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Castle Leather Works;Drill Hall;Castle Cinema;Engineering Works;Supermarket, Rhayader

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NPRN416901
Map ReferenceSN96NE
Grid ReferenceSN9687467954
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPowys
Old CountyRadnorshire
CommunityRhayader
Type Of SiteSUPERMARKET
PeriodPost Medieval
Description
Castle Leather Works is believed to date from about 1830. The Tithe Map of 1841 shows a building with a leat from the River Wye forking into two branches as it enters the building at the western end; presumably there were two internal waterwheels. The first edition Ordnance Survey 25-inch map of 1889 shows only one leat entering and leaving the building, which is not named. Originally a three-storey building, it was destroyed by fire in about 1910 and was re-built as a drill hall, later incorporating a rifle practice range. In 1913, it was opened as a cinema and dance hall, the waterwheel driving a generator which provided power for the projectors. The hall became known as the Castle Cinema; following its closure in the 1960s, it housed an engineering company making gears. The building subsequently became a supermarket.
Sources include: Melin, The Journal of the Welsh Mills Society, Vol. 5 (1989), p.41.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 26 February 2014.