In order to organise the running
of the country the government has always divided up the land into administrative
units. In the Victorian period these were sometimes re-organised.
The following is a list of each territorial unit
referred to in the pages on communities in Powys, together with an explanation
of what they are and a brief history:
County - a division of a country. In Victorian times, three counties existed in what is now the one county of Powys - Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire. Each was administered on behalf of the Crown by the Sheriff. The county of Powys was created in 1974.
Diocese - an area under the authority of a bishop. A separate Church in Wales was created within the Anglican Church in 1920, and the dioceses covering Powys today are Bangor, St. Asaph, and Swansea and Brecon. The Roman Catholic dioceses covering Powys are Menevia and Wrexham.
If you stopped a man or woman walking along a road in Victorian Powys and asked them where they came from they were just as likely to say the parish as the village. The parish had its own officials.