the entrance and turnkey's lodge, is a place of execution. The parish of Montgomery was once
included in that of Chirbury, to which the church was originally a chapel of ease; its rateable annual value has been
returned at £5338. The LIVING is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £17. 4. 4i., and in the patronage of the Crown:
the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £479. 18., and there is a glebe of 30 perches. The church, dedicated to
St. Nicholas, is an ancient and venerable cruciform structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a tower at
the extremity of the north transept, which was erected in 1816, at an expense of £1700, defrayed solely by Lord Clive, now
Earl of Powis. The chancel is separated from the nave by an exquisitely carved screen and ancient rood-loft, removed from
the priory of Chirbury, after the dissolution of that establishment: the north transept, called Brockton chancel, was
built by the prior of Chirbury, for the accommodation of the tenants of his manor of Calmore, in this parish; and the
south _transept, termed Lymore chancel, is appropriated to the seat of Lymore Park, the property of the Earl of Powis. The
roof is neatly panelled into compartments, and in some parts is richly carved; and the east end of the chancel and the
west end of the nave are lighted with large lancet-shaped windows. In the south transept, or Lymore chancel, which is
separated from the church by two finely pointed arches, is a splendid monument to the memory of Richard Herbert, Esq.,
father of Lord Herbert of Chirbury, and Magdalene his wife, in which are the recumbent effigies of the former in complete
armour, and of the latter by his side, on an altar-tomb, in the front of which are representations of their six sons and
two daughters in a kneeling posture; and under the tomb is the figure of Richard wrapped in his winding-sheet. Near this
monument are the effigies of two knights in complete armour, of the noble family of the Mortimers, Earls of March.
Previously to the Reformation there was a chapel in one of the transepts, dedicated to St. Mary. The churchyard, which is
of considerable extent, and commands a fine view of the adjacent country, is surrounded with a beautiful walk shaded by
lime and elm trees of stately and luxuriant growth. There is a place of worship for Calvinistic Methodists. In the parish
are four day schools, one of which con-tarns about 40 children, and is partly supported by two rent-charges amounting to
£9, one of £5 by John Edwards, of Deptford, in 1770, and the other of £4 by Richard, Lord Herbert; and partly by £16 from
the Earl of Powis, making £25 per annum, which forms the salary of the master, who has also a house and garden rent-free,
and the liberty of taking boarders and day scholars: in the other three schools about 126 children are instructed at their
parents' expense. A Sunday school maintained by subscription, and containing about 75 males and females, who attend the
Established Church, is aided by a grant of £5 from the Earl of Powis, and the Rev. Maurice Lloyd, which sum is paid to the
master of the above school for attending occasionally; and a girls' Sunday school is principally supported by Dr. and
Miss Davis, of Montgomery. There are several charitable donations and bequests in land and in money, the produce of which
is distributed among the poor. The principal of these is a rent-charge of £5 on the West Ham waterworks, in the parish of
Stepney, Middlesex, granted by John Tanner in 1649; another of £4 was left by Henry Whittingham, in 1631; and Edward
Weaver bequeathed £24, in 1763, the interest of which, 20s., is, with the above rent-charges, divided periodically. In
addition to the preceding, an unknown benefactor gave divers detached pieces of land, amounting altogether to nearly 17
acres, and paying a rent of £29 per annum, which is generally distributed after Christmas, in small sums. The lost
charities, which amounted to £75, and part of which was a bequest of £40 by Mrs. Hannah Barkley in 1736, were laid out at
interest about 60 years since on insufficient security. Of the ancient castle there are only very inconsiderable remains,
consisting chiefly of the fragment of a tower at the south-western angle, and a few detached portions of low walls, which
afford but a very inadequate memorial of its former extent and magnificence. This fortress occupied the extremity of a
long eminence, on the northern side of the town, and apparently impending over it, the projecting ridge being of great
height, very steep, with an escarpment quite precipitous; it was defended by four deep fosses cut in the solid rock,
anciently crossed by drawbridges. Between the extremity of the building and the precipitous declivity of the height
whereon it stood is a level spot of ground, whieh is supposed to have formed the place of parade for the garrison. Within
the last 40 years part of the shattered walls fell down, and among the disjointed fragments a labourer found several
silver spoons, which he soft after sold to an itinerant dealer; sad, at various times, old military weapons, broken
swords, arrowheads, and cannon-balls, have been discovered among the ruins. At the bottom of the hill, on the north side
of the road leading to Garthmill, are the remains of a smaller fortress, surrounded by a moat, and having an artificial
mound near the western extremity of the area: they are supposed to indict*. the site of the ancient castle originally
built by the Norman Baldwyn, prior to the erection of the later castle by Henry III. On a hill at no great distance from
the latter are the remains of a very extensive camp, evidently of British origin: this hill is intersected by several
deep fosses in that part where it is most accessible, and in other parts it is sufficientlt protected by its precipitous
declivity; the approach is guarded by four smaller fosses, from whir:re two entrances to the main work. Between the towns
of Montgomery and Welehpool are the remains of a spacious Roman fortification, called the Gaer, situated on the Roman road
that passes through the Vale of Severn, from Caer-Sws, or Maglona, five miles south-west of Newtown. Of the walls by which
the town was anciently surrounded, flanked by round and square bastion towers, and in which were four gates, called
respectively, "Arthur's, Cedewen, Ceri, and Chirbury" gates, all of which have long since disappeared, there are still
some re. mains, varying in different places, from a few inches only to several feet in height above the surface of the
ground. A fosse near the bottom of the town still indicates the ancient site of Black Hall, once the hospitable mansion of
the Herberts; it was cupsumed by fire, on which occasion the lodge in Lymore Park, at a small distance from the town, wee
enlarged and fitted up for the reception of the family: it is still kept up by the Earl of Powis, and with its ancient
front of timber frame-work and plaster, forms an interesting and venerable feature in the scenery of the park. From the
castle hill, and from that on which the large British camp above-noticed is situated, are fine views of the vales of
Montgomery, Cburchstoke, and Chirbury; but the most magnificent prospect of the surrounding countil obtained from the
hill immediately above them. 'The ground continues gradually to rise to the summit of this eminence, which is crowned by a
fine cluster of fir-trees, and the view embraces the extent of the Vale of Severn for several miles, through which that
noble river pursues a winding course among verdant meadows and luxuriant groves, by whieh latter it is frequently
intercepted from the sight, as-turning the appearance of numerous small lakes, the banks of which are richly decorated
with picturesque and romantic scenery. Among the many interesting objects which this extensive prospect embraces area
Powis castle and park, numerous gentlemen's mate and pleasure-grounds, picturesque villages, and distant kills of varied
appearance, in beautiful and harmonious contrast, beyond which are seen, in towering magnificence, the lofty mountains of
Plialimmon and Ceder Idris, and the fine chain of the Arens. Edward Herbert, first baron of Chirbury, and distinguished
equally for the versatility of his talents and the eccentricity of his character, is by same said to have been a native of
this place. The baron has been noticed above, as holding the office of governor of Montgomery =ode: he was the anther of
several works, including memoirs of his life, and of a work entitled " De Veritate," upon which he appears to have
principally rested his claim to literary repute-don, and his character as a philosopher: he was born in 1583, and died in
1648.