Bettws-y-Crwyn

This article is about a place in Shropshire. For other places called Betws or Bettws, see Bettws (disambiguation).
Bettws-y-Crwyn

The remote mediaeval "Shepherd's Church" of St. Mary at Bettws-y-Crwyn
Bettws-y-Crwyn
 Bettws-y-Crwyn shown within Shropshire
Population 239 (2011 census)
OS grid referenceSO203812
Civil parishBettws-y-Crwyn
Unitary authorityShropshire
Ceremonial countyShropshire
RegionWest Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town KNIGHTON
Postcode district LD7
Dialling code 01547
Police West Mercia
Fire Shropshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK ParliamentLudlow
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire

Coordinates: 52°25′23″N 3°10′16″W / 52.423°N 3.171°W / 52.423; -3.171

Bettws-y-Crwyn is a small, remote village and civil parish in south west Shropshire, England. It is close to the Wales-England border and is one of a number of English villages to have a Welsh language placename, which translates roughly as "chapel of the fleeces". The parish name was formerly written simply as Bettws, and the suffix, probably a local name for the church, only appears in written records in the nineteenth century.[1] The parish, including the hamlets of Anchor (which has a pub of the same name), Quabbs and Hall of the Forest had a total population of 212 at the 2001 census,[2] increasing to 239 at the 2011 census.[3]

It lies at 400 m above sea level, making it one of the highest settlements in Shropshire and England too. The village is about sixteen miles west of the Shropshire town of Craven Arms, and only about nine miles south-east of Newtown in Powys, Wales.

Bettws had a school which closed in 1951; its building is now the village hall, containing a First World War memorial board.[4]

The parish lies within the Clun electoral division of Shropshire Council.

Church

The church

The church of St. Mary dates from the late 13th or early 14th century, and was "restored" in 1860. There is a fine 15th or 16th century screen and roof, a 17th-century pulpit, and 19th century pews, with the names of farms within the parish painted on them.[5] The church contains a ceramic war memorial plaque to men who died serving in World War I. At one time a pair of medals belonging to local man Pryce Lloyd, who returned home to the parish from his wartime service (during which he was a prisoner of war) was displayed under the plaque.[4]

References

  1. Gelling and Foxall, The place-names of Shropshire, v.1, English Place-Name Society, 1990, p.47
  2. Bettws-y-Crwyn CP, Office for National Statistics
  3. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Francis, Peter (2013). Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance. YouCaxton Publications. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-909644-11-3.
  5. St Mary, Bettwys-y-crwyn, British Listed Buildings

External links

Media related to Bettws-y-Crwyn at Wikimedia Commons


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