70) 



DENBIGHSHIRE. 



DENBIGHSHIRE. 



much more convenient town was then formed about the bottom of 

 the rook. The wall* of the old town were of great strength. 



Denbigh castle appear* to hare bean erected by Henry Lacy, earl 

 of Lincoln, upon whom Kdward I. conferred the lordship of this 

 plan on the death of Llewellyn, the lait prince of Wales. The 

 castle walls ware of extraordinary itrength : the outer and inner 

 faces were built in the usual way, and the interval wa> filled with 

 rough (tone* of all size* and with a grouting of hot mortar, which, 

 on cooling, formed a man u hard as atone. The grand entrance to 

 the castle, a magnificent pointed archway, with the statue of the 

 founder in a niche over it, in tolerably good preservation, still 

 remains : there are also portions of two large octagonal towers which 

 flanked the entrance. The walls, which run round the brow of the 

 hill, inclose a considerable area, partly used for pasture, and partly as 

 a bowling-green. Edward IV. was besieged in this castle by the 

 army of Henry VI., but he made his escape before the castle 

 surrendered. Charles I. came here on his flight from Chester after 

 the battle of Rowton Heath in 1645, and the tower in which he is 

 said to hare lodged is now called the King's Tower. The garrison 

 withstood the Parliamentarians for above two months, and then 

 surrendered only by order of the king. After the restoration of 

 Charles II. the castle was dismantled, but owing to the excessive 

 thickness of the walls it was found necessary to blast them with 

 gunpowder. 



The town is well-pared and lighted, and possesses a mechanics 

 institution, a dispensary and infirmary, a lunatic asylum, and a new 

 and handsome market-place. The pariah church is at Whitchurch, 

 about a mile from the town ; it is very ancient It has been recently 

 repaired. A chapel near the castle gate, within the old town walls, 

 once belonged to the old castle, and was dedicated to St. Hilary. 

 There is a church for the Welsh portion of the inhabitants. The 

 Independents, Calvinistic and Wcsleyon Methodists, Baptists, and 

 Plymouth Brethren have places of worship. There are National 

 schools, a British school, two Endowed schools, a Free grammar 

 school, and a Blue-Coat school. Denbigh has a considerable manu- 

 factory of gloves and shoes ; tanning is extensively carried on. The 

 markets are held on Wednesday and Saturday ; there are six fairs in 

 the year. The neighbourhood is greatly celebrated for the beauty 

 of its scenery. 



(Land We Live In, vol. iii. ; Pennant, North Wale* ; Cliffe, Book of 

 Piorth Walet; Parry, Cambrian Mirror; Bingley, North Walet ; 

 Communication from Denbigh.) 



DKXr.KJHSIIIKE, a county of North Wales, of very irregular 

 form. It is bounded N. by the Irish Sea ; N.E. by the county of 

 Flint ; E. by that of Chester, from which it is separated by the Dee ; 

 S. E. by a detached part of Flintshire, and by Shropshire, from both 

 of which it is also separated by the Dee; S. by Montgomeryshire ; 

 S.W. by Merionethshire ; and W. by Caernarvonshire, from which it 

 is separated by the river Conway. A small detached part of the 

 county i included between Shropshire and Montgomcryshii 

 greatest length, from north-west (Llan Drillo Rh6s, near Little. 

 Orme's Head) to south-east (Llan Oedwyn, on the river Tan.it), is 

 4 1 miles ; its greatest breadth from the extremity of the county 

 near Eaton Hall (which is in Cheshire) to the source of the Khaiadr, 

 which flows into the Tanat, is about 29 miles. The area of the 

 county is about 603 square miles : the population in 1851 was 

 02,583. 



Surface, Hydrography, and Communication*. The Hiraethog hills, 

 which occupy the western side of the county towards Caernarvonshire, 

 extend from the north-western extremity of Denbighshire, near Little 

 Orme's Head, in a south-south-east direction, skirting the valley of the 

 Conway, to which they present their steepest side ; on the east side 

 several ridges of hills varying in length from 5 to 10 miles, nin out 

 laterally from the principal range. The Hiraethog hills, with these 

 lateral branches, form one of the most extensive and dreary wastes in 

 the principality of Wales, stretching in length from 25 to 80 miles, 

 from the neighbourhood of Little Orme's Head to near the town of 

 Corwen (Merionethshire), on the Dee; and in breadth according to the 

 extent of the lateral ridge*. The general covering of these hills is 

 heath or ling : the hollows and flats abound with excellent peat for 

 The principal summit of the Hiraethog range is Modwl Eithin, 

 1660 feet high. In the branch ridges the highest summit is Bronbanog, 

 near the source of the Clwyd, 1572 feet The casern side ..! th, 

 county, adjacent to KlinUhire, is occupied by part of two parallel 

 ranges of hills (the western range called the Clwydian hills), which 

 commence on the coast of Flintshire, and enuring Denbighshire run 

 southward more than 20 miles towards the valley of the DCT, and are 

 united by the hills which form the northern side of that valley to the 

 Hiraethog range already described. The whole may be considered as 

 forming one range 60 to 65 miles long, in the form of a horse-shoe, or 

 of the Tetter O, and inclosing the beautiful and fertile vale of Chw.i 

 The Clwydian hills and the parallel range inclose a valley watered by 

 the river Alli-n (Alen or Alyn) a tributary of the Dee. The principal 

 -mnraltji of the Clwydian and parallel range* vary In height from 1491 

 feet to 1858 feet. The Berwyn hills, which separate the basin of the 

 Dee from that of its tributary, the Ceirlfig, and the hills which sopnratp 

 the basin of ths Oiriog from that of the Tanat (whose waters flow 

 though not immediately, into the Strtrn), occupy the southern part 



of the count '. ha, in the Berwyn range, south of the town of 



Llangollen, U 1316 feet high. 



The waters of Denbighshire find an outlet into the sea chiefly by the 

 Conway, the Clwyd, and the Dee, not one of which has its ecstuary 

 within the county. The Conway carries off the waters of the western 

 slope of the Hiraethog hills : the Clwyd drains the country inclosed 

 between the Hiraethog and the Clwydian hills, except a small part 

 which is drained by the Alwen, a feeder of the Dee ; the Dee receive* 

 by several tributaries the waters of the rest of the county. The 

 Conway is noticed under CAERNARVONSHIRE. Its Denbighshire 

 tributaries are all small, for the hills on whose slopes they rise are 

 near the main stream : these tributaries are the Serw, which flows 

 from 1.1 vn Serw and joins the Conway near iU source, the Clettwr, 

 the stream from Cerniogc, the Afon Hwch, the stream which passes 

 Eglwys Fach, and many other smaller streams. The Clwyd rises near 

 the hill Bronbanog. [CI.WYD.] The width of the valley of the Clwyd 

 allows the formation of several large affluents. The Dee touches the 

 border of the county 4 or 5 miles below the town of Corwen 

 (Merionethshire), and after separating it from Merionethshire for a 

 mile or two, quits the border and crosses Denbighshire in a \\ 

 course from west to east through the vale of Llangollen, passing the 

 town of Llangollen, and Wynnstay, the seat of Sir \V. \Y*. Wynn. A 

 little below Wynnstay it reaches the border of the county, :m.| divides 

 it from Shropshire, a detached part of Flintshire, and Cheshire, until 

 it finally quits Denbighshire a little above Eaton Hall. That part of 

 the course of the Dee which is upon or within the border of the 

 county, may be estimated at more than 40 miles ; the river is not 

 navigable till after it leaves Denbighshire. Of those feeders of the 

 Dee which belong to Denbighshire, the Hhaiadr or Mocb, the Alwen, 

 the C'ciriog, the river which rise* at Minera and passes near Wrcxham, 

 and the Alen, or Alyn, are the chief. [DEE.] The Rhaiadr, or Moch, is a 

 small stream which forms the boundary of Denbighshire and Merioneth- 

 shire. Its length does not exceed 7 or 8 miles, but it forms in it* 

 course the celebrated waterfall of Pist ill Rhaiadr. This fall, which is 

 the loftiest and perhaps most picturesque waterfall in North V 

 is broken into two parts; its total height is about 200 feet. Thu 

 southern border of the county is skirted for about 5 miles by the 

 Tanat, which flows by the Vyrnwy into the Severn. The Ywrch, the 

 Cwmrhiw, and one or two other affluents of the Tauat belong to 

 Denbighshire, but they are small. Some small streams in the northern 

 part of the county flow directly into the sea between the Conway and 

 the Clwyd. The Dolwen, the largest of them, has a course of not more 

 than 8 miles. 



There is in Denbighshire a navigable feeder of the Ellesmcre Canal. 

 It is taken from the Dee near Llan Tysilio, in this county, and follows 

 the valley of that river to the neighbourhood of Ruabon, when 

 is a short railroad from the canal to Ruabon brook. The canal then 

 turns abruptly, and crossing the river Dee, over which it is carried by 

 the aqueduct of Pont Cysylltau, runs southward to the river Ceiriog, 

 o\vr which it is carried by another aqueduct bridge, and thence into 

 Shropshire. There is another large aqueduct bridge over the Ceiriog, 

 built of stone, which is 600 feet in length, and is supported on 10 

 arches at an elevation of 65 feet above the river. 



Of the roods which cross Denbighshire the most important U the 

 parliamentary mail road from London to Holyhead, which was, until 

 v. the principal channel of communication between the Metro- 

 polis mill Dublin. It enters Denbighshire near the village of Chirk, 

 and runs northward to near the Dee, where it turns to the west, and 

 passing through Llangollen, enters Merionethshire. It afterwards 

 re-enters Denbighshire, which it finally quits by crossing the Conway 

 at Bettws-y-Coed. The mail road from London to Holyhead, by 

 Chester, enters Denbighahire t. Asaph and Abergele, and 



quits it at the bank of the Conway. The Chester and Holyhead 

 railway enters the county near Uhyl and passes along the coast to the 

 bank of the Couway, a distance of about 14 miles, where it enters 

 Caernarvonshire. The Chester and Shrewsbury railway enters the 

 county a few miles north from Wrcxham, and proceeding sout! 

 quits it near Chirk, a distance of about 12 miles. 



Geology, Mineralogy, Ac. In describing the geological character of 

 this county, we shall notice the principal rocks which are found in it 

 in the order of superposition, beginning with the uppermost, the red 

 marl or new red-sandstone. This rock occupies part of the coast on 

 the north of the county, and skirts the Clwyd from its mouth to above 

 l!ut hin. It is found also occupying a considerable tract in the cattcrn 

 part of the county, along the Dee, extending from that river to the 

 town of Wr.xham : ami again it is found in the valley of the Ceiriog, 

 in nr the village of Chirk. The coal measures which underlie the red 

 marl, and which form the coal-field of Flintshire, xtm.l from that 

 county Into Denbighshire as far as \Vr. xhain, nnd again appear in the 

 valley of the Dec, extending from Ruabon to Chirk. Coal in dug near 

 Wrexham and in the neighbourhood of Ruabon. Common, cannel, 

 and peacock coal are found in these coal-measures. The coal-measures 

 rest on a base of shale and sandstone, answering in position MM. I 

 character to the millstone grit if Derbyshire; this base rises to the 

 surface, and occupies a narrow strip of the county extending from 

 Flintshire south-east to Wrcxham, and from that town south by west 

 to Chirk; after which it continues Into Shropshire, skirting the 

 Flintshire and Kuabon coal-fields. The shalt ii succeeded by cnrboni- 



