The weakness of the Norman hold on many parts of the county is illustrated by the absence of large numbers of stone castles and the great number of those of the motte and bailey type. The valley ways show evidences of compact settlements in marked contrast to the single farms of the upland west. The difficult nature of much of the county throughout mediaeval times, to gether with the weak Norman hold, meant that the manorial sys tem was very late in establishing itself. The ravages of the Black Death which were particularly severe in this region brought manorial conditions to an early end and the county became almost entirely dependent on sheep rearing. The increase in the number of sheep and the development of the wool trade and the great wool-markets of the Welsh Border—Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Here f ord and Gloucester—were features of 14th and 15th century England. There was only one monastic house of consequence in this pastoral county, the Cistercian abbey of St. Mary, founded by Cadwallon ap Madoc in i143 in "the long valley" of the Cly wedog, 6 m. E. of Rhayader, and from its site commonly called Abbey Cwm Hir. Its existing ruins are insignificant, but the pro portions of the church, which was 238 ft. long, are still trace able. The churches of Radnorshire are mostly poor and small.
The political instability of the county continued throughout the 15th century and in 1402 Owain Glyn Dwr entered the Marches and raided the lands of the young Edward Mortimer, earl of March.
Radnorshire (Maesyfed) was created a county on the English model by the Act of Union (1536). It was parcelled out of the suppressed marches lordships. The new county was represented in parliament by two members, one for the county and one for the group of united boroughs. Together with the rest of moor land Wales the county was conservative and royalist during the I7th century, the local clergy during the commonwealth coming in for severe criticism under the administration of the Puritan Vavasor Powell (1617-70). The developments in the wool trade and local weaving attracted in the 16th and 17th centuries num bers of continental weavers, mostly religious refugees and the county is well known for the strong points of view it took later in religious matters. It was an old stronghold of the Quakers
and later of the Baptists.
During the 20th century the rise of Llandrindod as a watering place and the construction of the Birmingham reservoirs in the Elan valley have tended to increase interest in the county.
Occupations.—Good hay and cereals are raised in the valleys, oats being the chief crop. The extensive upland tracts, which still cover over one-third of the total area of the county, afford pas turage for large flocks of sheep. The quality of the wool of Rad norshire has long been celebrated, and also the delicacy of the Welsh mutton of the small sheep that are bred in this county. Im portant sheep fairs are held at Rhayader. There are practically no mining industries, nor are the quarries of great value.
The Central Wales branch of the L.M.S. enters the county at Knighton, traverses it by way of Llandrindod and passes into Brecknock at Builth Road Junction on the Wye. The G.W. Railway follows the course of the Wye, by way of Builth and Hay. Two small branch lines connect New Radnor and Presteign with the G.W.R.
There is no existing municipal borough, although New Radnor, now a mere village, was incorporated in 1561, and its municipal privileges were not formally abolished till 1883. The chief cen tres are Presteign, Llandrindod, Knighton and Rhayader, all, ex cept Rhayader, being urban districts. Radnorshire is included in the South Wales circuit, and Presteign ranks as the county town. There is no existing parliamentary borough, and the whole county together with that of Brecknock returns one member to parlia ment. Ecclesiastically, Radnorshire is divided into 46 parishes, the majority of which lie since 1923 in the diocese of Swansea and Brecon, but, before that, had been for centuries included in the diocese of St. Davids. There are about eight parishes in the east of the county still in the diocese of Hereford.