Forden is a parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 consisting of several settlements near Welshpool

Welshpool

Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...

 in Powys

Powys

Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...

.

Looking down on the parish is the Long Mountain

Long Mountain (Powys)

The Long Mountain is a hill to the east of Welshpool in Powys, Wales. It rises to a height of 408m at Beacon Ring, where there is a hill fort.The Long Mountain extends from Forden in the southwest to Vennington in Shropshire to the northeast...

, which stretches north eastwards from Forden as far as the border between Montgomeryshire and Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

.

History

Traces of a Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 and of a Roman camp called locally "the Gaer" are near the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

, in a township of the parish called Thornbury.

In 1868, the National Gazetteer said of the parish
The parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of St Michael and All Angels, about half a mile to the west of the road from Welshpool to Montgomery, was enlarged in 1830. For some three hundred years the church was the burial-place of the family of Devereux, whose estate of Nantcribba is within the parish. The marble font

Baptismal font

A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

, oval in shape, was presented in 1794 by Richard Edmunds, Esq.

Governance

A rural district

Rural district

Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...

 of Forden was created by the Local Government Act 1894

Local Government Act 1894

The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...

 and survived until 1974. All significant local government

Local government

Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...

 services are now provided by the Powys County Council

Powys County Council

Powys County Council is the governing body for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. It has three area committees — one for each of Brecknockshire, Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire to which the council delegates its functions. The council offices are located in Llandrindod...

 unitary authority

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

. There is also a Forden with Leighton and Trelystan community council

Community council

A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies...

, which has a mostly consultative role.

For the purposes of the National Assembly for Wales

National Assembly for Wales

The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...

, Forden is part of the Montgomeryshire assembly constituency

Montgomeryshire (Assembly constituency)

Montgomeryshire is a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales. It elects one Assembly Member by the first past the post method of election...

 and the Mid and West Wales electoral region.

The parish forms part of the Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Montgomeryshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1542, it elects one Member of Parliament , traditionally known as the knight of the shire, by the first-past-the-post system of election.The Montgomeryshire Welsh Assembly...

 parliamentary constituency and is currently represented at Westminster by Glyn Davies

Glyn Davies (Welsh politician)

Glyn Davies is a Welsh Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire since May 2010, and is a former member of the National Assembly for Wales in the Mid and West Wales region .-Background:Educated at Castle Caereinion...

 (Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

).