Powys Archives Newsletter
SPRING 2014
Easter Opening hours
Closed Friday 18 April
Closed Monday 21 April
Open Tuesday 22 April
are regularly added. We will also keep and continue
to update the PDF catalogues on our website to
provide the public with a variety of ways to search or
browse our holdings.
Online Catalogue Database
At the end of December Powys Archives launched a
new online catalogue database. Similar to the PDF
catalogues already available on our website, the new
database contains detailed information and
descriptions about Powys Archives’ holdings.
However, the database is intended to be more userfriendly and has the ability to search through all
collections at once due to its advanced search
functions.
Sarah Glover, Assistant Archivist
Sarah Glover left her temporary post with Powys
Archives at the end of February. Over the past eight
months Sarah has been working with staff to prepare
our catalogue database for online access.
Searching the database will only find the exact words
used in the catalogue, so if you are having trouble
finding what you’re looking for it is often best to try
searching for related terms or keywords. Sometimes
archaic or Welsh spellings of place names have
been used on the documents described in the
catalogue, and these spellings will be used in the
description. For example, if you are searching for
records relating to ‘Crickadarn’, you may also wish to
search for records with ‘Crucadarn’ as the spelling.
At present we have approximately 95% of our
holdings listed in the database, and new collections
All staff wish Sarah all the very best in her future
career.
If you belong to a local group and would like to visit
Powys Archives for a tour of the premises and for an
insight into the records we hold, please contact staff
for more details. We are able to offer visits to groups
on Mondays when we are closed to the general
public.
The Plague in Presteigne
The bubonic plague outbreaks that swept England
and Wales in the 14th century returned at various
dates in the following centuries. There is evidence
from the parish registers, which by then had to
denote plague deaths with the letter "p" beside the
names, that Presteigne was visited by plague
epidemics in 1593, 1610, and 1636. There may have
been less serious outbreaks at other times as well,
when the numbers of burials in the locality were
unusually high.
Because the rat fleas which spread the epidemics
hibernated in the winter, the plagues were at their
very worst in the summer. At the peak of the
epidemic in July 1593, twelve victims of the plague
were buried at Presteigne in one day - a large
number for a small town. About 50 deaths in one
year was around the normal level at the time, but
more than 380 died in 1593 and most of these
deaths were due to the epidemic of that year.
Extract from 'Beauties of England and Wales' 1812
New Accessions
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Cwmtwrch Primary School, Breconshire: Log
books, 1872-1996 (6 items) and programme for
the official opening of the new school, 1976 [Acc
2182]
DVD entitled 'Four Crosses & District YFC: 19332013, 80 years of memories', 2013 [Acc 2184]
Cwm Du Board School, Llanrhaeadr ym
Mochnant, Montgomeryshire: Account of fees,
1879-1891 [Acc 2185]
Hay & District Community Support, Breconshire:
reports, 1986-2013 & booklet entitled ‘Hay and
District Community Support: The First 25 years’,
2011 [Acc 2186]
R. Wellings Thomas collection: sales catalogue
for Old Hall, Dolau, Radnorshire, 1924; articles of
agreement for alterations to Holy Trinity Church,
Llandrindod, Radnorshire, c1909; bundle of
documents concerning alterations to Pentrosfa,
Llandrindod, 1914-1924; bundles of documents
concerning alterations to Louis Café, Llandrindod,
1924; plans for Stayley house, Pentrosfa,
Llandrindod, 1922 [Acc 2187]
Ysgol Bro Cynllaith records, Montgomeryshire:
Three folders of Governors' minutes, 2008-2011
[Acc 2188]
Two folders of correspondence, reports, plans
and newspaper articles concerning the closure of
St David’s Hospital, Brecon, 1987-1989 [Acc
2190]
Records of Trefeglwys Community Council,
Montgomeryshire (additional): folder of minutes,
2010-2012; folder of agendas, 2006-2013 &
bundle of annual returns, 2007-2013 [Acc 2191]
Minutes of Machynlleth Town Council, May 2012Mar 2013 [Acc 2192]
Presteigne gained an unwelcome reputation as a
plague town at this time, and the outbreaks had a
devastating effect on the local economy. There were
no effective treatments known, despite an
abundance of quack remedies and superstitions.
The disease affected rich and poor alike, and rapidly
spread through families and households.
Because of the plague the weekly market in
Presteigne was stopped in 1636, and it is likely that
the recurring outbreaks of bubonic plague were a
major factor in the serious decline of the cloth
industry in the town. The plague resulted in the loss
of a large number of skilled weavers and other
workers, and outsiders were no longer willing to buy
the possibly contaminated products of a plague town.
POWYS ARCHIVES, POWYS COUNTY COUNCIL,
COUNTY HALL, LLANDRINDOD WELLS, POWYS, LD1
5LG.
Tel 01597 826088.
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