Taliesin Stone, Llanfair Caereinion, Powys, Wales

Llanfair Caereinion is a market

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and

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, tow ...

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

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

upon the

River Banwy The River Banwy is a river about long in Powys, Wales. It is a tributary of the River Vyrnwy. The Banwy rises in the hills near the pass which takes the A458 road between Mallwyd and Welshpool. The river is called Nant Cerrig-y-groes at its ...

(also known as the River Einion), around 8 miles west of

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

the ward had a population of 1,810; the town itself had a population of 1,055 according to Nomis.

History

Its name is a combination of Welsh ' "church" + ' "

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

" and ' "fort" + ', a personal name, meaning "the church of Mary tthe fort of Einion". The town is built upon the site of an old

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fort. The site of the

Battle of Maes Moydog The Battle of Maes Moydog was a battle that took place at the field of Moydog ( cy, Maidog, also ''Meidiog'') on 5 March 1295 during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn and others against English rule, near the modern-day town of Llanfair Caereinio ...

(1295) is nearby. In 1758 the town was almost completely wiped out by a major fire.

Geography

The town is close to Welshpool and not far away are the towns of

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

and

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or p ...

. The town acts as a major centre for a lot of scattered hamlets and villages around the community. The electorate of the community only places it fourteenth in the rank of the county's eighteen towns. Llanfair Caereinion is classified as an area centre in the Powys Unitary Development Plan, for the market town has the largest range of community services and facilities and the greatest capacity to accommodate additional development in its locality. There are also rural settlements within the community at Heniarth and Melin-y-ddol. The remainder of the population lives in scattered farms and dwellings

Transport

The town is served by the following bus routes: 73 (Llanfair-Welshpool-

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

) which operates only two services each way on Wednesdays and Fridays between 8:58 and 14:57. 84 (Llanfair- Newtown) which operates only two services each way Mondays-Fridays but is more a school service. 87 (Llanfair-Welshpool- Foel) which operates Mondays to Saturdays with six services a day and three each way to Foel, Llanfair and Welshpool. 89 (Llanfair-Welshpool) offer additional service on Mondays only to Welshpool and back to Llanfair. The nearest mainline railway station is

and further away is

. The town is also the terminus of the

Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (W&LLR) ( cy, Rheilffordd y Trallwng a Llanfair Caereinion) is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around long and runs westwards from the town of Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) ...

. This offers an additional method of travel to Welshpool from the town between Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays although it is primarily a heritage railway.

Governance

Since the May 2022 local elections, Llanfair Caereinion, with neighbouring

Llanerfyl Llanerfyl is a village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Located near the River Banwy, the community includes the village of Llanerfyl, several farms and wide tracts of marchland. The southern part of the community includes Cwm Nan ...

, has been part of the Llanfair Caereinion and Llanerfyl

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

, represented by one county councillor on

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 ...

Notable residents

* John Griffiths (1837–1918), an artist who worked in India, noted for his Orientalist works, was born here. *

Thomas John Jehu Thomas John Jehu (19 February 1871 – 18 July 1943) was a British physician and geologist. The Jehu-Campbell Fossil Collection at the University of Edinburgh was donated by Jehu in combination with Robert Campbell and is now the main component ...

(1871–1943), geologist and physician, was born here. * Alis Huws (born 1995), a Welsh harpist, born at Foel.

Gallery

File:Llanfair Caereinion Town Hall.png, Llanfair Caereinion Town Hall in 1802 File:David Cox - Llanfair Church, North Wales for A Treatise on Landscape Painting and Effect in Water Colours - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Llanfair Church'' by David Cox, c.1813

References

External links

Photos of Llanfair Caereinion and surrounding area on geograph
Towns in Powys Communities in Powys {{Powys-geo-stub