One of the main drivers behind the creation of this web site was to provide an online repository of the rich and diverse history that has given the community of Painscastle and Rhosgoch its unique character and to provide an invaluable source of reference for the generations to come. Over time we hope to include as much accurate and interesting information as possible about the various prehistoric traces still to be found in this area, the influence of the Romans, the tremendous impact of the Normans and their castle-building programme, the centuries of bitter warfare and rivalry between Welsh Princes and English Kings, the growing significance of the agricultural economy in the late Middle Ages, the age of the Drovers and the subsequent growth of industry in South Wales that led eventually to a period of depopulation and decline in this area in the twentieth century, We also hope to pay proper tribute to the local heroes who sacrificed their lives in the First and Second World Wars.
We also hope to provide much more definitive information about many local farms and other buildings and their histories and eventually also an oral archive of various significant events recalled by local people. At the same time it is hoped that this site will become a useful source of reference for those people in the United Kingdom and overseas researching genealogy or other specific topics.
This is an ambitious project that will take some considerable time and so we ask you to be patient and to return to this site again in the future to see how we are progressing. In the meantime, if you wish to ask specific questions or make useful suggestions in connection with historical research, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We also hope to provide much more definitive information about many local farms and other buildings and their histories and eventually also an oral archive of various significant events recalled by local people. At the same time it is hoped that this site will become a useful source of reference for those people in the United Kingdom and overseas researching genealogy or other specific topics.
This is an ambitious project that will take some considerable time and so we ask you to be patient and to return to this site again in the future to see how we are progressing. In the meantime, if you wish to ask specific questions or make useful suggestions in connection with historical research, please do not hesitate to contact us.
To get a flavour of what the area was like just before the Great War, you might like to take a look at the following document, which records a field trip to Painscastle and Rhosgoch by the famous Woolhope Naturalists Field Club on the 30th May 1911. We are indebted to Richard Baylis for finding and supplying this very comprehensive record.
| Woolhope Naturalists Field Trip on 30th May 1911 |
Map of Painscastle 1889.