England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Welshpool St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Welshpool lies in eastern Montgomeryshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Shropshire (via a detached portion of the parish of Worthen) and thus with England. Welshpool sits about 18 miles west of the town of Shrewsbury and stands where the A458 road from Shrewsbury meets and crosses the A483 (Oswestry to Newtown) road. Welshpool is the major market town for its county and one of the largest in the new county of Powys. The town is known in Welsh as Y Trallwng, it was known to the English simply as Pool before the Welsh was added to distinguish it from the Poole in Dorset, the name Pool coming from the remarkably deep lake within the castle park. The town was first documented as early as 1109 was the Lord of Powys began the development of the castle and the town for the administrative centre for his kingdom. The town was granted its market charter by 1245 being especially important for its livestock market which remains the largest in Wales. Throughout medieval times it was developed as a major market centre for trade and specialist skills despite the repeated deprivations of Welsh/English border wars, in particular that of Glyndwr who sacked the town in 1400. Besides the town becoming the regional market it also engaged in the manufacture of flannel and supported sundry other trades typical of rural areas, malting & tanning, the wider parish was also a prominent pastoral farming area, the town sits on the edges of the Severn flood-plain providing rich pastures, and the local stone was quarried for both building and road mending. Having a castle from early medieval times Welshpool has always carried a military garrison and this is also an important function of the town today although its days of holding the border between the Welsh & English are thankfully over. The Severn was navigable for small vessels from early times but in the 18th century this was improved giving the town a new role as an inland port. Modern developments arrived in abundance, the first being the Montgomeryshire Canal, which enhanced the port's status, and the railway line from Shrewsbury in 1862, the narrow gauge line created to Llanfair Careeinion is not a heritage line rather than part of the main network. The A483/A458 routes were also modified to pass alongside the railway line thus freeing the town from its former traffic issues. Welshpool is drained northeastwards by the Severn which makes its long journey via Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester in an arc to reach the Bristol Channel. Welshpool is sited at between 70 metres by the Severn to 150 metres in its western suburbs, land rises away from the Severn to the east reaching 408 metres on the hill-fort topped Beacon Ring across which the Offa's Dyke National Trail passes with many hikers seeking an overnight stay in the town. Welshpool parish, like most upland parishes, was extensive covering 6.500 acres and supporting a population of close to 4,600 parishioners, the vast majority inhabiting the town, itself. Like most of Wales Welshpool is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Mary's church stands in a prominent position atop a knoll and overlooking the site of the former intersection of the twin main roads which once met below it. There is a church mentioned in the town as early as 1253 and St Mary has fabric consistent with that period remaining despite a complex evolution in its fabric. The western tower, described by Pevsner as "massive" is of the mid-13th century and Early English Gothic in style. The main body is complicated by the original design being of a double nave both being contemporary with the tower. By 1350 when the chancel was added to the northern nave that seemed to be the favoured nave, the chancel is Decorated in style as befits its dating. In the 15th century the southern nave acquired a porch in the then favoured Perpendicular style. There was major change in the following 16th century when the large arcades were added in a pink sandstone, these once roses to a clerestory which has since been removed. The church was largely stable from then until the late 18th century when rebuilding of the aisle once again made changes, the clerestory was removed and the western tower heightened, it once carried a short timber spire but this too was removed in this work of 1773-7. Pevsner documents two major Victorian restorations, that of 1857 rebuilt the eastern wall of the chancel and created a chancel arch, the second of 1871 added the 6 windows to light the galleries in the aisles. Finally those galleries were removed in the mid 20th century. With such an abundance of change it is of course merely the static point of today, there will surely be more evolution in the future. This is definitely a church to visit after finding a car park, it is also a rather difficult church to obtain adequate imagery given its siting. The building is too large to be encompassed from within its small churchyard, the better images being obtained by seeking suitable spots from the road network around it, as can readily be seen it stands way above the road height with flights of steps rising from many points to enable a visit to the interior.