Llansantfraid-Yn-Mechan (Llan-Sant-Ffraid-Yn-Mechain) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
LLANSANTFRAID-YN-MECHAN (LLAN-SANT-FFRAID-YN-MECHAIN), a parish, in the union of Llanvyllin, partly in the Upper division of the hundred of Deythur, and partly in the Lower division of that of Pool, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 6 miles (E. by N.) from Llanvyllin; containing 1399 inhabitants, of whom 884 are in the main body of the parish, on the northern side of the river Vyrnwy, and the remainder in the several hamlets of Collvryn, Llanerchila, Tr�dderwen-Vawr, and Tr�wylan, on the southern side of the same stream. The parish is beautifully situated in a very picturesque portion of the Vale of Vyrnwy, and is divided into two parts by the river which gives name to that rich and fertile vale. It comprises a very extensive tract of arable and pasture land; and in some parts of it is found abundance of peat, which forms the principal fuel of the inhabitants. The scenery is varied, and from the higher grounds the vales of Salop and the Severn, with the lofty hills by which they are bounded, are pleasingly conspicuous. The turnpike-road from Shrewsbury, by Llanvyllin, to Bala, passes through the village. Fairs are annually held on the Tuesday before Easter, on May 22nd, and October 3rd.
The living is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Bishop of St. Asaph, rated in the king's books at �5. 17. 6.: the tithes have been commuted for �809. 15., of which a sum of �570 is payable to the impropriate rector; �215 to the vicar, who has a glebe of about thirty-five acres, and a house; and �24. 15. to another impropriator. The church, which appears to have been built at different periods, is a neat structure, principally in the early style of English architecture, and contains some good monuments: in 1830, the old benches were replaced by pews. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and Calvinistic Methodists; a day school, in connexion with the Church; and four Sunday schools, belonging to the dissenters. The poor have some small rent-charges appropriated to them. One of 20s. by John Williams, of the county of Salop, in 1714, on a field termed the Poor's Meadow, situated in the village, is distributed among eight decayed housekeepers on every 1st of March. Another of �1. 6. was created in 1754, by Edward Whitfield, on a piece of land called Erw Cae Howel, to provide twelve loaves of bread to be given to twelve of the poorest parishioners on every "Welsh Sunday," thereby meaning the Sundays on which the service is performed in Welsh. A third charge, of �2 per annum, created by Mrs. Jane Jones, in 1768, is payable out of a farm called Waen; but it has been latterly withheld under the plea of the statute of mortmain. The tablet in the church records a bequest by Mrs. Griffiths of Gravel-Hill, of �100, the interest of which sum, and of �20 left by Mrs. Seddon in 1805, is distributed annually on Trinity Monday among the poor.
There are remains of several British camps in the parish. In the hamlet of Tr�wylan, in a meadow which has the appearance of having once been a morass, is a post corresponding exactly with the description given by C�sar of the ancient British posts; it is seen very distinctly from the Meivod road, about a quarter of a mile from Pont-y-Pentre. On the hill called the Voel, on the Llanvyllin road, are the remains of an old British camp, the site of which is in some degree concealed by the partial plantation of the hill; but the fosse and dyke are clearly discernible from Pont-y-Pentre and the Llangedwin road. There was also a post on the latter road, occupying the summit of Winllan Hill, and its intrenchments, though not so clearly defined, may still be traced. About two miles distant are vestiges of an ancient encampment, called Clawdd C�ch, which, from its form, is supposed to have been of Roman construction. The situation of this post near the confluence of the rivers Tanat and Vyrnwy, and commanding the entrance into the vales of the Severn and Tanat, and also into that of Llansantfraid, was highly advantageous for the defence of the mines of Llanymynech, which are considered to have been worked by the Romans. Being so close to the river Vyrnwy, it has suffered some demolition, part of the intrenchment on that side having been washed away by the river. This post, which is but little known, has been thought by some antiquaries to be the Mediolanum of Antoninus; but its relative distance from Heriri Mons, or Tommen-y-M�r, on one side, and from Rutunium and Uriconium, on the other, does not agree with that mentioned in the Itinerary. |
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