Powys
This article is about the administrative county of Wales. For the ancient kingdom, see Kingdom of Powys. Powys may also refer to the preserved county of Wales. Powys is a local government
principal area and a
preserved county in
Wales.
See the list of places in Powys for all towns and villages in Powys.Powys covers the
traditional counties of
Montgomeryshire,
Radnorshire and most of
Brecknockshire — an area of 5,196
km², making it the largest principal area in Wales by land area. It is bounded the north by
Gwynedd,
Denbighshire and
Wrexham (county borough); to the west by
Ceredigion and
Carmarthenshire; to the east by
England; and to the south by
Rhondda Cynon Taff,
Merthyr Tydfil,
Caerphilly (county borough),
Blaenau Gwent and
Monmouthshire.
Most of Powys is very mountainous with north-south transportation by car and rail being quite difficult.
This area is named after the older Welsh
Kingdom of Powys, which occupied the northern two thirds of the area, and came to an end when it was occupied by
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of
Gwynedd during the 1260s.
 |
Powys (preserved county) from 1974-1996. |
The present day administrative county was created on
April 1,
1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972, and originally had
Montgomery and
Radnor and
Brecknock as districts under it. On
April 1,
1996, the districts were abolished and it became a
unitary authority, with a minor border adjustment in the north-east (specifically the addition of the communities of
Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant,
Llansilin and
Llangedwyn from
Glyndwr district in
Clwyd).
The present
lord lieutenant is The Honourable Mrs Legge-Bourke LVO.
Electoral divisions
Powys is administered by Powys County Council and has 73 elected councillors representing 73
council wards. Local elections take place ever 4 years. Some of these wards are coterminous with communities (parishes) of the same name. There are 112
communities in the principal area. Nearly all communities have a local community council.
The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas. Communities with a
community council are indicated with a '*':
{
Cave systems
*
Ogof Draenen*
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu*
Agen Allwedd*
Ogof y Daren Cilau*
Ogof Craig a FfynnonMuseums and exhibitions
*
Brecknock Museum,
Brecon,
*
Centre for Alternative Technology,
Machynlleth*
Llandrindod Wells Museum*
Llanidloes Museum*
Newtown Textile Museum*
Powysland Museum,
Welshpool*including the Elan Valley Reservoirs:
**Claerwen Reservoir
**Craig-goch Reservoir
**Penygarreg Reservoir
**Garreg-ddu Reservoir
**Caban-coch Reservoir
**Afon Claerwen | Others*The Black Mountains
*Brecon Beacons
*Brecon Caer Roman Fort
*Celtica exhibition, Machynlleth
*The Lake Vyrnwy Sculpture Trail
*Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
*Radnor Forest
*Tretower Castle
*The Welsh National Cycle Route
*The Wye Valley Walk from Chepstow to Rhayader
*Offa's Dyke Path | 
