Mochdre () is a small village and larger

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The community includes Penstrowed (which claims to be the smallest hamlet in Wales) and the much larger settlement of Stepaside. The community had a population of 494 as of the 2011 UK Census.

Geography

About southwest of Newtown, it is near the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

. Its tributary, Mochdre Brook runs through the village in a narrow steep-sided valley.

Name

The name means "pigs settlement", from ''moch'', meaning pigs, and ''tre'' for settlement or town. It is possible that the name refers to Mochdre in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion, the tale of '' Math, son of Mathonwy'', where

Gwydion Gwydion fab Dôn () is a magician, hero and trickster of Welsh mythology, appearing most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the ''Mabinogi'', which focuses largely on his relationship with his young nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He also appears ...

takes the pigs of

Pryderi Pryderi fab Pwyll is a prominent figure in Welsh mythology, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and king of Dyfed after his father's death. He is the only character to appear in all Four Branches of the Mabinogi, although the size of his role varies ...

, staying overnight between the nearby commote of Ceri and

Arwystli Arwystli was a cantref in mid Wales in the Middle Ages, located in the headland of the River Severn. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundre ...

History

Tweed making at the Leach family woollen mill at Mochdre

In 1872, it was a parish in the Newtown district called Moughtrey or Mochtref, with Eskirgilog and Moughtreyllan townships. At that time, there were 95 houses, a population of 526, and was 5,025 acres. The church, in the diocese of St. Asaph in the late 19th century, was an ancient church in poor shape as of 1859. With a roof dating from the 15th century, the rest of the Church of All Saints was rebuilt in 1867. All Saints is a parish of the Mission Area of Cedewain,

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

. Lake Mochdre, a former reservoir, later a fish farm, now a fishing venue, was created by damming a tributary stream.

Governance

Since the May 1999 local government elections the community has been covered by the electoral ward of

Llandinam Llandinam () is a village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, central Wales, between Newtown and Llanidloes, located on the A470. As a community, Llandinam is made up of the village itself, small hamlets including Plas Dinam and Little Lond ...

, which elects a county councillor to

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Govern ...

. The community also elects up to seven community councillors to Mochdre with Penstrowed Community Council.

References

{{Powys Communities in Powys