Guilsfield (, " Hemlock-field") is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, Wales. It lies beside Guilsfield Brook about three miles north of

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

. It is located on the B4392 road and a disused branch of the

Montgomery Canal The Montgomery Canal (), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown, Powys, Newtown via Llanymynech and ...

starts nearby. The community has an area of and had a population of 1,640 in 2001.Davies, John; Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines & Peredur I. Lynch (2008) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'', University of Wales Press, Cardiff. rising to 1,727 in 2011. The community includes the villages of

Burgedin Burgedin is a village in Powys, Wales. The Montgomery Canal passes through the village. External links Photos of Burgedin and surrounding area on geograph
Villages in Powys {{Powys-geo-stub ...

and Groes-lwyd. The village itself had a population of about 1,220.

Name

The Welsh name of the village was first recorded in the 12th century as '. The English name was first recorded in 1278 as "Guildesfelde". It may be named after a person (i.e., "Gyldi's field") or could mean "gold field".

History

In 1862, a hoard of metalwork from the

late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

was discovered near the village. It contained over 120 pieces such as swords, spearheads, and axes.

Notable buildings

St Aelhaiarn's Church

The Church of St Aelhaiarn is dedicated to

Saint Aelhaiarn Saint Aelhaiarn or Aelhaearn (Welsh language, Welsh for "Iron Brow";Baring-Gould, Sabine & al''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. I, pp. ...

, but has sometimes been erroneously recorded as dedicated to

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

, All Saints, and

Saint Tysilio Saint Tysilio (also known as/confused with Saint Suliac; ; died 640 AD) was a Welsh bishop, prince and scholar. Sources The 12th century poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr wrote "An Ode to Tysilio". There is a genealogy of Tysilio in the Bonedd y S ...

.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. I, pp. 101 ff
Chas. Clark (London), 1908. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 18 Nov 2014. The tower of the present church dates to about 1300. Although the feast of Saint Aelhaiarn is recorded as 2 November, his local fair was traditionally held six days later on the 8th. The churchyard is also listed, at Grade II*, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register.

Maesmawr Hall and Trawscoed Hall

There are several large houses in the area including Maesmawr Hall which dates from 1692 and Trawscoed Hall from 1777.

Brookland Hall

Brookland Hall, to the SE of the village, is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

and its

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

garden is listed, also at Grade II, on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

The Garth

The Garth, to the west of the village, was an unusual architectural work by

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1782 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author, born in Cambuslang in 1782. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, co ...

, more usually known for his

landscape gardening A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Diction ...

. The house has been demolished by the remnants of the garden and park are listed at Grade II on the

Sport

Guilsfield has a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, Guilsfield F.C., which plays in the

Cymru North The Cymru North is a regional association football, football league in Wales, covering the northern half of the country. It initially had clubs with semi-professional status. Together with the Cymru South, it forms the second tier of the Welsh fo ...

league.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Powys Registered historic parks and gardens in Powys