Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire, an inland county of North Wales, 40 miles long by 33 miles broad, and containing 773 square miles, one-third of which is pasture. It has Denbigh on the N.E., Merioneth N.W., Salop E., Radnor S., and Cardigan S.W. The surface is broken and undulating, and in parts mountainous, especially where it rises towards Plinlimmon on the borders of Cardigan. In the N.E. are the Berwyn Mountains, and towards the English border are the Breidden Hills, near Shrewsbury. Much of the land is barren, but there are fertile, well-wooded valleys, and oats and fruit are grown, while large flocks are fed upon the uplands. The rivers are the Severn, with its tributaries the Vyrnwy (the valley of which has been turned into a reservoir for the Liverpool water-supply) and the Dovey or Dyfl (noted for its fish), and the Wye which flows into Radnor. In the wide river valleys much oak and other timber is found. A canal, 27 miles long, connects with the Ellesmere Canal, and gives communication with Chester and Shrewsbury. The mineral products are lead, zinc, slate, and limestone, the first being the most important. Welsh flannel is manufactured at Newtown, and woollen cloth in most of the towns. Llanidloes and Welshpool are municipal boroughs.

The county town, Montgomery (seven miles S. of Welshpool and 53 miles N.W. of Birmingham), is on the Severn. It has a fine Early English cruciform church, and on a hill above are the ruins of a castle held by Roger de Montgomery, from whom the town takes its name. The county returns one member to Parliament, and the boroughs return one.