Welshpool’s charter, granting market rights, dates from 1263. Lying near the English border, the town showed pro-English sympathies in the Middle Ages and has traditionally been predominantly English-speaking. Welshpool has a large livestock market and is the service centre for an extensive rural area in central Wales. Powys Castle, dating back to the 12th century and modernized in the 19th century, is maintained by the National Trust. Pop. (2001) 6,269; (2011) 6,664.
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Powys, county of east-central Wales, bordering England. Powys is by far the largest county in Wales. It encompasses a rugged landscape of valleys and mountains, including most of Brecon Beacons National Park, and the entire historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire, and the southern edge of Denbighshire.…
Montgomeryshire, historic county of north-central Wales, along the English border. Montgomeryshire is an area of wooded hills and valleys encircled by higher mountains, including Long Mountain in the east, Clifaesty Hill in the south, Plynlimon in the west, and the Berwyn mountains in the north. It extends…
Wales, constituent unit of the United Kingdom that forms a westward extension of the island of Great Britain. The capital and main commercial and financial centre is Cardiff. Famed for its strikingly rugged landscape, the small nation of Wales—which comprises six…
River Severn, Britain’s longest river from source to tidal waters—about 180 miles (290 km) long, with the Severn estuary adding some 40 miles (64 km) to its total length. The Severn rises near the River Wye on the northeastern slopes of Plynlimon (Welsh: Pumlumon), Wales, and follows a…
Shropshire, administrative, geographic, and historic county of western England bordering on Wales. Historically, the county has been known as Shropshire as well as by its older, Norman-derived name of Salop. Shrewsbury, in central Shropshire, is the administrative centre. The…