What is "mainstone"

Mainstone is a small village and civil parish in southwest Shropshire, England, near the border with Powys, Wales. The village lies approximately 1 mile northwest of the small village of Cefn Einion. The market town of Bishop's Castle lies some 3 miles to the east, while the small town of Clun is about 5 miles away to the south.

It lies in the Clun Forest, a large remote and very rural area which is semi-forested and rather hilly.

The Church of England parish church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, lies in the hamlet of Churchtown (alternatively written as "Church Town") a mile west of Mainstone, though the village itself contains a Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1892 and still in use in the mid-2000s.

The River Unk originates in and then flows through the parish. Offa's Dyke also cuts north-south through the area, bisecting the hamlet of Churchtown. The long-distance footpaths " Shropshire Way" and " Offa's Dyke Path" pass through the area and join just outside Churchtown.

Mainstone lies at around the 260m above sea level mark. The surrounding hills all peak at roughly 400-420m.