Montgomery is a small town just the Welsh side of the border with England (21 miles west of Shrewsbury). Originally the county town of Montgomeryshire (now part of Powys), Montgomery has a population of around 1200 and is one of the most attractive towns in Wales.
There are also stone circles, nature reserves and much much more locally.
T
he
town of Montgomery lies below an outcrop of rock upon which stands
the castle built by the English King Henry III around 1223. The
castle is one of a number built along the line of the English /Welsh
border which for many hundreds of years was an area of conflict and
political tension. Just a couple of miles to the west lies
Castell
Dolforwyn , a Welsh castle, built
just a few years after Montgomery, this area must have been one of
the most militarised parts of the British Isles for many generations.
Within 5 miles of Montgomery there are the remains of several iron
age hill forts, a large Roman fort (probably called Lavobrinta and
one of the most important Roman military establishments in Wales),
Offa's Dyke ( the huge earthwork built by the Mercian king Offa in
the 8th Century AD which runs the entire length of the English/Welsh
border) and one Welsh and two Norman Castles! The whole reason for
all this strategic interest in the area comes from a narrow crossing
of the River Severn about 2 miles from the modern site of the town.
The ford at Rhydwhiman was of great strategic importance to many
generations of both English and Welsh as the Severn Valley (then and
now) was the major communications route into Mid Wales from England.
Whoever controlled this river crossing controlled the flow of armies
and trade.
The name Montgomery comes from the Norman lord who was given this area by William I after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Roger de Montgomery (1030-1094) originally came from the town of Montgomery in the Pays d'Auge in Normandy and was one of William's most trusted followers. He was given the job of administering the vital Welsh Marches and the existing Saxon Thanes were stripped of their lands in his favour. Roger and his descendants built two castles to defend the ford, the original castle at Hendomen was a wooden affair on a mound near to the crossing, the later stone castle was built about 150 years later. The modern town of Montgomery began to grow up around the newer stone castle as it provided protection and business.
Montgomery was sacked at the beginning of the 15th century by the rebel Welsh prince Owain Glyn Dwr (Owen Glendower) , the castle being at the time under the control of the Mortimer family (the hereditary Earls of March). The estates eventually came into the hands of King Edward IV after the death of the last Earl of March in 1425.
With the defeat of King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 the royal estates including Montgomery and its castle passed into the hands of the new King, Henry VII, the first Tudor king, and a Welshman! Under Tudor patronage the castle was given to another powerful Welsh family, the Herberts, in 1541.
The castle saw action in 1644 during the English Civil War when it was first held for the King and then Parliament by the Herberts, culminating in a siege and battle during which 3000 parliamentary soldiers defeated a larger force of 5000 royalists under Lord Byron (not the poet!).
After the end of the war the castle was viewed by parliament as a danger and an order for its demolition was executed in 1649. The castle ruins are now in the care of Cadw , but it is likely that a large proportion of the older houses in the town can thank the destruction of the castle as it provided a ready source of building materials.
Montgomery was for some time the administrative centre for the old county of Montgomeryshire and hence has many old and interesting buildings in the town including an old gaol and a fine market square, the houses around which appear to be Georgian in style, but are in fact often much older with Georgian facades. There are also many examples of houses in the traditional Montgomeryshire style of half-timber (black and white) construction.
Montgomery
today is a busy little town with an active community and a diverse
population. The traditional agricultural base to the town still
exists, but livestock are now sent to the huge market in Welshpool
(about 7 miles away). There are more than a dozen shops including
Bunners and Country Works, and visitors to the town are an important
source of income. There are 5 pubs, all of which serve food, The
Dragon Hotel being known for its good accommodation, meals and
beer!
The local doctors' surgery has been featured on national television in the UK several times as a centre for the trial of telemedicine where patients are seen by specialists via videoconference rather than having to travel 50 miles to hospital. Whilst in some ways still a quiet country backwater, Montgomery is embracing Information Technology as a way to remove some of the disadvantages of being in a very rural (and beautiful) situation. A centre for research into, and the promotion of rural healthcare across the E.U. has been set up at nearby Gregynog Hall.
Montgomeryshire is now part of the new county of Powys which was established in 1974. This county covers a huge (110 miles by 50 miles) area of beautiful Mid Wales and has a very low population of around 115,000 people (indeed there are many times more sheep than people!). It is against this background of low population density that the County Council is experimenting with hi-tech telecommunications to provide efficient services.
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