Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

be dealing with the ecclesiastical history in the next chapter, and shall then discuss these remains at length. In 875 all Wales was united under Rhodri, but at his death in 877, it was divided into three Principalities Llanmerewig formed part of the Cantref of Cedewain, in the Principality of Powys, in that portion, which subsequently fell to Gwenwynwyn, and was therefore called Powys Wenwynwyn. Hence this parish must, to a certain extent, have followed the fortunes of the rest of Powys-land, under its Princes and Feudal Barons,1 but at the same time Cedewain appears to have been more independent of its feudal rulers than the other cantrefs in that Principality. The Cantref of Cedewain 2 contained the Plwyfau or Parishes of Llandyssil, Llanmerewig, Llanllwchaiarn, Newtown, Aberhafesp, Bettws, rregynon, Llan- wyddelan, Llanllugan, Manafon and Berriew, and the Lords of Cedewain resided at Dolforwyn Castle, which overlooks Llanmerewig from across the Severn. We learn from the Brut y Tytvysogion3 that in 1244 died Meredydd ap Rotpert, Lord of Cydewain and the Chief Counsellor of Wales, after taking the religious habit at Strata Florida." The late Mr. E. Rowley-Morris, writing in 1885, on the Beander Mill and Lands, Newtown,4 made the almost certain conjecture that Meredydd ap Rotpert gave to the Abbey of Strata Florida extensive lands, comprising the Court near Abermule, Brynderwen, Llegodig, Dolforwyn, Abermule Inn, the hamlet of Abermule and a fulling mill in Dolforwyn, all of which subsequently formed part of the Montgomeryshire estate of the Newtown Hall family. His conjecture was based upon the following considerations :-First because that family originally obtained that property by lease from the Abbot and Monks of Strata Florida; 1 Cf. Mont. Coll., i. 2 Cf. Mont. Coll., ii., p. 73. 3 Brut y Tywysogion, ed Rhys and Evans, p. 370; Rolls Ed., p. 331 4 Mont. Coll., xxvii., p. 69.