Berriew

Berriew
Welsh: Aberriw
Berriew  Berriew shown within Powys
Population	1,334 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SJ187008
Principal area	Powys
Ceremonial county	Powys
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WELSHPOOL
Postcode district	SY21
Dialling code	01686
Police	Dyfed-Powys
Fire	Mid and West Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Montgomeryshire
List of places UK Wales Powys

Coordinates: 52°35′47″N 3°12′09″W / 52.59628°N 3.20263°W

Berriew (Welsh: Aberriw) is a village and an electoral ward in Powys, Wales, situated on the Montgomeryshire Canal and the afon Rhiw near the confluence (Welsh: aber) with the River Severn (Welsh: Afon Hafren) at grid reference SJ185005 and is 79 miles (128 km) from Cardiff and 151 miles (243 km) from London.^[2]

Main facilities in Berriew

The village post office at the corner shop, closed on Monday 20 October 2008, and a new outreach service opened in the SPAR Stores shop also in the village a day later on 21 October 2008. Berriew is the home of Berriew Football Club. A golf range has been proposed and is under consideration for planning permission (July 2008). Mirror-artist and sculptor, Andrew Logan, bought the village squash courts and converted the building into The Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture.

Situated outside the village on the way to Brooks/Bettws is the village bowling green which is used regularly. The village primary school is placed towards the road leading to Castle Caereinion. Past the Talbot pub & restaurant is the football pitch and tennis courts. There are two pubs in the village centre - the Talbot, mentioned above, and the Lion hotel. There is also the Horseshoes, a little way out of the village.

Best kept village in Wales

Berriew has won this competition many times - although the scheme has now been discontinued. It was first won in 1970.

The Buildings and Architecture of Berriew

Berriew contains many architecturally important buildings. There are 103 Listed Buildings in Berriew of which 5 are Grade II*. Nearly a quarter of the listed building are connected with the Montgomeryshire Canal which runs across the parish to the S.E. of Berriew.^[3] The most important of the listed buildings are Vaynor, which is probably the earliest brick built house of the mid-17th. century still standing in Montgomeryshire, and Glansevern, designed by the notable Shrewsbury architect Joseph Bromfield in the Greek Revival style and probably the best example of his work. There are two important timber framed houses, the Vicarage which is dated 1616 and Lower Cil Farmhouse. An illustration of the Vicarage was used to illustrate the dustwrapper of the 1st edition of Peter Smith‘s important book on Welsh Vernacular Architecture ‘’Houses of The Welsh Countryside’’.^[4] Another notable house is Garthmyl Hall, Berriew, which is by a leading 19th century designer and architect James Kellaway Colling. There are also a number of other larger houses in Berriew which include Brithdir, a timber framed house which was considerably extended in the early 19th century; Pennant, a fine early brick house built in 1755; Rhiewport, a Regency house that is also probably by Joseph Bromfield, and Trwstllwelyn, a house with much early 18th century brickwork.

Bodhilin or Bodheilin, Brithdir, Berriew.

A sad loss was the fantasy Gothic villa of Bodheilin in Brithdir township, which was burnt down in 1906.^[5]

The Timber Framed and Cottage Ornée Houses of Berriew

Rather than the individual houses, Berriew is best remembered for its half timbered cottages which cluster around the churchyard and along the banks of the river Rhiew. There are further examples in the township of Refail. These can probably be attributed to the architect Thomas Penson. In the late 1830s, at the same time as Penson was working on remodelling Vaynor Park in Berriew for John Winder Lion-Winder, he was also remodelling and building houses in Berriew for the Vaynor estate.^[6] As a result of his work Berriew developed as a village with many attractive Cottage Ornée houses. Some of these were rebuilt from earlier timber framed buildings, while others were built in a Tudor Revival style and are some of the earliest examples of Black-and-white Revival architecture. Penson’s work can be recognised by the massive brick chimney stacks which have been added to the houses, the ornamental bargeboards to the gables and in some cases the black and white painting on the brick work to give the impression of timber framing.^[7]

Listed Buildings in Berriew

• Vaynor Park is the main estate in Berriew, lying to the west of the village.
• Glansevern Hall and Gardens are adjacent to the village. Glansevern Hall was built between 1801 and 1807 for Sir Arthur Davies Owen, by Joseph Bromfield.^[8]
• Garthmyl Hall is a Grade II listed house to the south of Berriew. Garthmyl Hall was completely rebuilt in 1859 by the architect James K Colling for Major-General William George Gold.
• The Vicarage, which is the residence of the Archdeacon of Montgomery. It is dated 1616 with the initials of the vicar, Thomas Kyffin. Vertical studding with diagonal braces, the upper floor jettied on a moulded bressumer. The porch with railed sides with quadrant decoration. In the late C18, the lobby-chimney was removed,and the vicarage was extende to the west with a brick range.
• Lower Cil A well-preserved 16th-century timber-framed farmhouse of Severn Valley Lobby Entrance type. The timbers have been dated by tree-ring dating to 1583 for its original construction.^[9]

Literature

• Gibson, A. (1995). The Carreg Beuno prehistoric landscape, Berriew. Montgomeryshire Collections 83 (1995), p. 41-58
• Silvester, R. J. (1997), Luggy Moat, Berriew : recording and conservation. Montgomeryshire Collections 85, p. 1-12
• Smith, D.. W. (1992), Aberriw to Berriew : the story of a community. Berriew : D.W. Smith. 17p
• Smith, D. W. (1991) Berriew and Trinity : Thomas Jones (1756-1807) and his contemporaries. Montgomeryshire Collections Vol 79, p. 121-34
• Smith, D. W. (1989), The Berriew enclosures : Brithdir and the intercommoning districts. Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 77, p. 81-105
• Smith, D. W. (1985), Berriew in Stuart times : 2. Paupers and yeomen, poverty and prosperity. Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 73, p. 8-29
• Smith, D. W. (1990), Berriew maps : some comments. Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 78, p. 162-3
• Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013), The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire, Yale University Press.
• Thomas, D.R.( 1908) History of the Diocese of Saint Asaph, Vol 1, 128-135.

References

1. "Ward/Community population 2011". Retrieved 9 November 2015.
2. Google Maps (Map). Google.
3. British Listed Buildings
4. Peter Smith (1975), ‘’Houses of The Welsh Countryside’’, HMSO, London.
5. Scourfield R and Haslam R, (2013) Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire, 2nd edition, Yale University Press. pp80-85
6. Cadw (1999) Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Powys. Cardiff, pg. 255. ISBN 1 85760 196 3
7. Alfrey J.(2001), Rural Building in Nineteenth-Century North Wales: The Role of the Great Estates, Archaeologia Cambrensis, Vol 147, pg 213, pl.18
8. "Glansevern Hall". Balfours.
9. "Scourfield" (2013), pg 85.

External links

• Photos of Berriew and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
• Glanservern Hall & Gardens website
• St Beuno's Church