RADNOR, the name of a county in South Wales, bounded on the north by the counties of Montgomery and Salop; on the west by the counties of Cardigan and Brecknock ; on the south by Brecicnock ; and on the east by Herefordshire and Salop. It is about 20 miles broad from east to west, and about 24 long from north to south. Its area, according to NIr. Clarke, is abou 510 square miles, or 346,000 acres ; but others compute it at only 426 square miles.
About two-thirds of the whole county is either lying waste, or in a state of commonage. A large mountain ous tract in the middle of the county, and partly be longing to the crown, is called the Forest, though it has no trees. The general aspect of the county is bleak and mountainous, particularly in the north-western part. In the east and south, however, the county is more fertile ; and the hills, which are here of moderate elevation, are not altogether destitue of wood. The highest ground in Radnorshire is 2163 feet above the sea ; and in this region, about two miles west from Radnor, is the waterfall called " Water Break its Neck," which descends through a height of 150 feet,* but which is grand only in the time of floods.
The valleys of the county, especially those of Wye side and Radnor, afford a considerable extent of mea dow and arable land, and have a good soil and a corre sponding climate. The western mountains consist chiefly of primary slate, and in the valleys between them and the forest, there is a retentive substratum of clay. A decomposing slate rock, with a portion of lime, oc curs in the forest and the other inferior hills, and a fer tile loamy soil, upon an absorbing gravel, covers the valleys to the coast.
Radnorshire has been gradually improving in its agricultural condition. About 1-5th of the county is under the plough, and 1-10th meadow, and upon which irrigation is produced to some extent. Lime is yielded n great plenty by a quarry near Old Radnor. The greater number of farms are laid out with one half in arable, and the other half in grass lands. The Hereford breed of cattle prevails in the move fertile parts of the county.
The principal rivers in Radnorshire are the \Vye, which enters that county at Savan-y-coed, and runs southward till it separates it from Brecknockshire. The Teme flows through the east of the county, past Lud low, into the Severn ; and the Lug and the Aro flow through the middle of the county into Herefordshire. The Elan, the Ithan, the Eddow, and the Mackwy, flow into the \Vye. There are a few small lakes in the coun
ty, but they are of little importance.
The chief manufactures in Radnorshire are those of flannels and coarse woollen cloths ; but in general the wool of the county is sold to the manufacturers of the North, by whom the inhabitants are furnished with cloth in return. Cattle, sheep, horses, and butter, and sam ples of grain, are carried to the English markets. A lead mine, formerly wrought, has been abandoned. No iron mineral springs exist ; but the chief ones which are saline, and chalybeate, is at Llanrindod, which is resorted to by invalids.
The principal object of antiquity in the county is Offa's Dyke, which commencing near Hay at the river \Vye, skirts Radnor and Herefordshire, and enters Alontgomeryshire at Pw11-y-Pyod. The only religious house was the abbey of Cwm Hir, founded for the Cis tertian monks in 1143. It was s, oiled by Owen Glen dower; hut a considerable portion of it still stands in ruins. The remains of a Roman station are still seen at Cwm, near Llanrindod. The Roman road passed close to the base of the hill on which Old Radnor stands. A few fragments of the walls of Radnor Castle still remain ; but the entrenchments are entire. The green court yard is in its original form. In different parts of the county, particularly on the top of Gwastedin hill, there are numerous cairns.
Radnorshire contains six hundreds, and 52 parishes, 47 of which are in the diocess of St. David's, and five in that of Hereford. The principal towns are Presteigne, a flourishing place with a population of 1387; Knighton, a handsome and well-built town on the river Teme, with 221 houses and 785 inhabitants; Rhayda, a neat thriving town with a population of about 500 ; and New Radnor, the subject of the following article. Presteigne now the county town.
This county sends two members to parliament. The population is 1821 was 22,503, of whom 11,300 were males, and 11,203 females. The sum charged to the property tax, in 1811, under the heads of rent of land and tithes, was 97,633/.
See Camden's Britannia ; the Beauties of England and Wales, vol. p. 874 : Skrine's Tours in Wales ; Pennant's Tour in Mlles ; Barber's Tour through South Wales ; NIalkin's Scenery, Antiquities, and Biovraphy of South Wales, vol. i. p. 407 ; and Clark's General View of the Agriculture of the County of Radnor, 4to.