In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Rhaeadr like this:
RHAYADER, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred, in Radnor. The town stands on the river Wye, and on the Mid-Wales railway, 14 miles S of Llanidloes; was originally called Rhaiadr-Gwy, signifying "the cararact of the Wye; " took thatname from a slight river-fall which was almost destroyed in 1780, by operations for building a bridge; had acastle, built in 1178 by Rhys ap Gruffydd, burnt in 1231by Llewelyn, and demolished in the civil wars of Charles I.; had also a cell to Strata-Florida abbey; is a boroughby prescription, governed by a bailiff; unites with Presteigne, New Radnor, Knucklas, Knighton, and Cefnllys in sending a member to parliament; was once a seat of assizes; is now a seat of county courts and a polling-place; occupies a situation of much beauty, amid a tract of barren hills; serves as a centre to tourists forexploring circumjacent scenery; consists chiefly of fourstreets, intersecting at right angles; and has a head post-office, ‡ a railway station with telegraph, a good inn, a town hall built in 1768, a church, three dissenting chapels, an endowed school with £11 a year, and a bequest of £2,000 for a divinity lecture. ...
Markets are heldon Wednesdays and Saturdays; and fairs, on 6 and 27 Aug., 26 Sept., 14 Oct., and 3 Dec. The borough includes all R. parish and part of Dyffryngwy township. Pop. in 1851, 1,007; in 1861, 1,030. Houses, 214. The parish was disjoined from Nantmel in 1735. Acres, 1 88. Real property, £1, 598. Pop., 846. Houses, 183. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of St. Davids. Value, £75.* Patron, the Vicar of Nantmel.—The sub-district contains also the parishes of Cwmtoyddwr, St. Harmon, Abbey-cwm-Hir, and Llanwrthwl, the last electorally in Brecon. Acres, 74,004. Pop., 3, 639. Houses, 679. The district comprehends also the sub-district of Nantmel, containing the parishes of Nantmel, Llanfihangel-Helygen, Llanyre, Cefnllys, and Llan-badarn-fawr. Acres of the district, 105, 532. Poor-rates in 1863, £4,085. Pop. in 1851, 6, 796; in 1861, 6, 816. Houses, 1, 219. Marriages in 1863, 58; births, 231, of which 41 were illegitimate; deaths, 175, of which 69 were at ages under 5 years, and 6 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 410; births, 2, 279; deaths, 1, 213. The places of worship, in 1851, were 11 of the Church of England, with 2, 586 sittings; 5 of Independents, with 1, 390 s.; 8 of Baptists, with1, 538 s.; 5 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 272 s.; and 4of Calvinistic Methodists, with 537 s. The schools were 5 public day-schools, with 267 scholars; 6 private day-schools, with 177 s.; and 20 Sunday schools, with 1,002s. The hundred comprises six of the same parishes as the district. Acres, 67, 935. Pop., 4, 853. Houses, 884.
Rhaeadr through time
Rhaeadr is now part of Powys district. Click here for graphs and data of how Powys has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Rhaeadr itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Rhaeadr, in Powys and Radnorshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/8631
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Rhaeadr".