Ford Village Only
Although many people travelling along the A458 to or from Mid-Wales will have seen the sign for Ford Village Only, few will have taken the time to visit this remarkable settlement. Even fewer know the history of the village. And yet during the mediaeval period, Ford Village Only was one of most important trading centres in Wales and the Welsh Borders, rivalling Shrewsbury, Telford and Borth.
The history of Ford Village Only, or FVO as local residents refer to it, dates back to Roman times. In the 2nd Century AD, the Roman historian Pliny the Even Younger recorded that a wealthy merchant named Marcus Spensus Mondeus built a villa on the borders of Cambria. This building, which Mondeus named Mondeo Villa Unicum, was the beginning of the community that would one day be known as Ford Village Only.
Over time, Mondeus’s descendents increased and grew in wealth, and Mondeo Villa Unicum grew in size correspondingly. Eventually a chariotway was built to transport goods between the villa and Salopia (Shrewsbury). One arch of this chariotway still exists near the cache, and is considered one of the finest surviving Roman arches outside Bolivia.
With the decline of the Roman Empire in Britain, the villa and the surrounding outbuildings fell into ruins, and it was not until the 13th century that it once again emerged as an important trading centre. A local historian of the time, Pliny Jones, recorded that Edward I found the village was a convenient stopping-off point on his journeys to and from Wales when crushing the revolts of Morgan the Penultimate and Llewelyn the Last.
The town was fortunate to have been spared from much of the plagues and pestilence that scoured mediaeval Europe at this time. This allowed the town to grow in size, and attracted merchants from all over the country. Livestock fairs were held annually, and some of the best sheep, cattle and wombats in the country could be purchased from local farmers. A guild of merchants was formed, and the town mayor commanded a great deal of power and respect. However it was the guild of merchants that unwittingly led to the town's final demise.
In 1734, a female entrepreneur named Dinah Dinkie was hoping to open a coffee house in Ford Village Only. However the guild of merchants prevented her from doing so, claiming that a woman running a business was an abomination against God. Undeterred, she purchased a small plot of land south of the town, and built her café there instead. Although business was poor at first, such was the demand for coffee that the reputation of her establishment began to spread and travellers soon started to avoid the town in order to visit the café. This proved to be the start of the second down-turn in Ford Village Only’s fortunes. In the second half of the 18th century the turnpike from Shrewsbury to Welshpool was constructed, following the main routes taken by travellers, and therefore it went not via Ford Village Only, but via the café instead. Once again Ford Village Only found itself cut off from the main trade routes, and declined in size to the mere village that it is today.
Ironically, the café that caused Ford Village Only’s downfall closed in 1760, shortly after the turnpike opened, with the death of Miss Dinkie. However in recent years a more modest establishment has been built in the same location as a tribute to this remarkable woman.