Bettws or Bettws y Crwyn, Shropshire

Historical Description

Bettws or Bettws-y-Crwyn, a parish in Salop, near the rivers Teme and Clun, and on Offa's Dyke, adjacent to Radnorshire, 8 miles NW of Knighton, and 7 W by S of Clun. It contains the townships of Bettws, Rhugantine, Trebrodier and Cefncalanog, and its post town is Clun (R.S.O.), which is the money order and telegraph office; for part of the parish Knighton is the post town. Acreage, 9083; population, 469. The surface is upland, and includes a range called the Bettws Hills. The Earl of Powis is lord of the manor. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Hereford; net value, £154 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Powis. The church, which was restored in 1860, is ancient; the chancel has a roof of old timber, and a carved oak screen. There is a Primitive Methodist chapel at Rhu-gantine, and one for Baptists at Trebrodier.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient County	Salop
Ecclesiastical parish	Bettus St. Mary
Hundred	Purslow
Poor Law union	Knighton

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The register, of baptisms and burials dates from 1662; marriages, 1664.

Churches

Church of England

St. Mary (parish church)

The church of St. Mary is an edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, and a western turret containing one bell: the roof of the chancel is of old timber, supposed to be Spanish chestnut, panelled in squares and quatrefoils: the chancel screen, of old carved oak, was restored by the patron: the east window, also the gift of the patron, is filled with stamped quarries: in 1910 choir stalls and a vestry screen were added: the church was substantially restored in 1860, when a new bell turret was built.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Bettws or Bettws y Crwyn from the following:

Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bettus (St. Mary))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Shropshire (Salop) is available to browse.

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Shropshire newspapers online:

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.