Presteigne (Welsh: Llanandras) is the county town of the traditional county of Radnorshire, lying in Powys, mid Wales. The town sits on the River Lugg which forms the northern border with Herefordshire.
Notable buildings in the town include the parish church, parts of which are Anglo-Saxon, and the Jacobean Radnorshire Arms hotel. Other attractions include the Judge's Lodging, decorated in mid-Victorian style.
Presteigne attracted national attention in 2004 for an unpopular and ultimately unsuccessful campaign by its Mayoress, Peggy Fraser-Scott to enforce a curfew on the town's youth.
Presteigne is renowned for its prestigious annual festival of classical music which has been staged each August since 1983. Until 2005, it held a popular summer showcase for student bands and New Age musicians known as Sheep Music, which has since been suspended.
Henry Edward's Old English Customs: Curious Requests and Charities mentions the bell-ringer appointed by John Beddoes in 1565 to ring a 'day bell' at 8am, and a curfew at 8pm. Beddoes specified that in the event of the custom being abandoned for more than a year, (except in plagues) the funds set aside for this position would revert to his heirs.
Beddoes also gave his name to Presteigne's secondary school, which he established in 1565, donating 5 flocks of sheep whose wool was to be used to fund the school. John Beddoes School, which is attended by about 700 pupils, keeps many traditions and customs in honour of its founder, including the controversial 'Bell Day' on December 3rd, when after a solemn, torchlit march to the town's church at dawn, pupils run through the streets ringing school bells until sunset. The high expense of replacing the many bells lost each year led to a suspension of the event in 1989, but it was reintroduced in 2004 with a National Lottery grant.
Public Transport links are provided by :- Sargeants Brothers, who provide four buses daily (Monday to Saturday) to Kington in Herefordshire with connections from there to Hereford, and four buses daily to Knighton,in Powys, Wales, and a school service to Lady Hawkins School in Kington.
Lugg Valley Travel provide bus links to Leominster in Herefordshire. |
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