Tudor halls and a Civil War arrest - the story of Aberbechan

The growth of Aberbechan owes much to Lord Sudeley of Gregynog who donated land for the construction of a Presbyterian church in 1888 with donations and collections ensuring the small place of worship was constructed.

Much of the land on which Aberbechan was built remained part of the Gregynog estate until 1913.

The valley has long been dominated by Aberbechan Hall which had once been a Tudor mansion owned by the Blayney family of Gregynog Hall fame and of which a branch changed its name to Price in the 16th century.

The house descended to Sir John Price, who swapped sides in the English Civil War and became the Parliamentary Commander of Montgomery Castle.

The house passed to the Lloyd family before the heiress Frances Lloyd married Sir Gervais Clifton in 1766 when two watercolour paintings of the building were commissioned by noted traveller Thomas Pennant.

Aberbechan Hall by John Ingleby; Vavasor Powell and a scene of the hills above Aberbechan.

The hall must have been one of the grandest in the county as the paintings featured in Pennant’s Tour of Wales and are today maintained by the National Library of Wales.

However in 1810 the house and its estates were sold to London tea dealer and future Montgomery Boroughs MP David Pugh.

Sadly the hall was demolished in 1870 and replaced by the present hall with the timbers from the old building used.

The international show-jumper Rowland Ferneyhough was born and raised at the hall.

However the hall is not the oldest house in the area by any stretch.

Neauddfraith was not owned by the Tregynon-based lords of the manor and instead home to wealthy industrialist Edward Elwell who made his fortune in agricultural buildings and tools.

In 1865 he arrived in Aberbechan and completely rebuilt the farmhouse in Victorian style which still stands today.

Neuadd-fraith in the distance. Picture by Chris Halling/Geograph.

Little Aberbechan overlooks the church and dates from the 16th century.

This remarkably well-preserved black and white building includes oak laths, wattle and daub from the original construction.

This means the house would have been built around the time Vavasor Powell, the Welsh Nonconformist Puritan preacher, was arrested while delivering a sermon in the village and would spend the next six years in Worcester Goal for opposing Oliver Cromwell.

Powell would spend a further seven years in prison for opposing the Restoration of the monarchy.

Nearby the three storey house of Pant dates back as far as the 18th century and once served as a school.

Aberbechan enjoyed a brief boom during the expansion of the Montgomery Canal into the heart of Montgomeryshire.

Aberbechan Aqueduct. Picture: Alan Richards/Geograph.

An aqueduct spans the confluence of the rivers and still stands today - a reminder of the Montgomery Canal which once linked nearby Newtown to the rest of the Shropshire network until its demise.

It is hard to imagine today but until the 1930s the canal wharf welcomed boats transporting corn, coal, leather and limestone with the nearby line-kilns now long gone while nearby stands Min-y-fron which was once a fulling mill where flannel was made.

At Aberbechan, just before the aqueduct that carries the canal over Bechan Brook. The embossed part of the steel girder reads "Brimbo 1862". Picture by Penny Mayes/Geograph.

At the same time the mill used by farmers to ground their corn using a water wheel closed for the last time.

From 1930 until 1960 the community was served by a shop known as Refel until it too joined the canal, mill and school in being confined to the history books.