be the site of the Roman station of Mediolanum. Y Foel Camp Y Foel Camp is situated on the summit of the Foel Hill, to the west of the Winllan Road. It has many hallmarks of an Iron Age fortification, and there are signs of a rampart and a ditch. Skirmishes and battles Two battles fought within this parish are recorded. Around the middle of the 5th century, a battle is said to have taken place in the township of Llanerch. Emrys wen Pascen induced the Saxons to attack the Welsh. Emerys Benaur was appointed head of the Welsh army, and his victory secured the naming of the township in his honour. These events have no known factual basis. The second recorded battle was fought between Meredydd and Ithel, sons of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, on one side and Bleddyn and Rhiwallon on the other. The battle was fought for the crown of Gwynedd and Powys. Ithel and Rhiwallon were slain and Meredydd took flight, leaving Bleddyn the sole king of North Wales and Powys. Evolution of the village name The earliest written form in the Book of Llandaff, a 12th-century document, refers to 'Llann sanfreit' in 1066. With so many places named Llansanffraid in Wales it was necessary to add location details, hence Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain (in Mechain) and Llansanffraid Glyn Ceiriog, etc. The earliest written record of Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain is 1254 as 'Llansanfret'. In 1526 the name of the village appeared as 'Llansayntefrayde' in an English document. "The 'saynte' suggests an English influence on the Welsh name." The English language tithe maps of the early 1800s use two anglicised forms, 'Llansaintffraid' and 'Llansaintfraid'. The first Ordnance Survey drawing map by Robert Dawson in 1830 records the spelling of the village name as 'Llansanffraid'. Welsh place names were often anglicised. For example, when the railway arrived in the village in 1862, the station was called 'Llansaintffraid'. The Border Advertiser was originally a railway company publication to advertise the railway, but as it became a local newspaper it continued to use this spelling. By the beginning of the 20th century, the 'i' was lost, and the spelling appears to change again. In 1863, Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain had a station on the Llanfyllin Branch Line which connected the village to both the small market town of Llanfyllin and Llanmynech which was on the Oswestry and Newtown Railway. In 1922 when the Great Western Railway took over the