RADNORSHIRE, a county (inland) of SOUTH WALES, bounded on the north by the county of Montgomery (in North Wales), on the
west by Cardiganshire, on the south-west and south by Brecknockshire, on the east by the English county of Hereford, and
on the north-east by that of Salop. It extends from 52° 2' to 52° 27' (N. Lat.), and from 2° 59' to 3° 45' (W: Lon.), and
comprises an area, according to Mr. Carey's Communications to the Board of Agriculture, of three hundred and ninety square
miles, or two hundred and forty-nine thousand six hundred statute acres. It contains 4687 inhabited houses, 234
uninhabited, and 19 in course of erection; and the population, in 1841, was 25,186, of which number, 12,738 are males,
and 12,448, females. As this district never contained any large or important town within its limits, or formed of itself a
separate community until by the act of Henry' VIII. it was raised to the rank of a county, it does not appear to have
taken any signal or prominent part in the events which mark the troubled history of Wales. At the period of the invasion
of Britain by the Romans, it was included in the territory of the Silures, who so greatly distinguished themselves by
their resolute opposition to the progress of the Roman arms. After their subjugation, which was partly effected by
Ostorius Scapula, and completed by Julius Frontinus, it contained a Roman station at Cwm, on the western bank of the river
Ithon, between one and two miles to the north-east of Liandrindod Wells, and was traversed by several vicinal ways. Upon
the abandonment of Britain by the Romans, it became part of the territory of Ferregs, between the rivers Severn and Wye,
and was subjected to Caradog Vraichvras, or 4‘ C,aradoc with the Brawny Arm," ruler of Brecknock, who flourished about the
commencement of the sixth century, and is celebrated in Welsh story, as one of Arthur's knights. The derivation of the
present Welsh name of the county, Maesyved or Maes-H (which has been noticed under the head of ew Radnor), is by some
persons deduced from H the name of one of the sons of Caradog raichvras, for whom his father formed this portion of his
lands into a separate lordship. Offa, King of Mercia, having expelled the Britons from nearly the whole of the fertile
province of Ferregs, introduced into the eastern part of this district a Saxon population, and constructed the celebrated
line of demarcation still called Offa's Dyke, which, however, included within the Saxon territory only the easternmost
extremity of the present county of Radnor. In the division of the sovereignty of Wales by Roderic the Great, among his
three sons, the terntory forming the present county of Radnor is thought, but on slight grounds, to have been included in
the kingdom of Powys. The scene of the great battle which was fought about the year 1088, between Rh-s ab Tewdwr and the
sons of Bleddin ab Cynvyn, for the sovereignty of South Wales, and which terminated in favour of the former, has been
generally laid at LIAchld, in the parish of Disserth, near the banks of the Wye, in this county; but it is now. with more
probability, considered to have been at Llechrd, on the Telvy, near Cardigan. After the Norman conquest of England, the
territory of Maesyved became the prey of the Norman adventurers who successfully attacked the adjoining districts of
Brecknockshire and Herefordshire: the families of de Breos and the Mortimers had the most extensive domains in it. In
1189, Rh "s ab Grnfydd, Prince of South Wales, invading the marches, took the castles of Radnor and Pamscastle in Elvel,
in this county. Trahaern Vychan, a Welshman of great influence in the territory of Brecknock, having been treacherously
and barbarously murdered, in 1196, by William de Breos, Lord of Brecknock and Abergavenny, Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Powys,
who was related to Trahaern by marriage, marched a body of troops into de Breos' territories, in Radnorshire, and laid
siege to Painscastle, of which that baron had repossessed himself, declaring that, after he had gained that fortress, he
would devastate with Are the whole country as far as the Severn, a sacrifice which he owed to the manes of Trahaern
Vychan, his kinsman. The Welsh chieftain, however, having no means of destroying the fortifications, lay for three weeks
before the castle without capturing it, which gave time for William de Breos to receive reinforcements from England, under
Geoffry Fitz-Peter, the justiciary, and from several of the lords marcher, who came to his assistance. But as the issue of
hostilities might be uncertain, he proposed terms of peace to Gwenwynwyn, which the latter indignantly refused, the Welsh
declaring their firm resolution of avenging, in this enterprise, the past wrongs of their country. The English then
released from confinement Grufydd, son of the late Rh 's ab Grufydd, between whom and Gwenwynwyn they knew that a deadly
feud subsisted; and being joined by the Welsh forces immediately raised by that chieftain, they advanced to the relief of
Painscastle. Gwenwynwyn, confident in his strength, deviated from the wary system of warfare generally pursued by his
nation, and opposed the English in an open plain, where he was defeated, with the loss of three thousand men slain,
besides a great number of prisoners, among whom were many of considerable note. In the year 1282, Llewelyn, the last
native sovereign of Wales, marched with his little army to Aberedwy, or Aberedow, where he had a castle or mansion, on the
Radnorshire side of the Wye, three miles below Builth, in expectation of there holding a conference with some of his
friends; but his object having been treacherously communicated to the enemy, he was surprised by the approach of a
superior force from Herefordshire, under the command of Edmund Mortimer and John Gifford. The unfortunate prince then
endeavoured to effect his escape, and arrived at the bridge over the Wye in time to cross and break it down, before his
pursuers came up. Thus baffled in their object, the English returned downwards to a ford known to some of the party, about
eight miles below, near a ferry, at that time and still called Caban Twm Bach, or "Little Tom's ferry boat," where they
crossed, and thus ceased the movements of the two parties in this county: the sequel of this melancholy transaction is
described in the article on Aberedw. During the war waged by Owain Glyndwr against Henry IV., the former, in the year
1401, destroyed the abbey of Cwm Hir, in this county, and took the castle of Radnor, causing the garrison, amounting to
threescore men, to be beheaded on the brink of the castle yard. After this event, Owain, by his continued successes,
excited so much alarm in Henry, that the latter resolved to march against him in person. He issued writs to the
lieutenants of thirty-four counties, requiring them to assemble their respective forces, and attend him at Lichfield, on
the 7th of July, 1402; but before his army could be collected Owain had advanced with his troops to the borders of South
Wales, in the direction of Herefordshire, carrying fire and sword into the lands of his opponents. Of these none suffered
so severely as the vassals and tenants of Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, a child of ten years of age, whose uncle, Sir
Edmund Mortimer, collected a large body of his nephew's tenants and retainers, as well in Herefordshire as from the
district of Maelienydd, in Radnorshire, and with these marched to resist the invader. The two armies met on Br"n Gras, a
mountain near Pilleth, a little to the south-west of Knighton, where victory declared in favour of Owain. Eleven hundred
men fell on the side of Mortimer; and, as the loss fell chiefly on the people of Herefordshire, there seems reason to
believe that March's Welsh retainers were not hearty in his cause. It is to this battle, and to some "shameful villanie,"
as Holinshed calls it, "used towards the dead carcases," that Shakspeare finely and mysteriously alludes, in the first
part of Henry IV. When the conflicts had ceased, which "the irregular and wild Glendower" had excited, this district seems
to have sunk into repose; but under the rule of the lords marcher (a singular compound of hostility and government),
Wales, though sometimes composed, was never pacified. It was not until, by the act of the 27th of Henry VIII., cap. 26,
the rights and privileges of English subjects were extended to Wales, that peace, order, and obedience were established;
by that act Radnorshire was included amongst the newly established counties. The county is partly in the diocese of
Hereford, and partly in that of St. David's, and is wholly in the province of Canterbury: the portion included in the
former diocese, (consisting of the parishes of Presteign, Old and New Radnor, Norton, Knighton, and Michael Church on
Arrow,) is comprised in the archdeaconry of Hereford, and deanery of Leominster; and that in the latter, in the
archdeaconry of Brecknock, and deaneries of Upper and Lower Elvel, and Melenith sub Ithon and ultra Ithon: the total
number of parishes is fifty-three, of which fourteen are rectories, sixteen vicarages, and the rest perpetual curacies.
For purposes of civil government it is divided into the six hundreds of Colwyn, Kevenlleece or Cevnllys, Knighton,
Painscastle, Radnor, and Rhaiadr. It returns to parliament one knight for the shire, and one member for the borough of New
Radnor and the contributory boroughs of Presteign, Knighton, Rhaiadr, Cnwclas, and Kevenlleece. The assizes and quarter-
sessions for the county are held at Presteign, where the gaol and house of correction are situated, and where the chief
business of the county is transacted. The county elections are usually held there, though they may be held at New Radnor,
where the member for the boroughs must be chosen. The polling places appointed by the act of 1832, to "Amend the
Representation," are Colwyn, Knighton, Painscastle, Pen-y-Bont, Presteign, Radnor, and Rhaiadr. Presteign, Knighton, and
Rhaiadr, are the principal market-towns: New Radnor has the privilege of a market, but none is held there. The county
comprises nearly the whole of the union of Rhaiadr, and parts of those of Hay, Builth, Kingtou, Presteign, and Knighton.
Radnorshire is one of the most regularly shaped counties in the principality, being a trapezium, the mean dimensions of
which are about twenty-two miles by twenty. Its SURFACE throughout is hilly; in many places the mountains attain to a
considerable elevation, the summit of the Forest of Radnor being two thousand one hundred and sixty-three feet above the
level of the sea: the hills have generally a regular outline, with gradual slopes and rounded summits, though in many
parts abrupt declivities and deep ravines relieve the monotony of the scenery. It contains several srfiall lakes worthy of
mention, viz., one in the vicinity of Rhaiadr, near the road leading from that town to Aberystwith, the most picturesque
and interesting within its limits; Llyn Gwyn, a piece of water of considerable size, situated within a few miles of
Rhaiadr, in the opposite direction; Llyn Llanillin, about a mile in circumference, of considerable depth, and containing
abundance of fish, singularly situated near LlauvihangelNant-Melan, in an elevated mountain valley; and Llym Bychllyn, in
the vicinity of Painscastle. Of the superficial area of the county, about one-third is supposed to be inclosed, and of
this inclosed portion not more than a fourth part is under the plough at the same time. In the vicinity of market-towns,
and on farms where the soil is good, the cultivation of GRAIN for sale prevails to a considerable extent; but, as regards
the whole of the county, it must be observed, that the distance from large corn markets, the high price of lime, and the
roughness and moisture of the climate, operate as great diecouragements to the growth of grain; and the chief object of
most of the -farmers is to grow only what is sufficient for their own consumption, viewing their stock of sheep, cattle,
and horses, as the main sources of their profit. It is a common practice to plough a piece of sward (which is sometimes
pared and burnt for a crop of wheat), and to take, in the first instance, one or two crops of oats; then to summer fallow
the land, giving it all the manure of the farm, and what lime can be procured, for a crop of wheat: after this the land is
generally thought capable of bearing a crop of barley, with which the better sort of farmers sow clover and grass seeds;
the crop is mown the first year, and afterwards the land is suffered to rest, whilst some other portion of the farm
undergoes the same process. Rye and a mixture of rye and wheat (called Monks' corn) were formerly much but are now seldom
seen. Potatoes, as a fieldcrap, are extensively and successfully cultivated; peas, though precarious and unprofitable,
are sometimes sown  and flax, for domestic purposes, rather than for sale. In the mode of cultivation there is little
that is peculiar; the implements are cheap and imperfect, though much improved. A light cart, drawn by three small stout
horses, is in general use; waggons also are common. A ground sledge, with two wheels in frost, called a wheel-car, is
found useful in drawing heavy weights down steep declivities; and a rude ear without any wheels is still used for
purposes for which the former may not be convenient. The ploughs in general use have a bent iron mould-board, similar to
those in Herefordshire; but the Scotch plough, drawn by two horses abreast, is gradually advancing into use throughout
the county. The fertile districts which are found in the vales of Wye, Leg, and Teme (to which may also be added the Vale
of Radnor), are subject to a better system of cultivation: in these tracts turnips are grown to a considerable extent,
being drilled on ridges, in imitation of the Scotch practice. On the red soils of Glisbury and Clyro the two favourite
objects of Herefordshire husbandry, namely the hop and the apple, might be cultivated with advantage. Throughout the whole
county irrigation is successfully, though somewhat rudely and unskilfully, practised: the rapid fall of the brooks
facilitates the construction of new water courses, which are not unfrequently conducted in long continued lines along the
steep sides of the valleys: the purest water, issuing at once from the clay slate rocks, often produces most fertilizing
effects, in cases, where no deposit of earthy matter can be discerned by the eye. The assistance thus obtained from
various mountain streams enables the farmers to mow annually considerable tracts of laud, the produce of which chiefly
supports their cattle and horses during the winter. Such land as canaot be irrigated, and which may be also either too
steep and rugged, or at too great a distance from the farm-yard, to be advantageously ploughed, is usually devoted to the
pasturage of cattle and horses, both of which are reared in considerable numbers. The black cattle, which still prevail in
the adjoining county of Cardigan, have not for many yearn been much bred in Radnorshire, having given place to a coarse
hardy variety of the long-horned breed, introduced from Shropshire, which are generally of a brindled colour, and give
much milk: some of these still remain, but they have in a great measure been superseded by the Herefordshire breed,
which, being found to be sufficiently hardy to endure the scanty food and rough climate, have the advantage of growing to
a larger size, and possess a greater aptitude to fatten. The draught horse in general use is rather small, but capable of
enduring great fatigue. The original Welsh ponies are still bred in the mountains, and their price in the markets has of
late years increased: of their activity, courage, and patience, and of their strength, as compared with their size and
the little sustenance they require, it is difficult to dilate in terms too favourable. Where so large a portion of the
surface is uninclosed, the pasturage of the commons necessarily forms an object of interest to the farmers: on the lower
ranges of commons the young cattle of the farm, of every kind, are frequently depastured; but for the most part cattle
are found to require more attendance and care than can well be afforded them on commons. Accordingly, throughout the
entire county the breeding of sheep is the primary object of the farmers occupying farms adjoining the open lands. On the
western side of it a small active breed prevails, mostly without horns, with white faces and legs, and having long, open,
coarse wool, abounding with kemps. But in the forest of Radnor, and on the lower hills on the north and south of that
elevated range, a breed has been produced by the introduction of rams from Shropshire: these sheep are well covered with a
fleece of thick close wool, and have larger carcases than those just described: they are, however, less hardy, and can
only be maintained by farmers who can afford some shelter to their stock during the winter, which is done either by
depasturing them in their own inclosures, or tacking them out in the adjoining counties of Hereford and Salop. Throughout
the cn(iinetay it is the practice to take the ewes into the inclosed in October, and, if possible, the lambs of the
preceding spring also; the wether sheep, for the most part, brave the climate of the hills during the whole of the year.
These sheep, when fat, usually weigh from nine to fourteen pounds per quarter, and their fleeces average from two to three
pounds: vast numbers of them are annually driven into Essex and Hertfordshire, where the superior quality of the mutton
ensures for them a ready sale. Large quantities of butter are still made in the county, though it is chiefly an object to
the smaller farmers: it is salted during the summer, and placed with great care and cleanliness in tubs, in which it was
thus formerly carried to the fairs in Herefordshire and Shropshire: some of this article of produce, however, has of late
years been sold by the farmers at their own houses. Oxen, which were formerly much used in husbandry, are now sold at too
early an age to be so employed, and almost the whole draught of the county is now executed by horses. In a county of which
nearly two-thirds are ussinclosed, it may be presumed that there exists great capability of improvement, and the large
tracts of low commons which are seen on passing through the centre of it tend to confirm this idea. Of late years,
considerable encroachments have been made on the wastes both by cottagers and by farmers, and even this lawless process
has tended much to improve the lands taken in. About six parishes have been submitted to the operation of inclosure acts,
but the expense which attends the allotment of the land, and the still greater cost of maintaining the fences, discourage
attempts of this sort: in the immediate vicinity. of Rhaiadr, however, the most beneficial effects have resulted, the
produce of a small common having been increased many hundredfold, to the great advantage of the inhabitants of that town.
Many tracts still remain which are susceptible of almost equal improvement; but the rough surface of the pasture land
throughout the greater part of the county, overgrown as it is, in many parts, with rushes, shows that, without an
extensive and effectual system of drainage, the soil can never be brought to its utmost point of fertility. It is by this,
rather than any other mode, that the reclaiming of the lowlands can be effected. On the hills the use of iron wire in
fencing has been introduced to some extent, and is likely to enable the farmers to defend their lands from the mountain
sheep, where no other means would avail. Radnorshire was anciently distinguished for large woods and forests, but these,
excepting a few scattered coppices of comparatively small extent, have disappeared. The forests of Radnor, Cnwclas,
Colwyn, and Blethvaugh, continue such in name, and still suggest the idea of extensive wooded tracts; but if at any time
they were covered with wood, except that of Blethvaugh, they have long ceased to be so in reality. The mountain sheep have
been the chief destroyers of the woods; no ordinary fences can restrain them, and when once a wood has been felled, by
browsing the young shoots in the spring, they have effectually prevented a renewed growth. On the estates of the principal
landed proprietors thriving young plantations of forest trees are seen. The larch is likely to be grown to a considerable
extent on the steep declivities of the mountains. This hardy plant, which pines in the moist and fertile plains of the
South of England, thrives in this elevated district: its rapid growth, when young, enables it soon to lift its head
beyond the reach of the sheep, which will not, except when pressed by severe hunger, either bark or browse on it: It is
popular, too, because it foliates so early in spring, that it is clothed for weeks with the most vivid green, when no
other tree has unfolded a bud; and again in autumn its golden tint serves to enliven even the latter half of November.
The GEOLOGICAL structure of the county is but imperfectly known, there being no mineral productions sufficiently valuable
to have hitherto attracted much attention to it. The great mass of the county consists of the same grey wade slate which
prevails through the whole of the principality: it emerges from beneath the old red sandstone of the counties of Hereford
and Brecknock, a part of which fertile stratum is found on the northern side of the Wye, and constitutes the most
productive tract within the county. The red soil prevails in the parishes of Glfisbury, Clyro, Llowes, Boughrood, and some
others in the hundred of Painscastle. The upper beds of the grey wadi, or clay slate, very much resemble the lowest beds
of the old red sandstone; insomuch that the produce of a quarry worked near the summit of the Forest of Radnor is of the
same granular and micaceous texture as the tile of Clyro hill. But these beds soon disappear, and give place to a
stratified lead-coloured rock, of rhomboidal fracture, so perishable as to be useless for roofing houses, and scarcely
applicable either to masonry or the making of roads. It must be observed, however, that the lower beds of this formation
are much harder and more durable than the upper; so that on the western verge of the county, in the neighbourhood of
Rhaiadr, coarse durable slates of good colour, and very strong stones for building purposes, are obtained. The dip of the
strata throughout the great slate formation will be found, on examination, to be extremely irregular: it has been
disturbed by the contact of two very considerable and independent trap formations, which occur in different parts of the
county; one has been described by Dr. Gilby, and has its western termination in the river Wye, about a mile above Builth,
opposite to which town it rises in high, rugged, irregular masses, forming the ridges of the Carneddau hills, and,
stretching northwards by Penkerrig and Llwynmadock, it passes Llandrindod and Kevenlleece, where one branch diverges, and
terminates at Llandegley; the other passes to Llanbadarn-Vawr, near which it disappears, though an independent mass of the
same formation occurs at some distance, called Baxter's Bank. This remarkable tract is perfectly irregular throughout,
being neither columnar nor stratified: its mineralogical characters vary at almost every step; feldspar is probably the
chief component part. Around its base mineral springs are found, which deservedly enjoy a very high reputation. At
Llandrindod are a salt, a sulphur, and a steel water; at Builth are the same, though of a coarser quality: at Llandegley
and Blaenedw the sulphur springs are also found. Round the edges of this formation the clay -slate of the county is seen
broken up, disturbed, and in some places evidently turned over; and both its colour and its texture have been so altered
by the contact, that it has become black and friable, and is not unfrequently mistaken for coal, or at least is thought to
indicate its presence. The other trap formation mentioned above has not yet been described by any geologist: it occurs
near Old Radnor, and is separated from the Lisadegley formation by a distance of seven miles, and by high intervening
hills composed wholly of clay slate. It consists of four considerable hills, of which those of Old Radnor and Stanner
appear to be connected, both of them being in some degree independent of the two other hills, Hanter and Worse!. They are
all wholly irregular and unstratified, and differ so much in mineralogical character from the Llandegley range as to
suggest the probability of a different period of formation. Sienite and porphyry occur in many parts; and a coarse
amygdaloidal trap is met with at the base of Old Radnor hill, near the church: the character of the whole bears some
resemblance to granite, though neither feldspar nor mica prevails to any great extent. The hill at Old Radnor appears to
have raised with it a considerable mass of grey stratified transition limestone, the strata of which lie round the base of
the trap rock, dipping from it in every direction: on the north and east sides these beds have been nearly exhausted, but
on the south and west vast and almost inexhaustible masses still remain. The stone emits a strong and disagreeable odour
on being broken: it contains shells, though not in abundance, and corals, and has throughout a crystalline texture. As a
manure for land, the lime obtained from it is more valuable than that produced by the carboniferous or mountain limestone,
which is used so extensively in North and South Wales, the beneficial effects being, greater and more durable; as a
cement it is inferior, slacking more slowly and with greater difficulty, though it is extensively used for mortar, there
being no stratum of limestone that can be worked between Old Radnor and the sea-coast of Cardiganshire. As the four
formations already described, namely, the old red sandstone of the hundred of Painscastle, the pervading grey wacki slate,
the trap formations, and the limestone of Old Radnor, constitute and define the geological character of this county, no
minerals of value can be looked for within its limits. Coal can scarcely exist to an extent worth working. Some narrow
seams of lead have been found and worked near Llandrindod and Llandegley, and one is now being wrought near Cwm Elam. As
connected with the geological structure of the county it may be observed, that wherever the soil consists of the wreck of
the clay, or grey wacla, slate, it is porous and fertile, though of a less powerful and productive character than the
soils which result from the old red sandstone. The soils which are composed of the detritus of the trap rocks are clayey
and retentive of water, the surface for the most rut being covered with a thin layer of peaty soil. IC is remarkable that
the wreck of these rocks has been carried and deposited to the south and east of their positions, to a much greater extent
than in any other direction. Their fertility, however, is greatly increased by the addition of lime, the supply of which
from Old Radnor, and from a mass of similar rock which occurs at Nash, in Herefordshire, not far from Presteign, has been
lately facilitated and augmented by the construction of a rail-road from the canal at Brecknock, by Hay and Kington, to
Old Radnor. The total consumption of coal in the two districts of limestone rock is said to amount to about five thousand
tons annually. The chief commerce of Radnorshire consists in the sale of its agricultural produce at the public fairs and
markets. The trade in manufactured goods and in foreign and colonial produce is small, little being sold excepting for
immediate consumption. Until within the last few years the chief supply of these articles was introduced through Kington,
either from the respective manufacturing districts or from Bristol; but the construction of an easy road from the canal at
Newtown, in Montgomeryshire, through the centre of this county, to Builth, in Brecknockshire, has enabled the inhabitants
to derive partially what is necessary for their use from the marts of Liverpool and Chester. Small manufactures of flannel
exist at Rhaiadr, Maestreyloe near Presteign, and at Liaovihangel- Rhydithon. Considerable quantities of hides are tanned
and dressed, and find a market out of the county. The rivers are none of them navigable, and no canal has been constructed
within the -limits of the county. The principal RIVERS are the Wye, with some of its tributaries, and the Teme. The
romantic and rapid Wye, the scenery on the banks of which has so frequently been the subject of the pencil and the pen,
rises on the southern side of Plinlimmon mountain, in Montgomeryshire, about a mile from the source of the Severn, and,
flowing first southward, then eastward, and again southward, for about eleven miles through desolate wastes, enters this
county about four miles to the north of Rhaiadr, and crosses the north-western extremity of it, by that town, to its
confluence with the Elain, where it becomes the boundary between Radnorshire and Brecknockshire, and so continues during
the remainder of its course in the principality (a distance of thirty miles), excepting a short interval at Glisbury,
where a small portion of Radnorshire is situated on its southern banks. The Elain (anglice the Roe), also affording many
attractions to the admirers of the picturesque, is a powerful stream from the westward, which for several miles separates
the north-western extremity of the county of Radnor from the northern part of Brecknockshire. With this accession of
waters the Wye shapes its course south.south-eastward, until within a short distance of the town of Builth, in
Brecknockshire, when it turns south-eastward: at the southernmost extremity of Radnorshire it winds north-eastward, and
quits this county and Wales on entering the English county of Hereford at the town of Hay, in Brecknockshire, after a
turbulent course of about forty-seven miles. The principal tributaries to the Wye from Radnorshire are, the !thou, which
descends from the mountains in the north-eastern extremity of the county, and on its junction with the Wye near Disserth,
five miles from Bath, after a course of about twenty miles south-westward, is of nearly equal magnitude with that river
itself; the romantic Edw, or Edwy, which joins it about four miles below Builth; and the gloomily picturesque Mllchuny,
or Bachwy, which falls into it a few miles lower. The Teme rises in the Kerry hills, in Montgomeryshire, and forms the
entire boundary between this county and that of Salop, which it enters a little below the town of Knighton. The Lug, the
Somergill, and the Arrow, are all tributary to the Wye, but do not join it in this county. The Lug has its source in the
Llangunllo hills, and flows south-westward through the Vale of Llangunllo, into Herefordshire, which county it enters
after forming the eastern boundary of Radnorshire for some distance below Presteign. The Somergill rises in the Forest of
Radnor, and one of its tributary streams forms the cascade called " Water break its neck:" it soon enters the basin-like
Vale of Radnor, by the dry gravelly soil of which it is wholly absorbed in dry summers: on reaching a bed of clay it re-
appears, after flowing by New and Old Radnor, and enters Herefordshire after a course of about thirteen miles. The Arrow
is a small stream which flows by New Church towards Kington, in Herefordshire. In 1812, an act of parliament was obtained
for the formation of a rail-road from the canal near the town of Brecknock, by Hay, to Kington, a branch of which is
continued to the Weythel lime rocks near Old Radnor, between three and four miles to the west-north-west of Kington: this
line of communication confers considerable benefit on the county, by supplying the south-eastern part of it with coal, and
in return conveying agricultural produce to the mining districts of Brecknockshire and Glamorgan-shire. The roads which
pass through the centre of the county have been much improved of late years, and are now remarkably good; but the cross
roads are in general of an inferior kind. That from London to Radnor, by Hereford, enters the county from Kington: one of
the roads to Presteign passes through Hereford. The road from London to Aberystwith, by Worcester, enters from Leominster,
in Herefordshire, and passes through Kington, New Radnor, Pen-yr-Bont, and Rhaiadr, into Cardiganshire: three miles
beyond New Radnor, a branch of this road diverges to Build), in Brecknockshire. Another road from London to Aberystwith,
branches from the foregoing at Leominster, runs through Presteign, Whitton, Blethvaugh, and LlanvihangelRhydithon, and
joins the former at Pen-y-Bont. There is also a new and beautiful line from Rhaiadr to Aberystwith, which passes along the
banks of the Wye for some miles from the former town, through Llangurig in Montgomeryshire, and is the general way of
travelling. Though there may be traced numberless intrenchments and mounds scattered over the county, which mark the ruins
of former fortresses, the REMAINS of ANTIQUITY are upon the whole of minor interest: the name Castell Pren (or castle
built of wood), which still exists in several instances, suggests the probability of many of these intrenchments having
been fortified only with a stockade. The Roman station already mentioned may be distinctly traced on a farm called Cwm,
about two miles to the north-east of Llandrindod Wells. This camp is a perfect square, including an area of about four
acres, and appears to have been originally surrounded by a thick stone wall, the massive foundations of which are yet
visible, with a deep fosse on the outside: at a short distance are vestiges of other military works and buildings. The
vicinal roads from Carmarthen, and the Gaer, near Brecknock, to Chester, appear to have united at this station, from which
a branch, passing through the centre of Radnorshire, is thought to have proceeded to Kenchester, in Herefordshire, but no
traces of such a work have hitherto been discovered. In the parish of Llandewi-Ystradenny, about four miles above Pen-y-
Bont, near the Vale of lthon, is an ancient British encampment, called the Gaer, which is oval, and defended by two deep
fosses. It occupies an eminence. above the river; and on the opposite side of the valley is a large tumulus, or barrow,
designated Bedd Y.gre, or Ygre's Grave, on an estate belonging to J. C. Severn, Esq. In the vicinity of Rhaiadr are
several remarkable tumuli, some of which are composed wholly of stones, and bear the descriptive name of car neddau: the
largest is situated in the parish of Cwm-Toyddwr, and is styled Tommen Saint Fraid, or the tumulus of St. Bridget. There
is also a large tumulus close to the churchyard of Aberedw. Of the numerous buildings for military defence little can now
be ascertained. Camden says, "there remain many footings of castles, to be seen here and there, but especially Kevenlleece
and Timbod, which, standing upon a sharp poynted bill, Llewellin, Prince of South Wales, overthrew in the year 1260." The
same author also reports, that the castle of Maud in Colwyn was very famous, and that Robert de Todeney, a noble Norman,
was lord of it; it took its name from Maud of Saint Valerie, wife to William de Breos, who rebelled against King John;
the castle being thrown down by the Welsh, was rebuilt in 1231 by Henry IlL, and called by him, in despite of "Llewelyn,
Prince of Wales, Maugre Llew, ellin. The fortress at Rhaiadr owed its origin to other hands. The celebrated chief, Rhk's
ab Grufydd, had, in 1169, made peace with Henry III., and became attached to English interests. In 1176, he gave a feast
in the castle of Cardigan, to which he invited many Normans and English: some of these visiters, however, in their way
home, treacherously murdered his son-in-law, Eineon; and, to awe his enraged and revengeful opponents, Rhks is said to
have " built the castle of Rhaiadr, on precipitous strong ground, (near the noted cataract of that name,) above the Wye,"
where the fosse and site of a considerable fortress may still be distinctly traced. There are small remains of the castle
of Aberedw, or Aberedwy, at the junction of the VW, or Edwy, with the Wye; of that of Biichrh5T1, or Boughrood, lower
down on the banks of the Wye;  of that of New Radnor; of the castle of the Blac Rock, overhanging the tremendous chasm
through which runs the river Machwy, or Biichwy, anglici Little Wye; and of a small fortress on the banks of the Wye,
about two miles above Builth. There are also vestiges of the town walls and ditch of New Radnor; of the moat of Castell
Cymaron, near Llandewi-Ystradenny; of the foundations of Castell Glyn Ithon, at Kevenlleece; of those of Dinboeth, or
Tynboeth, Castle, near the upper extremity of the Vale of Ithon; and of those of Painscastle. Offies Dyke, entering on
the north from Shropshire, is first seen in Radnorshire near the town of Knighton, to which it gives its Welsh name of
Trev-y-Crawdd, or " the Town on the Dyke," and whence, proceeding southward, it is easily traced between the parishes of
Norton and Whitton to the vicinity of Beggar's Bush, where it inclines to the south-east, and enters Herefordshire at the
parish of Knit'. Burva Bank, steep hill on the border of the county, near this place, is skirted on the west by this dyke,
which is about fifty feet broad, and of great depth: on this hill are traces of an extensive camp, and strong
entrenchments, which have induced the opinion that it was the site of one of the fortified places by which the great
rampart was defended. Of ecclesiastical buildings there have never been many worthy of much notice: the foundations of
the abbey founded at Cwm Hir, in 1143, by Cadwaflon ab Madoc, for sixty monks of the Cistercian order (the only religious
house existing in the county et the period of the Reformation), are yet visible in the valley of the little river
Clywedog, a tributary to the, Ithon. The names of Monachty, near Knighton, ow Coed-y-Monach, near Rhaiadr, indicate a
monkish, connexion, of which little is known. The churches at Old Radnor and Presteign still remain, as proofs that the
influence of that pious seal by which Great Britain acquired such splendid places of public worship, was not wholly
excluded from this portion of Wales; but, with the exception of Clyro, Knighton, Nantmel, Glisbury, and a few ethers, the
churches throughout the county are of an inferior description. The principal gentlemen's residences are, Maes11wch Castle,
Stanage Park, Harpton Court, Boultibrook, Bougbrood Castle, Penkerrig, Wellfield House, Pen-y-Bont Hall, f3ownton House,
Evenjobb House, Newcastle Court, Noyadd, Nantgwilt, Cwmelan, Nant-y-groes, Impton Hall, Rhydeldog, Ddrew, and Abbey-cwm-
Hir. There is a curious old house at Devanner Park, now the property of J. C. Severn, Esq. The county contains a greater
number of mineral springs than all the others of South Wales conjointly. Those at Llandrindod have for many years been
held in great repute, and are much resorted to in the summer by valetudinarians: they are three in number, the waters of
one of which are saline, containing Epsom salt, sea salt, and some earth; those of another sulphureous, containing
hepatic air and sea salt; and those of the third .powerfully .chalybeate, containing a considerable portion of iron in a
volatile acid, and probably a neutral salt. The first two are very near each other, and are situated within a short
distance of the principal lodging-house for the accommodation of miters; but the latter is about half a mile north-
eastward from the others, in a little rocky valley on the contiguous waste. Llantictliey Wells, near the public road
between New Radnor and Rhaiadr, and Blaenedw Wells, distant therefrom about two miles south-eastward, which are all
sulphureous, are of considerable note, and much frequented. Near Pen-y-Bont, on the Ithon, are two springs, one
sulphureous, and the other ciialybeate. The following springs are all sulphureous: viz. Fynnon Ddewi, or St. David's
Well, in the parish of Llanbadari:-Vynydd; New Well, in the parish of Llanano; and two springs in the parish of
Llanbister, within ten yards of each other, one depositing a black, the other a reddish sediment, the latter of which
turns copper white and silver .yellow in a very short space of time. Several springs in the vicinity of those at
Llanbister deposit a black sediment, and their waters are reputed to have great efficacy in the cure of scorbutic
complaints. The most remarkable waterfall is that quaintly called " Water break its neck," situated in a narrow defile
among the hills of Radnor Forest, about two miles to the west of New Radnor: its height is about one hundred and seventy
feet. English is spoken in Radnorshire almost universally; so that it is rare to find a peasant who speaks Welshl except
in the northwestern angle of the county. beyond Rhaiadr, consisting of the parishes of St. Harmon and Cwm- Toyddwr, the
inhabitants of which for the most part the iVelsh only; and in these two places alone is the church service now performed
in that tongue. The Welsh language is, however, understood by persons in the adjoining parishes of Nantmel, and Abbey Cwm
Hir, although not much in use. By what means the inhabitants of the county have acquired the use of the tongue in which
the laws are administered and knowledge is disseminated it is not easy_ to trace. The Saxon names of Norton, Whitton,
Knighton, and many others on the eastern border, show that these places were wrested from the Welsh at an early period. In
their immediate neighbourhood, however, the ancient language continued to be spoken till little more than a century ago;
and in the church of Llanvihangel-Nant-Melan, within three miles of New Radnor, and in that of Cascob still more eastward,
the Welsh Bibles still remain which were used in the service of those churches, though no Welsh is ROW spoken within
twenty miles of them.