Historic Counties Institute

Geography • Identity • Continuity

Reference, evidence, and public education for the historic counties.

Historic counties are the enduring geography. Councils are administration, lieutenancies are ceremonial – neither define the counties.

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County Dossier

Radnorshire

A border county of hills, forests and marches.

Radnorshire, or Sir Faesyfed, is a county in mid-Wales defined by rolling hills, rivers, and historic towns. Its far west rises into the Cambrian Mountains, through which the River Wye flows from its source in Cardiganshire down to the ancient town of Rhayader.

Open Radnorshire in the Map County Index
Radnorshire county reference map

At a glance

Radnorshire at a glance

A border county of hills, forests and marches.

Nation Wales
Formal name County of Radnor
Local name Sir Faesyfed
Earliest reference Records call it Radnor
  • Maelienydd & Elfael lands
  • Formed as county 1536
  • Presteigne is county town
  • Area: 470 sq miles / 1,217 sq km
  • Population: 25,821
  • County Top: Great Rhos (2,166ft / 660m)
View Radnorshire on the Map

County Geography

Radnorshire meets Montgomeryshire and Shropshire to the north, Herefordshire to the east, Brecknockshire to the south, and Cardiganshire to the west. The county is organised around upland watersheds, the Wye valley, and the eastern basin of the Radnor Forest and surrounding hill country.

The combination of border hills, internal valleys, and the Wye gives Radnorshire a strong territorial identity despite its relatively small size.

Map Reference

View Radnorshire on the map

Radnorshire is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.

County Lieutenancy Council
Radnorshire county map preview Open Radnorshire in the Interactive Map
County

The county.

Lieutenancy

The lieutenancy.

Council

Council areas.

Open Radnorshire in the Interactive Map

Places and routes

Presteigne, Rhayader, Llandrindod Wells, New Radnor, Knighton, and Newbridge-on-Wye all belong to the county’s story. So do the Radnor Forest, the Wye crossings, the spa-town layer at Llandrindod, and the marcher routes connecting the county eastward into Herefordshire and north-south along the borderland.

Connections

Radnorshire has always depended on valley routes and border approaches rather than on one dominant urban axis.

Radnorshire landscape or key location
Llandrindod Wells, Radnorshire / Sir Faesyfed.

Names

  • Radnorshire
  • County of Radnor
  • Radnors
  • Sir Faesyfed

Sir Faesyfed is the Welsh form of Radnorshire. County of Radnor is the formal historical style, while the county’s older background lies in the territories of Maelienydd and Elfael from which the later county emerged.

Radnorshire took county form in the 16th century, but its border hills, Wye-side routes, and marcher identity are older than that formal date.

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County Reference

Explore Radnorshire

Open the map to explore Radnorshire, or return to the county index to browse other counties.

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