Local traditions suggest that both churches were founded here in the 6th century by the Welsh Princes - Cynfelyn and his brother Llywelyn.

During the 1980s, archaeological excavation during building work near the site of Capel Llywelyn, discovered the remains of a churchyard and a number of burials that radio carbon dating has shown to be from the 14th century.

The area between this church site and the Norman motte and bailey castle, linked today by Mill Lane, was the first tangible medieval settlement of Welshpool, established in the early 12th century by the Norman barons.

In the 13th century Welshpool was granted a borough charter and the centre was shifted to the west with the creation of a 'new town' - which now forms the core of modern Welshpool.

This pattern of growth seems to be quite common in the Welsh borders during this period of increasing prosperity. By 1252 the town had 106 tax payers; by 1322 this had risen to 225.

This period also saw the rise to prominence of Powis Castle. Some of the castle's structure dates back to 1200, with additions in the 13th and 14th century.

The castle has always sat outside Welshpool and unlike other castles, has never attracted its own surrounding settlement. Extensive works were carried out here in the 17th and 18th centuries, including the elaborate formal gardens and parkland which remain today.

Although suffering at the hands of Owain Glyndwr, Welshpool's prosperity continued to grow as a centre of woollen cloth trade, and several 15th and 16th century timber buildings survive in the town.

Many of these buildings are now masked behind later modifications, but some such as the Talbot Inn and a small group at the bottom of Mount Street stand out. However, the frontages of some of the genuinely old buildings, such as the Mermaid Inn, owe more to Victorian restorations than they do to their original medieval craftsmen.

Transportation has played a major role in the more recent history of Welshpool with the arrival of the canal, railway and motor car opening up the town to increased trade and industry.

Retrace your tracks and follow Severn St back to the bridge over the canal. (Shortcut: Continue under bridge 119 to the lock, cross over the canal and pass through the kissing gate to the museum.)

Domen Castell

Domen Castell is a motte and bailey castle dating from the 12th century and is thought to be built by Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, then ruler of Powys. It is thought that the castle was captured by the Anglo-Normans in 1190 and recaptured shortly afterwards by Gwenwynwyn.

The castle would have been the stronghold of the area before Powis Castle was established, and formed part of the 12th century town which lay to the east of the centre of modern Welshpool.

The main street ran north-west from Domen Castell, along the line of Mill Lane towards the site of Capel Llywelyn, an early church that stood to the south of Salop Road. A church survived on this site until Christmas morning 1659 when it was destroyed by a fire.

Nothing of this Norman town survives today but a map of 1629 suggests that some buildings survived here at least until that date. The Norman town was built on the site of Smithfield Market, which is one of the largest sheep markets in Europe.

The railway station was built in 1860 as the headquarters of Cambrian Railways, in an imposing French Renaissance style with local red brick and stone dressings. The Cambrian Railways opened the line from Oswestry to Welshpool in 1860 and shortly after, the line from Welshpool to Shrewsbury followed.

Just before the bridge rejoin the canal path on the left and continue towards the lock.

The Montgomeryshire Canal was first opened in 1797, and was part of the Shropshire Union Canal - designed and built in stages to link mid Wales (Newtown and the separate extension to Guildsfield) to the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union (at Lower Frankton), and thereby the national canal network.

The building of the canal was funded by the local landowners wanting to expand their farming activities. This was at the beginning of the industrial revolution and agriculture as a profit making industry was growing.

The main incentive for funding the canal was to transport limestone, an essential ingredient in producing lime which can be used to increase the productivity and profit of acidic soils. Lime is best made locally as it can be dangerous when mixed with water. The remnants of limekilns can still be seen dotted along the banks of the canal today.

The primary export from the area was timber, followed by grain and dairy products.

In turn the canal generated other industries and opened up the area more widely for import and export. Two flannel factories and a brewery opened in Welshpool. Look out for the Red Lion Flannel Factory from the car park.

The Montgomeryshire Canal was abandoned in 1944 but reopened in the late 1980s. These days the canal has very light usage, with approximately 300 boat movements a year and is dry between Llanymynech and Maesbury in Shropshire, and at its other end outside Newtown.

The low activity levels have resulted in the canal being an important haven for wildlife and it is now designated a SSSI and SAC. Along the canal it is possible to spot mallards, swans and rats. In the section opposite the museum, you can see banded damselflies (May - June), ruddy darters, broad-bodied chasers and club-tailed dragonflies.

Otters are reappearing along the canal as the water quality is improving and displacing the escapee mink. Otters are very sensitive to water quality, and in recent years there has been more informed use of pesticides and fertilisers, resulting in reduced polluted run off from adjacent farm land. Coarse fishing is popular along the canal and some very large pike have been spotted!

Look out at the town lock for the remains of a water wheel. Although little now remains, Welshpool Town Wharf once boasted a rare corn mill powered by water from the canal. Water was channelled via the by-pass leat alongside the Town Lock to feed an undershot water wheel (of about 6 m diameter) before being returned to the canal basin.

The Powysland Museum is housed in a two story red brick building, which was originally built as a warehouse by the Montgomeryshire Canal Company in 1883-84. It was built in an attempt to boost trade in the face of increasing competition for freight haulage from the railways.

This plan had limited success however and the warehouse was used for canal trade for less that forty years - it was converted for use as a museum in 1990.

Look out at the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Offices for information about birds sighted at the nearby reserves - Llyn y coed Dinas and Dolydd Hafrenn. The big attractions at Dolydd Hafren are 40 pairs of black headed gulls and otters; in winter: waders and wildfowl; skylarks and yellow hammers. In spring: sand martens, common sandpipers and llittle ring plovers.

The Cockpit

This unsusual building is unique in Wales, and was built in the 18th century, probably for the Castle Inn which stood on the site now occupied by the National Westminster Bank. It was used for cockfighting - until it was outlawed in 1849.

It is probable that the fighting 'pit' was sited in the centre of the ground floor while what is now the upper floor would have been a steep circular gallery. Although only 10 m across, the cockpit could easily have held over 150 people.

Powis Castle

The location of Powis Castle as a defensive position is ideal as there is a good view in all directions. From here the whole of the Severn Valley: downstream to Moel-y-golfar and the Breidden Hills and upstream to Montgomery can be viewed.

The castle is built on a narrow ridge composed of a hard pebbly rock known as the Powys Castle Conglomerate, which is of an older Silurian age (435 million years ago). This rock may have formed during a deep underwater avalanche; or as a pebbly shore-line around a headland - composed of older Ordovician volcanic rocks. This horizontal layer of Conglomerate was subsequently tipped on end in mid Devonian times (380 million years ago), and now stands almost vertically.

The softer, muddy Ordovician rocks which were originally below the Conglomerate have been eroded and form the little valley up to the castle. The softer mudstones of the Silurian - younger than the Conglomerate - which now lie to the east of the castle have also eroded away, leaving the steep sided high conglomerate ridge as a natural location for a castle.

The castle walls are built of the stone quarried from the moat and various quarries dotted around the estate.

Look out for the red and fallow deer, tawny owls are known to nest here although it would be unusual to see one in the day.

For buggies or wheelchairs continue past the Talbot Inn and turn left into Church Road, Christchurch is ahead of you, the road is less steep than Chelsea Lane.

The history of Christchurch

Christchurch was built, in a Neo-Norman style, between 1839 and 1844, for the Earl of Powys by Thomas Penson. The stone used was dolerite, a granite-like rock from the Ordovician age, which was formed by the rocks in a molten state being injected through the ocean floor muds during the formation of a local volcanic centre. It was quarried from Standard Quarry at the western end of town.

Dolerite was too hard for intricate carving and could only be used for walls. Windows, doors and more detailed carving required a more uniform texture stone - a freestone - that could be shaped.

The stone chosen was a red sandstone, formed during the Triassic period (250 million years ago), from Shrewsbury plain.

The foundations of Christchurch were laid to commemorate the coming of age of the Earl's son Viscount Clive. Although part of the parish of Welshpool, the church has always been used 'as an estate church' by the Powys family.

Architecturally it is notable for its interior decoration and early use of terracotta (mostly from 'Ruabon brick'). Declining congregations and incomes, and the onset of structural problems with the church fabric led to its closure in 1999. The church has now been sold for development.

The view to the northwest of the church sweeps across the houses on the main street towards the housing estate on the far side to a steep woody slope. The rocks which form these slopes are soft Ordovician mudstones, which are rich in fossil trilobites - for which the town is famous amongst geologists.

In the town look out for swifts, swallows, house martins and other garden birds: robins, blackbirds and thrushes. hedgehogs, slow-worms and foxes are about although there are no urban badgers in Welshpool, In the evening you may see brown long-eared and lesser horseshoe bats, and in the surrounding fields there are barn owls.

The Town Hall

There has been a Town Hall on the present site since 1796. The original Town Hall was built of brick with an open arched front and contained a market hall, an assize court and a ballroom.

Despite successive extensions and enlargements the whole was replaced in 1874 by the 'French neo-classical' building seen today - using yellow sandstone either from Shrewsbury or Flintshire.

St Mary's Church

The large church of St Mary's that directly overlooks the town was founded in the 6th century by St Cynfelyn, and later dedicated to St Mary.

The building's origins begin in the 13th century. Many additions have been made over time, culminating with alterations made in the Victorian age. The walls of the church are constructed with stone randomly gathered from the area, including rounded cobbles from local glacial deposits, flaggy yellow sandstones from Shropshire and occasional blocks from the Welshpool Dyke.

These stones are all probably re-used fragments of the older churches that stood on this site and from the Cistercian Abbey of Strata Marcella that stood on the outskirts of the town.

The churchyard is a great place to look for wildflowers with over 100 species being recorded here including oxeye daisy and red valerian. Many interesting lichens grow here; their presence indicates that the air quality in Welshpool is wet and clean.

There are also a fine selection of yew trees and black poplar. The churchyard also provides a great habitat for a variety of small mammals including voles, rabbits and foxes.

On leaving the church turn left into Church Road and cross the road. Turn left again to return to the car park.

From the medieval period well into the 18th century Welshpool's prosperity was based on the wool and flannel trade - the town being at the centre of a large rural area ideal for sheep rearing and wool production. Before the industrial revolution some of Britain's earliest factories for cloth production.

From the car park you can see the Red Lion Flannel Factory, named after the public house that it stood behind (one of 96 that at one time existed in Welshpool!). It was built in about 1830 in local stone and rises to an impressive 5 floors. It was converted into flats in 1994, and had once been a cinema.

Welshpool never developed to the scale as nearby Newtown, but by the 18th century it boasted two large flannel mills and an extensive range of agricultural support services. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Welshpool saw major building works and 'urban renewal'.

Many buildings in the town centre were rebuilt during the Georgian period and much of the architecture survives today. Growth had its darker side - by the middle of the 19th century the land to the north of Broad Street had become an area of squalid slums.

Ramshackle terraces built as successive waves of workers housing occupied the long thin 'burgage plots' that had once belonged to the medieval houses on Broad Street and High Street.

At this time a severe outbreak of cholera in this area killed many people, and thereafter much of it was progressively cleared or improved. Little remains today of this warren although occasional buildings can be seen.

In the few alleys that do survive the overall pattern of narrow strips - which are themselves a survival of medieval land boundaries - can still be seen on large scale maps of the town.

Thanks to: Chris Martin of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT), to John Davies, Geologist, Countryside Council for Wales, and to Chris Faulkner, from Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust.

For more historic walks in Welshpool contact Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT). The trust is one of four Archaeological Trusts in Wales that provide a range of regional heritage services for Wales.