Welsh Journals

A HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF SNEAD.1 By J. B. WILLANS, EsQ. SNEAD is the smallest parish in Montgomeryshire. It lies on the northern side of the little river Camlad, and its present parochial area stretches from that river to the undulating lower part of Hyssington parish. The geological formation of the parish belongs to two divisions of the Silurian system, namely, the Wenlock Shale and the Upper Llandovery Limestone Rocks. The former is part of that vast stretch of Wenlock Shale, which extends across the Severn and Camlad valleys, to that of the Onny in the Ordnance Map.2 The farms of the Upper Snead and White House, and most of the fields south of the high road from Church- stoke to Bishop's Castle lie upon this division, while the narrow stietch north of the high road, including the deep cutting of Bagbury Lane lies upon the lime- stone, called in Lapworth's Geology Pentamerus," but more likely the Norbury Limestone mentioned in Geikie,3 to be seen in the map stretching in a pure limestone form from the west of Linley Hall to the foot of the Long Mynd. According to Geikie the limestone is formed by the crowded organisms, chiefly shells, of which the brachiopod, Pentamerus oblongus, gives its name to the sub-division. To the east of Upper Snead farm a fault stretches almost across the parish, dividing in part the two geological formations. 1 I here desire to thank E. A. Lewis, D.Sc., for his valuable researches concerning this parish, as well as Hyssington, in the Record Office, which are printed as an Appendix; to Miss E. Coppock for research at the Ry lands' and Reference Libraries at Manchester; and to B. Evan-Jones and J. Parry-Jones for loan of books. 2 See Geological Map of Montgomery, No. L.X.S.E., Montgomery Wenlock Shale, b 6; Upper Llandovery limestone, b 5. 3 See Lapwerth's Intermediate Text-book, edition 1S99 p. 224; A. Geikie's Text Book, p. 754.