RADNORSHIRE, a county of South Wales, lying between 2' and 52° 33' N. lat., 2° 57' and 3° 45' W. long., is bounded N. by Mont gomeryshire, E. by Shropshire and Herefordshire, S. by Brecknock shire, and W. by Brecknockshire and Cardiganshire. Its greatest length from east to west is 33 miles, from north to south 30 miles. The area is 425 square miles, or 272,128 statute acres. The population in 1841 was 25,458; in 1851 it was 24,716.
Surface, Ilydrography, is a mountainous county. The mountains form massive groups of hills, rarely forming a continuous chain. The highest and most connected range, that of Radnor Forest, runs nearly east and west from the Herefordshire border to the Ithon, and attains its greatest height, 2163 feet, between New Radnor and Llanviharigel Rhydithon. This wild tract is supposed to have boen formerly covered with wood, although it now produces nothing but moss and heath. It is the property of the crown. The hills in the west and north of the county are also of considerable height. The southern end of Rhydd Hywel, on the right of the road leading from Rhsyader to Llanidloes, is 1750 feet high ; Bryn Moen, in the parish of Llanvihangel Nantmelan, 1700 feet high ; Carobs Hill, near Abbey Cwm Hir, east of Rhayader, 1650 feet high ; and Craig-y-Foel, near Nant-Gwylt and the romantic valley of the Elan, is 1550 feet. The south-eastern part of the oounty is generally level.
The Wye enters Radnorshire on the north-west, between Llangerrig and Rhayader, at • distance of about 18 miles from its source on Plynlimmon. From two miles below Rhayader to the town of Hay it forms the boundary between Radnorshire and Brecknockshire. Below Hay the Wye separates Raduorshire from Herefordshire, and continues to run in the same direction till it enters Herefordshire below Clifford Castle. The Elan enters the Wye on the right bank a short distance below the town of Rhayader. The scenery of the Elan is extremely romantic.
The Ithon rises in the Kerry Hills on the northern aide of the county, and drains the central portion of the county ; before its junction with the Wye, seven miles above the town of Builth, it becomes a stream of considerable size, having a course of 30 miles The Lug rises in the hilly country, seven miles W. from Knighton, and runs east-by-south to the town of Preateigne, two miles below which it enters Herefordshire, and traversing the most fertile parts of that county, falls into the Wye four miles below Hereford. The Tent rises
on the southern elope of the Kerry Hills, and after running about four miles it turns south-east along the Shropehire border to Knighton, whence it runs eastward and still along the border to its entrance into Herefordshire, • short distance north of Brampton Park. The Teme is a feeder of the Severn.
Of the smaller rivers of the county the more important are the SomergilL the Edw, the Baclewy, the Clear-wen, the Clywedog, the Aran, and the DernoL The scenery on the Edw and Bach-wy, near their respective junctions with the %Vye, is very beautiful. The Wye and Ithon abound with salmon. The fish of the other streams are principally trout and grayling.
The lakes are four in number and of small extent :—Llsnbychllyn, a mile and a half round, between Llanbadarn-y-garreg and Llandewi fach ; Llyn Gwyn, about two miles west of Ithayader ; Llynellyn, about a mile round, close to the turnpike-road leading from New Radnor to Builth ; and Llytellindwell, near Old Radnor.
The principal roads are the snail-road to Aberyetwith, which traverses the centre of the county through New Radnor and Ithayader; the road from New Radnor to Preeteigne and Knighton ; the road from Rhayader to Builth ; and the road from Builth to Newtown in Montgomeryshire, which runs nearly north and south up the valley of the Ithon.
Geology, Mineralogy, etc.—The principal portion of the county is composed of the strata forming the Silurian system; but on the west and north-west side of the county, the upper beds of the older rocks, composing the Cambrian system, make their appearance. These rocks comprise perhaps one-fourth of the whole county, having in their extreme western and north-western limits a Malty character, which towards the interior or east is gradually changed to quartzose grit. The river Ithon forms with tolerable exactness the line of junction of the Cambrian with the Silurian rocks; the Silurian however crows to the west of the !thou as that river approaches the Wye. The upper Silurian rocks compose (with the exception of the trap rocks of Llandegly, Lc., and the strata interlaced with them) the whole of the middle portion of the connty. The strata vary in direction from north-east arid south-west to north-west and south-east. Radnor Forest is included in this district, and is chiefly composed of the upper Ludlow rock. The summit is a gritty sandstone.