The Village Green and its origins

Unlike many villages where the village green has existed for hundreds of years, Dilwyn's village green is a relatively recent acquisition for the parish in that it is less than 50 years old.

The area of the village green was once the site of Cross House as shown on the map of 1837. This tithe map states that the owner at that time was William Humphreys.

A list of fields, described in the sale of Townsend Farm in 1889, names the village green area as "Late Cross House". The census of 1861 shows a William Harris living at a Cross House adjacent to Townsend Farm and the Crown Inn. Alec Whitfield's transcription of St Mary's gravestones records the death of a William Harris of Cross House in 1863. Cross House and its gardens occupied the area of the present green and that of the three bungalows next to the green.
Cross House would be an appropriate name for a house facing the junction in the centre of Dilwyn. It would have to have been demolished sometime between 1863 and 1889 as, by the above mentioned sale of 1889, the area of the Village Green was an enclosed paddock that was part of Townsend Farm. When the tenant, Harold Williams, died the owners, Garnston Estate would not renew the tenancy for the surviving family and, after some time, put up the farm and land for sale. Harold Williams was the third generation of the Williams family to farm at Townsend Farm. The barns belonging to the farm, which were directly behind the present green have not survived but the farmhouse itself still exists. A trace of the access track to one of the barns can still be seen on the green.

So, eventually, the farm and land was sold with some of the land being sold for building plots on which now stand five bungalows.
However, permission to build on the area now occupied by the green was not forthcoming, - possibly because, at that time, one of the village's mains water supply pipes ran under the green. Incidentaly, although superceded by a new supply, the mains water pipe under the green was still live until a few years ago as Welsh Water had forgotten to shut it down!

The following newspaper article describes how the green was eventually donated to the village by Mr Macadie the developer of Karen Court.

Newspaper article transcription

Gift of village green "marks turning point"

Left to right at the ceremony: Mr H.P. Motram, Mr Jim Davies, Mr R.I. Macadie, and Mrs Macadie.

The gift of a village green for Dilwyn was marked by an official hand over ceremony on Saturday attended by county council, district council and parish council representatives and members of the public.
The three-quarter-of-an-acre green, in the village centre, has been presented to the village by Mr, R. I Macadie, of Shipley, Holme Lacy. who took over old farm buildings with land in the village and transformed them into half-timber period cottages in a courtyard development.
Tributes to Mr. Macadie‘s generosity and the tremendous improvement his housing development has made to Dilwyn were paid bv Mr, H.P. Motteram, clerk of the parish council, and Maior J.B. Fowler, county councillor and member of Weobley Rural Council.
"This wonderful gift and all Mr. MaCadie has done for the village is greatly appreciated by all of us," said Mr.Motteram,"Dilwyn will become one of the beautiful villages in this part of Herefordshire."
Mr. Macadie, who was accompanied by his wife, in handing over title deeds to Mr. Jim Davies, chairman of the parish council, said he looked forward to seeing the`green being used for fetes and other activities.
Mrs Arnold Davies, a member of the parish council for 30 years, presented a bouquet to Mrs Macadie.
Major Fowler said that with Mr. Macadie having done so much to improve the local scene and with work on the bypass scheme for Dilwyn about to begin, they could look forward to the village becoming one of che county‘s show places.
The Rev. J. Clingo said, "It is not everyone who will help with a gift of land when it is as precious as it is today. This marks a turning point in the life of the village, to make it much more of a community than it has been and to bring back into our countryside something of the treasure and joy of being Englishmen."

Over the years trees and benches have been added to the green and in the year 2000, to celebrate the millenium, a carved stone seat and a stone plinth set with a stainless steel 'history capsule' was also added. The green has now been designated as a protected green space. More recently, a traditional cast iron signpost has been added to the edge of the green.