Misty Origins
Accounts from the 19th Century (quoted in the booklet Castle Caereinion in The Past by Michael Rogers and Roger Brown) suggest that the parish has its origins in the 6th Century. It is said that Castle Caereinion gets its name from the tenth son, Einion Yrth, of Cunedda Wledig, King of Cambria who is reputed to have founded Oswestry in 567. The area was given the name Caer Einion, Einion’s Camp.
According to these accounts, a camp may have been established on ‘a conical hill, half a mile to the north-east of the village’, but this hill is Pen y Foel (‘top of the bare hill’), whereas the ‘castle’ is supposed to have been built in the village in 1156 and all that remains is a mound in the churchyard.
This castle was built by Madog ap Meredydd for Owain Cyfeiliog who subsequently burnt it to the ground, after siding with the English in the perennial hostilities.
We would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who knows the history of the area between the middle of the 12th and the middle of the 19th Centuries.
Busy Times
In the second half of the 19th Century, Castle Caereinion appears to have been flourishing. St Garmon’s Church was rebuilt in 1866 and in 1871 the population was recorded as 701.
From Worrall ‘s Directory of North Wales (1874) – quoted in the booklet mentioned above – we learn that it supported no less than four pubs. These were: Red Lion (still here), Half Way, White Lion and Cyfronydd Arms. This tome also listed 45 farmers, two blacksmiths, a cooper, a miller, two shopkeepers and a tailor!