Population 239 (2011 census) Civil parish Bettws-y-Crwyn Region West Midlands Local time Monday 1:25 AM UK parliament constituency Ludlow | OS grid reference SO203812 Ceremonial county Shropshire Country England Dialling code 01547 | |
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Weather 3°C, Wind W at 13 km/h, 92% Humidity | ||
Bettws-y-Crwyn is a small, remote village and civil parish in south west Shropshire, England. It is close to the Wales-England border and is one of a number of English villages to have a Welsh language placename, which translates roughly as "chapel of the fleeces". The parish name was formerly written simply as Bettws, and the suffix, probably a local name for the church, only appears in written records in the nineteenth century. The parish, including the hamlets of Anchor (which has a pub of the same name), Quabbs and Hall of the Forest had a total population of 212 at the 2001 census, increasing to 239 at the 2011 census.
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Map of Bettws-y-crwyn, Knighton, UK
It lies at 400 m above sea level, making it one of the highest settlements in Shropshire and England too. The village is about sixteen miles west of the Shropshire town of Craven Arms, and only about nine miles south-east of Newtown in Powys, Wales.
Bettws had a school which closed in 1951; its building is now the village hall, containing a First World War memorial board.
The parish lies within the Clun electoral division of Shropshire Council.
Church
The church of St. Mary dates from the late 13th or early 14th century, and was "restored" in 1860. There is a fine 15th or 16th century screen and roof, a 17th-century pulpit, and 19th century pews, with the names of farms within the parish painted on them. The church contains a ceramic war memorial plaque to men who died serving in World War I. At one time a pair of medals belonging to local man Pryce Lloyd, who returned home to the parish from his wartime service (during which he was a prisoner of war) was displayed under the plaque.