24-457: 51°48′07″N 3°13′19″W / 51.802°N 3.222°W / 51.802; -3.222 Rassau , sometimes The Rassau ( Gwenhwyseg Welsh : Rasa ), is a village and community located in the historic county of Brecknockshire ( Breconshire ) and the preserved county of Gwent . It currently lies on the northern edge of the county borough of Blaenau Gwent in Wales . According to
48-648: A century before. Attacks by Gwynedd on Powys Wenwynwyn led the latter to seek the assistance of the English. Ultimately this led them to convert their territory into a marcher lordship , via surrender and regrant , as a way to strengthen their position; the ruling princes of Powys Wenwynwyn became the Lords of Powys , feudally bound to the English king, and able to fully rely on English backing, but otherwise independent. The prince took an English-style surname - Owen de-la Pole - after his capital city, Pool (now Welshpool ). With
72-677: A chapelry to Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant in Denbighshire Local government reforms in 1974 combined the administrative areas of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Brecknockshire together to form a new administrative county called Powys . A new district of Montgomeryshire was established as a lower-tier district authority within Powys, with the district's area matching the former administrative county. The district council took over Neuadd Maldwyn in Welshpool to serve as its headquarters, and also retained
96-481: Is likely that Welsh was still the everyday language of a number of residents throughout the early 1900s because in 1909, Theophilus Jones described the neighbouring village of Beaufort as bilingual, the language preference being English. This is supported by the Reverend Peter Williams' monograph, 'The Story of Carmel', published in 1965. He reports that between 1904 and 1906, the change was made to conduct
120-570: The Spergula arvensis (also called "corn spurrey"). The shire forms a vice-county for wildlife recording. Montgomeryshire was crossed from East to West by the Cambrian Line , a mainline passenger railway which runs between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth as well as Pwllheli with stations at Welshpool , Newtown , Caersws and Machynlleth . The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway links Welshpool to Llanfair Caereinion . Montgomeryshire's name
144-579: The Blaenau Gwent district of Gwent . A Beaufort community was created in 1985 from part of the Ebbw Vale community, covering both Beaufort and Rassau. This was further divided in 2010 to create a community of Rassau. According to the 1991 census, only 107 residents, or 2.7% of the population aged three and over, could speak Welsh . However, in the 2001 census, 281 residents, or 8.8% of the population aged three and over, were recorded as able to speak Welsh. It
168-500: The English spoken in the area with English speakers using Welsh words and syntax (see Welsh English ), e.g. "What is on her?" reflects Welsh Beth sy' arni hi? . Other differences between standard Welsh and Gwenhwyseg are: Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( Welsh : Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town") was one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales . It
192-453: The Glyndŵr district of Clwyd (historically Denbighshire ) which were transferred to Powys in 1996. The three area committees for the former counties were abolished in 2018. The area of what was Montogmeryshire was almost wholly mountainous, although there are some fertile valleys in the east. The highest point (county top) was Moel Sych at 826.7 metres (2,712 ft), whose summit lies at
216-642: The 2011 census, the population of Rassau is 3,234. Residents often refer to either Old Rassau and New Rassau or Bottom Rassau and Top Rassau to distinguish the different parts of the village. The Rassau area was historically part of the parish of Llangynidr in Brecknockshire . In 1878 Rassau was added to the Ebbw Vale Urban Sanitary District . When elected county councils were established in 1889, urban sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries, as Ebbw Vale did, were placed entirely in
240-644: The Montgomeryshire County Offices or Neuadd Maldwyn . The county council remained based at Neuadd Maldwyn until its abolition in 1974. Until 1974, Montgomeryshire was divided into civil parishes for the purpose of local government; these in large part equated to ecclesiastical parishes (see the table below), most of which still exist as part of the Church in Wales. a chapelry to Alberbury in Shropshire
264-581: The Son and the Holy Spirit"). The diphthong ae is changed in the same way: This is a diphthong which varies in pronunciation over the Gwenhwyseg territory and not realised with same phoneme; it is also found in words like pen, pren, pert , etc. This does not occur in monosyllabic words containing a short a like mam and naw as happens in some of the dialects of Montgomeryshire . Gwenhwyseg has influenced
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#1733084784489288-609: The Welsh Government. Gwenhwyseg Gwenhwyseg or Y Wenhwyseg (also called " Gwentian " in English) is a Welsh dialect of South East Wales . The name derives from an old term for the inhabitants of the area, y Gwennwys . One of Gwenhwyseg's characteristics is the change in the long a vowel to a long e e.g. y Ted a'r Meb a'r Ysbryd Glên rather than the standard y Tad, y Mab a'r Ysbryd Glân ("the Father,
312-420: The administrative county which had the majority of the district's population. Rassau and neighbouring Beaufort were therefore transferred from Brecknockshire to the administrative county of Monmouthshire on 1 April 1889. Ebbw Vale Urban Sanitary District became Ebbw Vale Urban District in 1894. Further local government reform in 1974 saw Ebbw Vale Urban District abolished, becoming the Ebbw Vale community of
336-433: The commote of Ceri , which had formed a northwards spur of the less organised region Between Wye and Severn ; most of the rest of the latter region became Radnorshire . Montgomeryshire was bordered, to the north, by Denbighshire , to the east and south east by Shropshire , to the south by Radnorshire , to the south west by Cardiganshire , and to the west and north west by Merionethshire . When, in subsequent centuries,
360-490: The concept of Wales was once again officially distinguished from England , all of these counties were deemed Welsh , except for Shropshire. Montgomeryshire was the birthplace of Welsh Catholic martyr Saint Richard Gwyn (in 1537). Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 to take over the local government functions previously exercised by the quarter sessions . Although
384-608: The county was named after Montgomery , by 1889 the quarter sessions were instead held at both Newtown and Welshpool , and the new county council chose to continue meeting in both towns in its early years. Montgomeryshire County Council held its first formal meeting on 1 April 1889 at the Public Rooms (also known as the Flannel Exchange) in Newtown. In 1931 the county council opened a new headquarters building in Welshpool, called
408-692: The evening Sunday service in English, whereas previously both the morning and evening services had been in Welsh. At one time the Mari Lwyd was widespread all over Gwent – especially in the Welsh-speaking areas of the north and west, but as the Welsh language lost ground so too did the Mari Lwyd. Its last recorded appearance in the borough was in The Rassau during the 1880s. An 830 acres (340 ha) site northwest of
432-409: The former offices of the abolished Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Urban District Council at Newtown Hall Park as an area office. Further local government reform in 1996 abolished district councils in Wales, making Powys a unitary authority . From 1996 until 2018 Powys County Council had a Montgomeryshire area committee covering the former Montgomeryshire district plus three communities formerly in
456-578: The introduction of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 the marcher lordships were converted into English counties. The Lordship of Powys – the former Powys Wenwynwyn – became Montgomeryshire; the county town being Montgomery, the strongest centre of English authority in the region, rather than centre of Welsh authority, Welshpool. Montgomeryshire was thus ultimately formed from the cantrefi of Powys Wenwynwyn: In addition, for practical reasons, Montgomeryshire gained
480-807: The triple county boundary point of Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire and Merionethshire in the Berwyn Mountains . The county top of Denbighshire, Cadair Berwyn at 832 metres (2,730 ft), was less than a kilometre away. Its main rivers were the River Severn (which flows east into Shropshire) and the River Dyfi (which flows west into the Irish Sea ). Lake Vyrnwy is a reservoir supplying Liverpool . The main towns were Machynlleth , Llanidloes , Montgomery , Newtown and Welshpool . The main industries were agriculture (mainly hill farming) and tourism , though there
504-520: The village and beyond Rassau Industrial Estate was the proposed site of the Circuit of Wales, a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) motor racing circuit. The proposed £425m development was claimed by backers to represent the most significant capital investment programme in automotive and motor sports infrastructure in the UK in 50 years. As of 2017, planning permission for the project was refused for the third and final time by
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#1733084784489528-547: Was also some forestry and light manufacturing . The population density was highest near the border with England and along the Severn valley. The county was closely linked to Shropshire , with many essential services for Montgomeryshire residents being located in the more densely populated town of Shrewsbury , such as acute health services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital . The county flower of Montgomeryshire remains
552-514: Was named after its county town , Montgomery , which in turn was named after one of William the Conqueror 's main counsellors, Roger de Montgomerie , who was the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury . The area of what was Montgomeryshire, now constitutes the northern part of the principal area of Powys . The current area was 2,174 square km (839 square miles). The largest town was Newtown , followed by Welshpool and Llanidloes . The Treaty of Montgomery
576-449: Was signed on 29 September 1267, in the town of Montgomery, which had recently been established as an English incursion on the Welsh side of the border, to control a strategic border crossing. The surrounding region (on the Welsh side of the border) otherwise comprised the mediaeval principality of Powys Wenwynwyn , the southern of the two states into which the Kingdom of Powys had been divided
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