Manafon is a small rural community located in the hills of Montgomeryshire, the Northern part of the Welsh county of Powys. The Parish focuses on the valley of the River Rhiew that runs west to east into the River Severn". The community of Manafon consists of "two main villages within about a mile of one another, Manafon and New Mills. The remainder of the population lives in scattered farms and dwellings and in the small rural settlement of The Green." The village is from Welshpool, from Cardiff, and from London. In 2011 the population of Manafon was 301 with 18.4% of them able to speak Welsh. Between 1841 and 1901 the population declined from 795 to 501. The name was recorded in 1254 as Manauon with Mannavon in 1338, and "the modern spelling first appears early in the reign of Elizabeth, c.1566." Experts now suggest that it means "the ‘plain associated with Anafon’, where the first element is Welsh ma meaning ‘plain, field or place’ and the second a personal name", rather than afon meaning ‘river’, as in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was the earlier view. Manafon in 1833 From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, 1833: MANAVON, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of NEWTOWN, county of MONTGOMERY, NORTH WALES, 8 1/2 miles (W. S. W.) from Welshpool, containing 775 inhabitants. This parish is situated in a mountainous district nearly in the centre of the county, and is intersected by the river Rhiw, and also by the road leading from Llanvair to Newtown and Montgomery: it comprises an extensive tract of land, of which a considerable portion is uncultivated, and of the remainder, one-half consists of old enclosures, and the other has been enclosed and brought into a state of cultivation under the provisions of an act of parliament obtained in 1796. The surrounding scenery is strikingly diversified; and from the higher grounds are obtained extensive and pleasingly varied prospects. The manufacture of flannel is carried on to a limited extent. St Michael's Church St Michael's and All Angels Church is an active Anglican church in the parish of Llanfair Caereinion, Llanllugan and Manafon, built in stone with slate roof. The church has been designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building. There is documentary evidence relating to a church on the site in 1254 and 1291 but otherwise nothing is known of its history