Llandyssil

Llandyssil is a village in Powys, Wales, about two miles from the town of Montgomery.

The village is part of the Llandyssil community. In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants in the parish, of whom 300 lived in the village itself.

Connection with Celtic saints

Llandyssil takes its name from St Tysul, a little known Welsh saint of the 7th century AD. Only two churches in Wales were dedicated to this saint, Llandyssil in Montgomeryshire and Llandysul in Ceredigion, and the feast day for this saint was celebrated on 31 January. The old church in the village (largely demolished in 1866) stood in the graveyard to the SE of the present village. This suggests that the present settlement dates back to the period around 700AD. There is also a connection with another early Welsh and Breton saint, St Padarn. On the highland to the south in Cefn y Coed is the farm Cwm Badarn. The Llandyssil Brook rises in this Cwm or valley, and between Cwm Badarn Farm and the Pinion is a rock cut spring, that was possibly a Holy Well, dedicated to St Padarn.

History

In the Medieval period, Llandyssil was in the Cantref of Cedewain in the Kingdom of Powys. The parish was divided into four townships: Bolbro, Bronywood (or Bronycoed), Bryntalch and Rhandir. Rhandir, which contained the parish church, was the largest of these townships. It was probably an amalgamation of three other townships; Cefn-y-coed, Coedywig and Trefganol. In 1536, following the Act of Union, Llandyssil became part of the new county of Montgomeryshire. For ecclesiastical administration, the parish was in the Bishopric of St Asaph, the Archdeaconry of Montgomery and the Deanery of Cedewain. For Parliamentary representation, Llandyssil fell within the County of Montgomery until 1885, when, for electoral purposes, it was included within the Montgomery Boroughs. It was transferred back to the County in 1918, when only one MP represented Montgomeryshire. With the establishment of the Montgomeryshire County Council in 1894, Llandyssil Parish Council was created, and it was included in Forden Rural District Council. In 1974, as a result of Local Government reform, Llandyssil Parish Council became a Community Council within the Montgomeryshire District Council. At this time, Llanmerewig was joined with Llandyssil to form the new Community Council, and in 1984 this was renamed Abermule with Llandyssil Community Council. At this time, the Community Council covered the old parishes of Llanmerewig and Llandyssil, together with Dolforwyn, which had been a township in Bettws Cedewain parish. In 1996, with the abolition of the Montgomeryshire District Council, the Community Council became part of Powys County Council.

Population and language

The Census returns are as follows:

In 1880 a portion of the township of Bolbro was transferred from Llandyssil to Llanmerewig and the size of the parish was reduced from 4187 acres to 3800 acres. This may be reflected in the decrease in population between the 1881 and 1891 censuses.

During the later part of the 18th century, it appears that the Welsh language was supplanted by English for general usage in the village. There are some Welsh speakers in the village, but they have mainly come from elsewhere in Montgomeryshire.

Archaeological and historic monuments

Llandyssil is particularly rich in archaeological sites, especially of the Later Bronze Age and Iron Age. To the NE it is overshadowed by Ffridd Faldwyn, possibly the largest Hillfort in Wales, which is adjacent to Town Hill in Montgomery. Most of the sites have been discovered by aerial photography. The main sites are:

Prehistoric

The prehistoric sites include:

  • Brynderwen Enclosure. NGR: SO2064995184. Ditched enclosure close to the river Severn. Late Neolithic Peterborough ware pottery. Dated to c.3350-3000 BC.
  • Cefn Llan Hillfort in Cefnycoed. NGR: SO20579476. Scheduled ancient monument. Enclosure situated on low hill, comprising a sub-rectangular platform 60m by 40m (north-south) rising to c1.5m above the ditch. The original entrance is to the south. Site now overgrown and bank starting to erode.
  • Cefn Llan Enclosure (to N of Hillfort). Triple ditched enclosure c121m across, triple ditches only visible on the S side, the rest being single or double ditched. Linear earthworks to SW could be related.
  • Cloddiau. Possible Late Bronze or Iron Age Cattle Krall or Banjo enclosure with triple banks and funnel entrance. Triple ditched sub-circular enclosure 92 x 78m enclosing an inner area of 2526m. Well-defined entrance to NE with flanking ditches. Excavations in 1993 showed the 4m wide inner ditch was just below the edge of the scarp, but no stratigraphy survived in either the rampart or the interior.
  • Coed y Wig hillfort. NGR: SO1957096216. Iron Age Hillfort revealed by aerial photography. Possible enclosure, treble ditched to SE but only single ditch visible to E. NE part not visible. Site is set on 2 E-W ridges with a broad natural gully between. The ditches seem to be cutting across from one ridge to another.
  • Cuckoo Hill Hillfort. NGR: SO1829794715. 3-ditched ovate enclosure 132.1 x 89.6m with no obvious entrance. Ditches to W show as cropmarks - those to E as parchmarks and slight earthworks. Defences spanning 31m. Located on low SW-NW ridge. Later house platforms cut into earthworks on SE side. Excavation 1993: triple ditched enclosure with earthworks surviving to c.0.2m high, the inner ditch was identified - width 3.7m. No stratigraphy was present. Single rim-sherd of probable Roman date from upper fill of ditch
  • Fron Fraith Wood Hillfort. NGR: SO1695893508. North-west part of two ditched enclosures, possibly circular with diameter c90m. The ditches are c5m across and there is a possible entrance gap on east. The enclosure is 110m NE/SW by 65m across. Excavated in 1994.
  • Goron Ddu Hillfort. NGR: SO1860096570. East of Upper Bryntalch farm, on the crest of a short ridge, aligned north-east/south-west, overlooking the river Severn at an altitude of 200m OD, to the N of the village. The site consists of a double banked enclosure with widely spaced ditches. The inner ditch defines an approximately ovate enclosure measuring about 67m north-east/south-west and reducing in width from 62m at the south-west end to 40m at the north-east end. The outer ditch defines a sub-rectangular enclosure with rounded corners, measuring 131m north-east/south-west by about 95m overall. Geophysical survey has shown a concentration of features in the centre of the enclosure, but with insufficient clarity to distinguish round houses.
  • Mount Pleasant Defended Enclosure. NGR: SO1898893669. Scheduled ancient monument 1996. Double-ditched enclosure, 94.4m by 110m, with surviving earthworks, partly encapsulated in field boundaries. Excavation in 1994 identified the inner edge of the ditch, inside which were the remains of a clay dump rampart. Inside the rampart were remains of a hearth and grains of spelt wheat, and two post-holes which may have formed part of a four-post structure. Radiocarbon dates from the postholes of 2270-2330BP (Before Present) suggest that the site was occupied in the earlier Iron Age.

Roman

  • The Roman Road from Forden Gaer/Lavrobrinta to Caersws runs through the parish along the river, probably largely on the alignment of the B3484 from Caerhowel railway bridge to the Abermule railway bridge. During the construction in 2006 of the “Felin Hafren” housing estate in Abermule, a length of the Roman road was uncovered.

Early Medieval and Norman

  • Brynderwen Motte and Bailey Castle guarding the river Severn crossing. An early castle on the Severn. The motte has gone and the bailey area is occupied by a farm.
  • Cefn Bryntalch Motte and Bailey Castle. To the SW of Cefn Bryntalch house. Earthen motte or ringwork at the NE end of a scarped natural ridge, with a cross-ditch dividing it from the bailey.
  • Mound by Llandyssil Bridge. Suggested barrow, but with flat top and more likely to be a medieval mill mound. Place names in vicinity, such as Cae Melyn and Ty Melyn (originally Cae Melin and Ty Melin - Welsh for Mill Field and Mill House), may support its identification as a windmill mound for a Post mill.

Church and chapel buildings

  • Old Church and Graveyard. The former church of St Tysul stood on the hillside overlooking the village. Now only a stone porch with an 18th-century doorway remains, standing in the churchyard. The single-chambered medieval parish church is shown in a woodcut illustration to have been extensively rebuilt in the 18th century with round arched windows and roof dormers. It had also the most elaborate of the Montgomeryshire timber west bell-towers — a tower which was enclosed by an open gallery, corbelled out from the supporting framework, built inside the nave. Lych Gate to the graveyard by the architect Harold Hughes, of Bangor 1907.
  • St Tysul. By the architect Thomas Henry Wyatt, 1863–6. Nave with west aisle, chancel, SE tower and spire. The church is orientated nearly north–south rather than the usual east–west. The four-bay arcade to the nave with polished red granite columns, with red sandstone and white limestone blocks used to decorate the stone arches. Chancel arch in Early English style. Caen stone and alabaster reredos. Monument to John Pugh (1784). Bells by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel, and recent clock by Joyce of Whitchurch.
  • Wesleyan Chapel, with Gothic windows, now converted into a house called “The Arches”.
  • Bethesda Presbyterian Chapel, Cefn y Coed. Low building with three bays of cambered sash windows and porch. Founded 1840, but possibly the building is later. A good example of a simple rural chapel. Closed in 2008 and currently unused.

Notable buildings and bridges

  • Cefn Bryntalch. The house of 1867–69 by G F Bodley is an important early example of the Queen Anne revival. The house was completed by Philip Webb. The client was Richard Jones, who had made a fortune in the flannel trade. The exterior is cleanly detailed and well-executed in red brick, with prominent string-courses. The south front with three bi…
Text taken from Wikipedia - Llandyssil under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 on April 13, 2023

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