Medieval Small Towns in the Central Welsh Marches

Abstract

This thesis explores the development of a group of small medieval towns in the central Welsh Marches. It has adopted a multi-disciplinary approach to this process in order to gain a better understanding of the nature of town development in this particular region, which covers a compact area on the borders of eastern Powys, north-west Herefordshire and south-west Shropshire. Four towns of comparable size were chosen as case studies. These were Clun, Knighton, Presteigne and Kington. A range of archaeological, historical, architectural, cartographic and place-name data was gathered for each town, which was then combined with an urban plan analysis to construct a developmental timeline. The topography, routes and relationships between the towns and their settlements was considered, along with the wider cultural influences prevalent in the region during the medieval period.