Penallt information board

Image: © Jaggery Taken: 21 Dec 2014

Located near the corner of Lone Lane. Arrows on top of the board point left towards The Inn at Penallt and Penallt Old Church. The board states that Penallt takes its name from the Welsh for the top of the hill. The Parish of 3¾ square miles (960 hectares) rises from the River Wye (15 metres above sea level) to 245 metres near its western boundary. The much admired Old Church, mentioned in a diocesan document written c1200AD, is still in use as a parish church. Its original dedication has long been forgotten. Its daughter church, St Mary, built in 1868 was deconsecrated in 2003 after the closure of the village school next door. The three Nonconformist chapels in the village were deconsecrated in the 20th century. No trace now remains of the medieval Church of St Denys which stood near the River Wye. There is no longer a post office nor shop in the village and only two inns remain. The village hall is named after a famous cricketing family. Pelham Hall is home to the village cricket club formed in 1884 by the Hon. A. Pelham. It is also home to the Penallt and District Tennis Club (courts opened in 1978). The Babington Meadow, adjoining the former St Mary's Church, is a recreation ground and open air theatre venue. George Bernard Shaw frequently visited Sydney and Beatrice Webb in the village. Shaw is said to have written some of his best plays whilst staying here. Shaw and the Webbs worked together to found the London School of Economics and the Fabian Society. Penallt was renowned for the quality of its pudding stone quarried to make millstones. Local sandstone quarries are reputed to have supplied the builders of Raglan Castle.

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