Region
Severn Valley
Dyffryn Hafren
The river that made three towns, one canal, and most of the industrial history Powys has.
The Severn rises on Plynlimon and runs north-east through the widest corridor in Powys before turning for Shropshire. Almost everything that industrialised in this county did so along it.
Llanidloes near the source, Newtown in the middle, Welshpool at the northern end. Between them, a string of villages that exist because the river was navigable, or because the canal was, or because the railway followed the same line for the same reasons.
What to look for
The Montgomery Canal, opened in stages from the 1790s, running from Newtown north to the Shropshire border. It carried lime, coal and timber, never made much money, and its wharves and lime kilns are the best-preserved industrial remains in the north of the county.
Woollen mills. Newtown and Llanidloes ran the Welsh flannel trade, and the tall multi-storey weaving buildings with long window ranges are still there in both towns, generally converted.
Flood meadows and the marks of the river moving. The Severn here has changed course repeatedly, and old channels show as damp curved hollows in the fields.
Sources
- Heneb — the Trust for Welsh Archaeology, Historic Landscape Character Assessments covering the Severn valley and the Vale of Montgomery.
- Coflein (RCAHMW), the national monuments record for sites within the region.
- Cadw, Cof Cymru designation records for listed buildings and scheduled monuments.
- British Geological Survey, 1:50,000 mapping and memoirs for mid Wales.
- Montgomeryshire Collections, Powysland Club, available through Welsh Journals Online.