# Penstrowed

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**Penstrowed** is a historic [Montgomeryshire](/source/Montgomeryshire) parish to the west of [Newtown](/source/Newtown,_Powys), now in the community of [Mochdre with Penstrowed](/source/Mochdre_with_Penstrowed), [Powys](/source/Powys), [Wales](/source/Wales).

## Description

Penstrowed is situated in the river [Severn](/source/Severn) valley. The founder of the church, [Saint Gwrhai](/source/Saint_Gwrhai) was a 5th-century saint who is supposed to have been buried in the churchyard. The Penstrowed Quarry was an important source for local stone and was used for building the [Caersws](/source/Caersws) workhouse. It was later acquired by Montgomeryshire County Council and a railway siding connecting the quarry to Cambrian main line laid in 1902 and closed in May 1937.[2]

Penstrowed now claims to be 'The smallest hamlet in Wales'.[3] It is governed by the Mochdre with Penstrowed Community Council. Until 1 April 1987 Penstrowed was a community itself.[4]

[Eiluned Lewis](/source/Eiluned_Lewis) (1900–1979), a Welsh novelist, poet, and journalist came from here.

## Church

The church of [Saint Gwrhai](/source/Saint_Gwrhai) is a very small single-chamber church with bellcote and S porch. Neatly rebuilt in 1864 by Edward Jones. Decorated period east and west windows, with stained glass by [James Powell and Sons](/source/James_Powell_and_Sons) by Powell's, 1864: Christ appearing to the three Marys. There is a monument to the Rev. John Herbert who died in 1876. Next to the church is a corrugated iron church hall.

## Houses and chapel

Glanhafren Hall is a brick three-bay, three-storey front range of c. 1810. The block, one room deep, contains a two-flight stair with honeysuckle ironwork balusters in a segmental recess, and two rooms with classical plaster cornices.[5]

Glandulais is a small Late Georgian house of two storeys and four bays—the windows mostly tripartite with cambered heads. Staircase with fluted balusters. In the drawing room a ceiling with trophy motifs in an oval of leaves, and a frieze of garlands.[6]

Penstrowed Methodist Chapel was built during the mid-nineteenth century. It is stone built in the Vernacular style with a gable entry plan and small-pane flat-headed windows. By 2002 this chapel had been converted for use as a store.[7]

## Literature

- Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013), *The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire*, Yale University Press. pg 235.

## References

1. ["Location of Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr"](https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4517/location). *parliament.uk*. July 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2025.

1. Poole B. (2015), *Penstrowed Quarry, Montgomeryshire*, Montgomeryshire Collections, Vol 103, 91–102.

1. ["History of Mochdre with Penstrowed"](http://www.mochdrepenstrowedcommunity.net/history/). Mochdre with Penstrowed Community Council. Retrieved 16 September 2018.

1. ["Newtown Registration District"](https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/newtown.html). *UKBMD*. Retrieved 20 October 2025.

1. ["Glanhafran Hall"](http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-17327-glanhafren-hall-mochdr). *britishlistedbuildings.co.uk*. Retrieved 20 October 2025.

1. ["Glandulais Farmhouse"](http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-15623-glandulais-farmhouse-mochdre). *britishlistedbuildings.co.uk*. Retrieved 20 October 2025.

## Penstrowed gallery

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Penstrowed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstrowed) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstrowed?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.