Place:Llanfair Waterdine, Shropshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Llanfair Waterdine, sometimes written as Llanvair Waterdine and meaning St. Mary's Church Waterdine, is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, on the north side of the Teme valley and adjacent to the Wales-England border. The population, according to the 2011 UK census, was 225.

"Llanfair" is a typical Welsh place name - in English it translates as "church(yard) of St Mary". "Waterdine", which means "place by the water" was added to the name to distinguish the village from other places called "Llanfair" (which is a very common place name in Wales). The place name in the Welsh language is Llanfair Dyffryn Tefeidiad (the 2nd and 3rd words mean "Teme Valley").

Llanfair Waterdine is just off the B4355 road, 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Knighton and near the village of Knucklas (in Radnorshire or Powys), which has a railway station. The village lies 7 km (4 1⁄2 mi) southwest of the small Shropshire town of Clun. The village and parish is situated on the southern edge of the Clun Forest, a remote and very rural part of Shropshire, which is only partly forested.

The village was historically in Wales, as it lies to the west of Offa's Dyke. The River Teme has naturally altered its course since the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 ("Act of Union"); and so the border between Wales and England in the Teme valley no longer follows the centre of the river as it once did, but stays on what was the course of the river when the border was fixed by the Acts.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Llanfair Waterdine from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"LLANVAIR-WATERDINE, a parish in the [registration] district of Knighton and county of Salop [or Shropshire]; on the river Teme at the boundary with Radnor, near Offa's dyke, 4 miles NW of Knighton [railway] station. It contains the townships of Llanvair, Clewilsey, Funnauvair, Maneythesney, Selly, Skyborry, and Trebert; and its Post town is Knighton, Radnorshire. Acres: 7,720. Real property: £5,730. Population: 611. Houses: 116. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the Earl of Powis. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Hereford. Value: £78. Patron: the Earl of Powis. The church was rebuilt in 1854, and is in the pointed style. There are a national school, and charities £5."

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