Buttington

 Pubs/Bars in Buttington:
 Green Dragon Inn
       Buttington
       Welshpool
       Powys
       SY21 8SS
 01938 553076

Buttington - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
BUTTINGTON, called by the Welsh TÂL-YBONT ("the end of the bridge"), a parish, in the incorporation of Forden, hundred of Pool, within the liberties of the borough of Welshpool, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 2 miles (N. E. by E.) from Welshpool; comprising the townships of Cletterwood, Hope, and Trewern, each of which separately maintains its own poor; and containing 826 inhabitants. During the Saxon era this place was called Butdigingtune, and is remarkable as the scene of a desperate battle, in 894, between the Saxons and the Danes. The latter, in one of their landings, under their leader Hesten, having traversed the kingdom from east to west, and finding Alfred in pursuit of them with a numerous army, hastily retreated from the western part of England towards Wales, and being closely pressed by the Saxons, intrenched themselves at this village, where they were actively blockaded by their pursuers, and reduced to such distress as to be obliged to feed upon the flesh of their horses. Impelled by despair and famine, they at length made an attempt to force their way through the Saxon army, when a dreadful carnage ensued, in which most of them were slain, a few only escaping to their own country. In confirmation of this historical event, there were discovered in 1839, by a labourer who was excavating some soil on the north side of the churchyard, about 330 human skulls deposited in three distinct holes about a yard in diameter, and nearly a cartload of arm, leg, and thigh bones thrown over them. The skulls were afterwards placed in the church for public inspection, and several phrenologists were of opinion that they were the remains of men from the age of twenty to forty-five, the ossification of the cranium being of different stages between those two periods of life.

The parish is bounded on the north by the parish of Guilsfield, on the south by that of Worthen, on the east by Alberbury, and on the west by Welshpool, from which it is separated by the river Severn. It comprises by computation 4500 acres, of which 1200 are arable, 500 meadow, 2100 pasture, 400 plantation, and the remainder waste; the scenery is picturesque and beautiful, and the wood consists chiefly of oak. The village is situated on the road from Welshpool to Shrewsbury, and on the eastern bank of the river Severn, which is crossed by a wooden bridge of considerable antiquity, and, after heavy rains, frequently overflows its banks, in this vicinity very low, and causes great damage to property. Some of the land is rich and valuable, particularly that lying along the margin of the Severn. The Longmynd and the Breidden hills are partly situated within the parish: the latter are divided into three rocky peaks, called Craig Vreddin (from Bre, an elevation, and Din, a fort, terms referring to an ancient British fort still visible on its summit), Cevn Cestyll, and Moel-y-Golva, the last of which is the loftiest and most conical. On the first-named peak a tall obelisk was erected, in 1781, in commemoration of the distinguished services of Admiral Lord Rodney, in the war with France, more especially his defeat of a powerful French armament under the command of Count de Grasse, in the West Indies. It consists of a circular pillar, resting on a square pedestal, and formerly terminating with a ball, which was struck by lightning and has not been replaced. The expense was defrayed by subscription among the gentry in the neighbourhood. The summit of the peak commands pleasing and highly diversified views of the fertile Vale of Severn and the country bordering upon it, the richly cultivated and extensive plain of Salop, with the Cheshire hills, and the principal mountains in North Wales. The rocky sides of these hills present a precipitous escarpment, here and there interspersed with shrubs, whilst their bases are finely skirted with woods. On a small plain to the east, called Crew Green, is a large isolated rock, denominated Belin Mount, at a short distance from the adjacent hills.

The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £1000 royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant; net income, £107; patron, the Vicar of Welshpool, to which parish this was formerly a chapelry, having been separated from it and made distinct prior to 1736, as an old register exists which was commenced at that period, and which describes Buttington then as a parish. Three-fourths of the great and small tithes belong to the Earl of Powis, as lessee under the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is built in the early style of English architecture, is seventy feet long and twenty-eight feet broad, and contains 368 sittings. A parsonage-house was built in 1836; and a chapel was erected in 1839 at Trewern, at the distance of 2¾ miles from the church, for the accommodation of about 130 persons. Two small day schools are partly supported by charity, and a Sunday school is held, all in connexion with the Established Church. Vestiges of several British encampments are visible on the rising grounds in this parish, which, from its situation upon the border, was doubtless, in early times, frequently the scene of military operations. That celebrated boundary line, Offa's Dyke, runs through it to a spot near the church, where it disappears for the space of about five miles, the channel of the river Severn probably serving as a continuation to the parish of Llandrinio, in which it is again seen.