Powys War Memorials Project

pows war memorial sponsors logos Powys county logo

 

Powys War Memorials Project 2014-19: A Mark of Respect

This project was launched to coincide with the centenary of the First World War. Powys County Council secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cadw (the Welsh Government's historic environment service) and the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority for the project. Elements of the project included: identifying, mapping and recording all war memorials in Powys; encouraging and enabling local communities to carry out research about people named on war memorials; developing walks and trails for people to explore the war memorials; and creating a project website with information about Powys’ war memorials. Click here to visit the project website.

In support of the project, HistoryPoints created QR codes and corresponding web pages for war memorials and other places which have a connection to the First World War. These are listed below – click on any of the places in the list to see our web page about that location.

In Llandrindod Wells, Brecon, Talgarth, Welshpool, Newtown, Machynlleth, Crickhowell, Llangattock and Ystradgynlais we connected web pages to form self-guided tours of the town centres which anyone can follow, using the QR codes and their smartphone or tablet, to discover how the First World War affected each town. Click here for our introduction to the tours. Videos about some of the tours are available on YouTube here.

Powys War Memorials Project HiPoints

logo of Powys war memorial project

Welshpool
War memorial - detalis of the local war dead
The Old Station - crowd gathered for arrival of body of Viscount Clive in 1916
The Royal Oak - the Prime Minister called in for lunch and talked to wounded soldiers outside
St Mary's Church - war graves in churchyard, war memorial in church
VC memorial - William Waring got the highest bravery award after his death in 1918
Town Hall - wartime events included a meeting urging women to grow more food
Former Mermaid Inn - landlord's son died in New Zealand of effects of war service
Steam railway station - the light railway was compensated for loss of trade after the war
Raven Inn - landlady lost her son in the First World War
Christ Church - war memorials and war graves
Rex Manford's ex-home - organist at local churches was killed in action in 1918
Former chemist's shop - chemist William Bishop lost his son Charles in Iraq in the war
Old police station - two fugitive German prisoners of war brought in after capture in 1915
Powis Castle - Hebert family heir died of wounds in 1916. Lord Kitchener visited many times pre-war

Newtown
War memorial - Detalis of men and women named on the cenotaph
Memorial gates - Erected in 1953 in memory of the dead of both world wars
Royal Welsh Warehouse - employees and a director died in First World War
St David's Church - two women who died in First World War buried in churchyard
Former suffragist HQ - Alix Clark continued the regional votes for women campaign throughout the war
Oriel Davies - Davies sisters brought wartime Belgian refugees to Wales and hoped this would stimulate artistic development
Former army HQ - many men from the battalion based here suffered or died in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign
Plas Dolerw - home of Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones, who lost a son, son-in-law and gardener in the war
Crescent Christian Centre - houses war memorials from three Newtown chapels
Lion Hotel - landlord's son was chosen to form part of King's bodyguard in 1916 but died in France later
Site of Cambrian Mill - was a was a training centre for disabled ex-servicemen after the war

Llanbrynmair
War memorial - Details of men named on memorial outside Community Hall

Machynlleth
Bro Ddyfi Hospital - was a workhouse until it became a Red Cross hospital in 1917
Grounds of Y Plas - ploughed for food in WW1. Venue of peace celebration in 1919
War nurse family's shop - Annie Breese was honoured for her wartime nursing, including on a hospital ship
Former Post Office - several postal workers died in WW1. One left a daughter who was soon orphaned
St Peter's Church - convalescing soldiers attended end-of-war thanksgiving service in 1918
Georgian terrace - one of the houses was home to RH Thomas, killed while serving with the Canadian Infantry

Rhayader
War memorial

Llanwrtyd Wells
War memorial - Discover who is named on the plaques in the memorial institute

Llandrindod Wells
Holy Trinity Church – War memorials here include a stained glass window
Radnorshire Museum – FWW exhibits include dog tag of local soldier who died in 1918
Former Red Cross hospital – The Red Cross took over this spa hotel during the war
Former Ye Wells Hotel – An army billet in FWW. The landlady lost two sons in the war
Belgian refugees’ home site – One Belgian schoolboy heroically saved a girl from injury
Grand Pavilion – Wartime activities here included fundraising to help war horses and dogs
Hotel Metropole – Home of Royal Army Medical Corps officers in 1915-16
Red Cross trees – planted in 1946 to commemorate wartime rural Red Cross fundraising
Quaker meeting house – Has a memorial Bible. Some worshippers were conscientious objectors
County Buildings – Courts martial and conscription tribunals were held here in FWW
Tabernacle chapel - Contains war memorials where three brohers are named
County School war memorials - Now at the High School, they name pupils who died in service
Cemetery war graves & inscriptions - Read about the men buried or commemorated
Presbyterian chapel - Contains war memorials. The first was given by parents who lost two sons
The Albert Hall - Where RAMC men competed in young people's eisteddfodau

Penybont
War memorial

Builth Wells
War memorial
Strand Hall - contains a WW1 'Roll of Honor', restored with help from Powys War Memorials Project

Talgarth
War memorial
War graves in churchyard - including graves of a brother and sister
Tower Hotel - landlady had four sons in service in the war. One was killed by a sniper
Town Hall - speeches at 1914 recruitment meeting were followed by a rush of men eager to enlist
Market Square - pastor who preached in square tried several times to enlist. Died soon after reaching Western Front
Former British School - headmaster compiled roll of honour of 95 pupils in 1915. One of his sons buried in war grave 1921
Former Upper Lion Inn - home to two brothers killed in the war
Red House - home to shop manager and popular preacher JC Powell, killed in 1917
Former Horse and Jockey Inn - was a shop by 1917, when Mary Williams lost her son Willie in war
4 New Street - a Military Medal recipient lived here with his young family before his death in 1917

Brecon
Army Drill Hall - hundreds of recruits got their first taste of army life at the Drill Hall on this site
Brecon RFC clubhouse -  one of the club's former players was in first-ever Wales rugby team, and died in action in 1915
Christ College - many ex-pupils died in the war. A refugee Belgian professor became French master in 1914
Former Angel Hotel - now the RAFA Club. Angel Hotel was kept by parents of a Land Girl honoured for her wartime farm work
Former Griffin Inn - licensee TJ Barratt lost his son Arthur in the Battle of the Somme, 1916, but wasn’t informed till two years later
Former Green Dragon hotel - proprietor lost her son in the war and was fined in 1919 for breaking maximum food prices
Guildhall - venue for First World War fundraising events and appeal hearings against military conscription
Kensington Chapel - lost four members of the congregation in the war, including its organist
Plough Chapel - first chapel on site was built in 1699. Contains memorial to congregation members lost in First World War
Presbyterian Church - built in 1860s. Congregation members named on First World War Roll of Honour in vestry
War memorials in Cathedral - VC winners and local police are among those honoured

Crickhowell, Llangattock & Llangynidr
Crickhowell war memorial - details of war dead from the entire district
Castle Recreation Grounds - given in 1918 by retired solicitor in memory of his son, who died in the war
Corn Exchange - licensee W Jones died in 1937 from war wounds which never stopped seeping
Former war memorial hospital - where women collected and made supplies for military hospitals during the war
Glan y Dŵr - where the first 12 Belgian refugees in Crickhowell were housed
Upper House Farm - where German prisoners of war rested during the march to their new camp in 1916
Clarence Hall - war-related events in the hall included an armed forces recruitment meeting in 1914
Post Office - telegraph boy Hector Parsons never forgot taking bad news to families in the war
Glencoe House - built for Mr & Mrs Leonard, whose son Bert died of wounds sustained at Gallipoli
Bethesda chapel - Roll of Honour lists men who served. Two died and some had life-changing injuries
Llangattock wharf - Willie Powell, 19, of Canal House had a leg amputated after war injury
The Old Rectory - Llangattock's rector went overseas as an army chaplain in First World War
Former Crown Inn - Rebecca Williams' husband received Military Medal and died in Italy in November 1918
St Catwg's Church - in 1915 the congregation sang a hymn penned by Lord Glanusk while commanding in Aden
Horseshoe Inn - women whose husbands were in service went to court in 1917 after a boy was caught carrying beer
Llangynidr - Yard Bridge named after timber yard of Jones family which lost two sons in WW1, one shot by a British sentry

Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais war memorial
Gough Arms - landlord did 'important' wartime mining work in Ghana, a source of gold and manganese
Diamond Park - on site of Diamond Colliery, which suffered when anthracite exports were banned in the war
Scouts' base - visit to Belgium in 1913 inspired new Ostend Troop, whose boys helped catch German spies in 1914
Railway station site - stationmaster Herbert de la Haye lost his son Cyril, a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers
Police station - venue for military tribunal which forced local men to go to war or granted exemptions
Ynyscedwyn Arms - 'smoking concerts' held in the pub for returning soldiers, often after hospital treatment
Sardis Chapel - deacon represented farming on military tribunal and was posthumously praised for his tact
St Cynog's Church - has war memorials and war graves