Penstrowed is a historic

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 ...

parish to the west of Newtown, now in the community of Mochdre with Penstrowed,

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 Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Description

Penstrowed is situated in the river

Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

valley. The founder of the church, Saint Gwrhai was a 5th-century saint who is supposed to have been buried in the churchyard. The Penstrowed Quarry was an important source for local stone and was used for building the

Caersws Caersws (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community on the River Severn, in the Wales, Welsh county of Powys; it was formerly in Montgomeryshire. It is located west of Newtown, Powys, Newtown, halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. ...

workhouse. It was later acquired by Montgomeryshire County Council and a railway siding connecting the quarry to Cambrian main line laid in 1902 and closed in May 1937. Penstrowed now claims to be 'The smallest hamlet in Wales'. It is governed by the Mochdre with Penstrowed Community Council. Eiluned Lewis (1900–1979), a Welsh novelist, poet, and journalist came from the town.

Church

The church of Saint Gwrhai is a very small single-chamber church with bellcote and S porch. Neatly rebuilt in 1864 by Edward Jones. Decorated period east and west windows, with stained glass by

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained-glass window manufacturers. As Whitefriars Glass, the company existed from the 18th century, but became well kno ...

by Powell's, 1864: Christ appearing to the three Marys. There is a monument to the Rev. John Herbert who died in 1876. Next to the church is a corrugated iron church hall.

Houses and chapel

Glanhafren Hall is a brick three-bay, three-storey front range of c. 1810. The block, one room deep, contains a two-flight stair with honeysuckle ironwork balusters in a segmental recess, and two rooms with classical plaster cornices. Glandulais is a small Late Georgian house of two storeys and four bays—the windows mostly tripartite with cambered heads. Staircase with fluted balusters. In the drawing room a ceiling with trophy motifs in an oval of leaves, and a frieze of garlands. Penstrowed Methodist Chapel was built during the mid-nineteenth century. It is stone built in the Vernacular style with a gable entry plan and small-pane flat-headed windows. By 2002 this chapel had been converted for use as a store.

Literature

*Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013), ''The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire'', Yale University Press. pg 235.

References

Penstrowed gallery

{{authority control Historic Montgomeryshire parishes Villages in Powys