Hyssington () is a parish in the South-Eastern corner of the historic county of

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 ...

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 ...

and borders the county of

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

in England. It is now within the area of the

Church Stoke Churchstoke (; also spelled as Church Stoke) is a village, community and electoral ward in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Located in the southeast of the Vale of Montgomery, it is overlooked by Todleth Hill, Roundton Hill and Corndon Hill. The ...

community council in

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 ...

. It is dominated by

Corndon Hill Corndon Hill () is a hill in Powys, Mid Wales, whose summit rises to height above mean sea level, above sea level. It has a topographic prominence of , so is listed as a List of Marilyns in the British Isles, Marilyn. It is surrounded on thre ...

. The church which is in the

Diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...

lies just the north of a small village and is sited just to the west of a medieval

Motte-and-bailey castle 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, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

. This area was also the source of late

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and

Early 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 ...

battle-axes and axe-hammers, made from

picrite Picrite basalt or picrobasalt is a variety of high-magnesium olivine basalt that is very rich in the mineral olivine. It is dark with yellow-green olivine phenocrysts (20-50%) and black to dark brown pyroxene, mostly augite. The olivine-rich ...

that were widely traded around 2000 BC.

Administration

The two

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of Hyssington and Mucklewick, which formed the ecclesiastical parish of Hyssington, straddled the

border. In 1884 Mucklewick became part of the parish of Shelve in Shopshire while Hyssington remained in Montgomeryshire. After the creation of the county of Montgomeryshire in 1541, Hyssington was in Halcetor hundred. Hyssington is in the modern

Churchstoke Churchstoke (; also spelled as Church Stoke) is a village, community and electoral ward in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Located in the southeast of the Vale of Montgomery, it is overlooked by Todleth Hill, Roundton Hill and Corndon Hill. Th ...

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 ...

and three of the twelve members of Churchstoke Community Council are elected from the Hyssington ward.

Landscape and geography

Quarrying

The Corndon flagstone quarries are on the south western slopes of Corndon Hill and date from Medieval times. From the air the quarries are still a prominent feature in the landscape. In this area the altered Hope Shales of the

Ordovician period The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period Ma (mill ...

on the margin of the

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

produce finely laminated flagstones which were widely used on building on the Shropshire-Montgomeryshire border. Only a few buildings still have the flagstones as roofing slates, including the Old Post Office at Churchstoke and the porch to Hurdley Farmhouse. In the survey of Halcetor in 1609 ''a quarry of tile stone'' is mentioned in the ''said fforest of Corndon'' and that it should be let for 20 shillings a year.

Archaeology

Stone Axe Factory (Group XII)

In 1951 Professor F W Shotton of

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

identified the source of the rock used for shafthole battle-axes and axe-hammers as

which had been quarried from Corndon Hill. Production sites of stone axes and shafthole implements have been grouped by

petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks, their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous ...

and the Hyssington/Corndon Hill implements are known as Group XII. As the production of these implements in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age did not employed the same flaking techniques as stone axes, which leave recognisable flaking debris, the site or sites of the Corndon Group XII implements production will be very much harder to identitify. However the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust did excavate several small quarry depressions in 2008, but only found evidence of fairly recent disturbance. A stone slab with striations which was suggested was an example of

art, could equally well have been early plough marks The main distribution of Group XII implements is in mid-Wales, the Midlands, the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

and stretching across to East Anglia. By 1988, 93 examples of these implements had been identified and all of these implements have shaftholes for

hafting Hafting is a process by which an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, often made of bone tool, bone, stone tool, stone, or tool steel, metal is attached to a ''haft'' (handle or strap). This makes the artifact more useful by allowing it to be launch ...

and there are no examples of picrite being used to produce axes.

Hyssington Castle

On Castle Hill. Motte and bailey on a plateau on a small hill. Remains of a 13th-century tower (circa 9 metres square). 30 feet square. Remains of a triangular bailey 70m x 45m. The base of a tower is possibly buried in northern corner of the bailey and in the east corner, traces of a hall remain. The site was visible in 1811, but above ground remains have now disappeared. It has been suggested that this site may be the castle of Snead occupied by Simon de Parcio in 1231, and given by Henry III to William de Bowles in 1233.

Buildings and architecture

Church of St Etheldreda

The church is dedicated to the Saxon Saint Æthelthryth (or ''Æþelðryþe''); about 636 – 23 June 679) is the name for the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or Audrey. She was an

East Anglian East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

princess, a Fenland and

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

n queen and

Abbess of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

. The existence of a Saxon church dedication that is likely to be 7th or 8th century in date and just to the east of

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...

, which runs through

parish must be significant. The dedication should indicated an early Saxon or

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

n settlement and there is a possibility that an earlier Saxon hall or settlement lies under the adjacent Norman motte. According to a local legend, the church has a miniature bull buried beneath the church step. It is said that the bull terrorised the neighbourhood until it was

exorcised Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

by twelve priests. The building is a long single-chambered church with a west bell hanging, rebuilt in 1875 by Thomas Nicholson, the Hereford Diocesan architect. Plain plastered interior with scissor-rafter roof, and wagon roof in the chancel. The font is late medieval, octagonal and quite large. There is a good early 17th century pulpit with intricately carved panels. St. Etheldreda's church has an almost rectangular sloping churchyard, with views over the Shropshire hills. This churchyard contains the Commonwealth war graves of four British Army soldiers, three from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and one from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Although physically in Wales, the church at Hyssington is within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. When the

Welsh Church Act 1914 The Welsh Church Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 91) is an act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament under which the Church of England was separated and disestablishment, disestablished in Wales and Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire, leading to ...

had been passed to disestablish the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () 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 position is currently held b ...

, Hyssington with Snead parish straddled the

England-Wales border England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Engli ...

. The

Welsh Church Commissioners The Welsh Church Commissioners (whose full official title was "The Commissioners for Church Temporalities in Wales") were set up by the Welsh Church Act 1914 to deal with the disendowment of the Church of England in Wales, as part of its disestablis ...

therefore carried out a ballot of parishioners in 1915 to decide whether the parish of Hyssington with Snead should remain part of the Church of England, or form part of the

. The parishioners in Hyssington with Snead voted by 108 to 33 to remain part of the Church of England.

Mission Church, White Grit

So-named after the White Grit lead mines. This is to the north-east of the village and was built to serve the mining community which was just over the border in

. The Mission Church is a corrugated iron tabernacle of the later 19th century. It has an

apsidal In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In Byzant ...

east end, with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

windows and a

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

. The

matchboard Matchboard by definition is "a board with a groove cut along one edge and a tongue along the other so as to fit snugly with the edges of similarly cut boards." Matchboarding can be used both internally and externally, and can be layered in many d ...

ed interior with its fittings survives.

Methodist Chapel

Built 1889. In the village South of the church. Small, stone-built with some brick detail.

Houses in Hyssington

* Brynawel is a nicely preserved three-bay house of the later C18; three colour-washed bays with iron casements. * Hyssington Farm is an early 17th-century

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

house with a lobby entry and stellar chimney stack. Three bays, the cross wing with good exposed close-studding. C18 rubble extension to the right. *Cefn, One mile north of the village. Small square-framed house of c.1700. Three-bay front with central entrance, and end chimneys *Great Brithdir, ¾ mile north west. Dated 1695. The stone-built house sits on a masonry platform. Lobby-entry L-plan

Notable residents

In 1973

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

, bass guitarist with rock band the

Faces The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...

, moved to Fishpool Farm in the village. Beginning to feel the effects of

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

, however, he moved back to London in the late 70s.

Literature

*Virginia Blanton (2007) ''Signs of Devotion: the cult of St Aethelthryth in medieval England, 695-1615''. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press *Clough T H and Cummins W A, (1988), Stone Axe Studies Vol. 2, ''The petrology of prehistoric stone implements from the British Isles'', CBA Research Report No.67. *Lewis E A (1915), ''A Survey of the Lordship of Halcetor Co Montgomery dated 30th June 1609'' Collections historical & archaeological relating to Montgomeryshire. Vol. 37, pp31–43. *Price, Marilyn A. ''Monumental inscriptions in the parish churchyard of Hyssington, Montgomeryshire''. Basingstoke : M. E. MacSorley, 1996. 22p *Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, (1911), ''Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouth I - County of Montgomery''. *Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013), ''The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire'', Yale University Press. pp 124–125. *Smith P.(1988, 2nd ed.), ''Houses of the Welsh Countryside'', H.M.S.O. *Williams, J. B. (1910), ''A History of the Parish of Hyssington'' Collections historical & archaeological relating to Montgomeryshire. Vol 35 177–237.

References

External links

*Details on British Listed Building

*Montgomeryshire Churches Survey; Church of St Etheldreda, Hyssingto

Hyssington gallery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyssington Montgomeryshire Villages in Powys