The Oswestry Road through Llansilin - geograph

Llansilin () is a village and local government

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, west of

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 ...

. The community, which includes Llansilin village, a large rural area and the hamlets of Moelfre and Rhiwlas as well as the remote parish of

Llangadwaladr Llangadwaladr () is a small village in south-west Anglesey, Wales, located around 2 miles east of Aberffraw and 3 miles south of Gwalchmai, Anglesey, Gwalchmai. It is part of the community (Wales), community of Bodorgan. The village is a short ...

, had a population of 648 at the 2001 census,Llansilin Community
Office of National Statistics increasing to 698 at the 2011 Census. There is also an electoral ward including the nearby village of

Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant () is a village, community and an ecclesiastical parish in the extreme north of Powys, Wales; about 9 miles west of Oswestry and 12 miles south of Llangollen, on the B4580. It lies near the foothills of the Berwyn mountains ...

with a population of 2,295.

Landscape

The village was a primary location for the making of the film ''

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain ''The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain'' is a 1995 romantic comedy film with a story by Ifor David Monger and Ivor Monger, written and directed by Christopher Monger. It was entered into the 19th Moscow International Film F ...

'', which starred

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

. The hilltop scenes were filmed on the Gyrn, the long hill that overlooks the village. It was also featured in "

Monk's Hood ''Monk's Hood'' is a medieval mystery novel by Ellis Peters, set in December 1138. It is the third novel in The Cadfael Chronicles. It was first published in 1980 (1980 in literature). It was adapted for television in 1994 by Central for IT ...

", an episode of ''

The Cadfael Chronicles ''The Cadfael Chronicles'' is a series of historical murder mysteries written by the linguist-scholar Edith Pargeter (1913–1995) under the name "Ellis Peters". Set in the 12th century during the Anarchy in England, the novels focus on a Bened ...

''.

Church

The church in Llansilin is dedicated to

Saint Silin Saint Sulien, Sulian, or Silin was the reputed 6th-century founder-abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan in Cornwall. His feast day is 29 July. There have probably been other Christian Celts, Celtic saints with the same (or similar) name, and a va ...

(now better known as Sulien). The earliest part of the present building dates from the 13th century, although there had been a church on the site from much earlier times. Much of the present building dates from the early 15th century. The wooden spire was destroyed by fire, and the present tower was built in 1832. There was a major restoration during 1889/1890, and the church was re-opened in June 1890. The church was in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

until 1974, and in

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to th ...

from 1974 until 1996. It is now in

, following boundary revisions in 1996. The churchyard contains the grave of Welsh poet

Huw Morus Huw Morus or Morys (1622 – 31 August 1709), also known by his bardic name ''Eos Ceiriog'' ("the nightingale of Ceiriog"), was a Welsh poet. One of the most popular and prolific poets of his time, he composed a large number of poems in a variety ...

, the "Nightingale of Ceiriog", and

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

of two British soldiers of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report, details obtained from casualty record.

Notable residents

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...

, the last native Welshman to hold the title

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

(''Tywysog Cymru''), was born and had his palace in the

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...

castle at

Sycharth Sycharth is a motte and bailey castle and town in Llansilin, Powys, Wales. Until 1996 Sycharth was in the historic county of Denbighshire, but was then transferred to the Shire area of Montgomeryshire within Powys. Sycharth Castle was the bi ...

in the parish. Welsh poet

lived in the parish from 1647 until his death in 1709. German

Neoclassical metal Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,Stephan Forté, "Metal néoclassique" in ''Guitarist Magazine Pedago'', Hors Série #29, "Les secrets du m ...

guitarist

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Aca ...

has a home in Llansilin.Report by Harry Leather, on recent visit to a school to give musical masterclass to several pupils.

References

External links

*
Photos of Llansilin
{{authority control Villages in Powys