703 



DENBIGHSHIRE. 



DENBIGHSHIRE. 



706 



feroua limestone or mountain limestone, which extends from the 

 co:ist, in the neighbourhood of Great and Little Orme's Head (both 

 these promontories consist of this rock), and forms part of the mass 

 of the hills that extend from the Hiraethog hills to the vale of Clwyd. 

 A considerable part of that vale, and the upper part of the valley of 

 the Alen, separated from it by the Clwydian hills, are also occupied 

 by this limestone, which extends south-east from the vale of Clwyd 

 across the vale of Llangolleu into Shropshire. The older red-sand- 

 stone, which underlies the mountain limestone, occupies a narrow 

 belt of the surface, skirting the district which has just been described 

 as occupied by the limestone. The Hiraethog hills are formed 

 principally of transition limestone. The rest of the county is occupied 

 by the clay slates and grauwacke slates, which are BO abundant in 

 ( Conybeare and Phillips's 'Outlines of the Geology of 

 England and Wales ; ' Greenough's ' Geological Map of England 

 and Walus ; ' ' Geological Map of the Society for Diffusion of Useful 

 Knowledge.') 



The coal-mines of Wrexham and Ruabon have been already men- 

 tioned. There are some old lead-mines near Abergele, oil the coast : 

 others in the range of limestone hills which run parallel to the 

 ( awyduffi hills on the east, and others again in the neighbourhood of 

 Ruabon. On the western side of Great Orme's Head copper is worked. 

 Iron ore is du^ at Ruabon and in the neighbourhood of Wrexham. 

 Slate is quarried near Chirk; millstones are procured in the hills 

 which bound the valley of the Ceiriog, and freestone for building in 

 s places, especially near the coal-field. 



/ 'slons, Towns, etc. The ancient districts and subdivisions of 

 Wales were superseded by the modern counties and hundreds, 

 which were introduced as late as the reign of Henry VIII. By statute 

 in the 27th year of Henry's reign, four shires were formed in Wales, 

 of which Denbigh was one: these were subdivided into hundreds; 

 and it was enacted that the English laws should from thenceforth be 

 in force through Wales, all laws, customs, and tenures inconsistent 

 therewith being for ever abolished. The present hundreds are six 

 namely, Bromfield, Chirk, Isaled, Isdulas, Ruthin, and Yale. The 

 county contains one principal borough and market-town, namely, 

 DENBIGH : two market-towns, which arc contributory boroughs to 

 Denbigh, namely, WBEXUAM and UUTHIX ; one borough which has no 

 market, Holt ; and two market-towns, Llangolleu and LLANRWST. 

 Holt and Llangolleu we notice here, the other towns will be found 

 described under their respective titles. 



Hull is on the river Dee, which here separates Denbighshire from 

 ire, 6 miles N.E. from Wrexham : population of the borough 

 1029 in 1851. In the civil war of Charles I. Holt Castle was garrisoned 

 for the king, but was seized in 1643 by the parliamentary troops. 

 Scarcely any relics of it are left The town is an irregular assemblage 

 of (treats or lanes ; the main street leading down to the bridge of ten 

 arches over the Dee, by which Holt is united to the village of Farndon. 

 This bridge was built in 1345 ; there are relics of a guard-house in 

 the middle. The chapel of Holt is a plain building in the perpendi- 

 cular style. There are a chapel for Baptists, and a Free school. The 

 population is chiefly engaged in agriculture. There are two cattle 

 fairs in the year. 



/.' niyollen stands on the right bank of the river Dee, and on the 

 parliamentary mail-road from London to Holyhead, 184 miles from 

 London ; the Llangollen road station of the Chester and Shrewsbury 

 railway, which is 4 miles from Llangollen, is 198 miles from London : 

 the population of the entire parish, which extends over an area of 

 20,176 acres, was 5260 in 1851. The vale of Llangolleu is much 

 resorted to by tourists on accouut of its picturesque beauty and its 

 antiquarian remains. The streets are narrow, and the houses are 

 built of a dark shaly stone. The bridge was built by John Trevor, 

 bishop of St. Asaph, who died in 1357 ; it consists of five arches, the 

 widest not having more than 28 feet span. The inhabitants are 

 engaged in agriculture, in quarrying stone, in burning lime, and in the 

 manufacture of flannel, cotton goods, and earthenware, and in iron- 

 works and collieries. The market is on Saturday ; there are five fairs 

 in the year. The Ellesmere Canal passes through the parish. The 

 church is a plain edifice. There are places of worship for Inde- 

 pendents, Baptists, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. Castell 

 IJinaj Bran, whose remains nearly cover the summit of the conical 

 hill on which it is placed, is on the north bank of the Dee, just 

 opposite to Lllangollen. It was built of the coarse stone of the 

 country, with here and there a few freestone mouldings. Llan Egwest, 

 or Valle C'rucis Abbey, is just within the parish of Llan Tysilio, and 

 on the border of that of Llangolleu. There are some beautiful remains 

 of the church and of a part of the abbey, the latter now converted into 

 a farm-house. A short distance from the abbey is the remainder of 

 a round pillar, called the pillar of Eliseg, probably the most ancient 

 British inscribed pillar existing. 



The following are some of the more important villages, with the 

 populations in 1851 and a few other particulars : 



Abergele, 11 miles N.N.W. from Denbigh, population of the palish 

 2855, lies at a short distance from the coast. It is much resorted to 

 in the summer as a bathing place. A considerable quantity of lime- 

 stone in shipped here from the Llysfaen quarries. During the summer 

 a small market it held on Saturday. Gwrych Castle is) an extensive 

 modern mansion in a fine situation. Chirk, 22 miles S.E. from 

 . niv. vor.. n. 



Denbigh, population of the parish 1590, is a village near the north 

 bank of the Ceiriog, on the road from Oswestry to Ruabon and 

 Wrexham. A considerable number of the inhabitants are employed 

 iu coal-pits, stone-quarries, lime-works, and some paper-mills. Three 

 fairs are held in the year. The Ellesmere Canal runs by the village ; 

 the Shrewsbury and Chester railway has a station at Chirk. Chirk 

 Castle, built by Roger Mortimer in the 13th century, on the Bite of 

 one erected in 1011, is a large oblong square, built round a quad- 

 rangular court, and inclosed by massive walls strengtheued by round 

 towers at the corners : a fifth tower is close to the entrance. The 

 interior is handsomely fitted up, and contains, among other apart- 

 ments, a gallery 100 feet long, adorned with the portraits of many 

 public characters of the time of Charles II. From the castle grounds 

 the prospects are of great beauty and extent : it is said that seventeen 

 counties may be seen from one spot. Greafonl, 23 miles E.S.E. from 

 Denbigh : population of the township 614. The church, an interest- 

 ing structure partly of the perpendicular style, is situated on an 

 eminence. The Shrewsbury and Chester railway has a station at 

 Gresford. Near the village are vestiges of a British fortress. Penlre 

 Voclas, 14 miles S.W. from Denbigh, population 561, is chiefly note- 

 worthy as being a rather favourite station for tourists and anglers. 

 At Ceruioge, a few miles from Peutre Voelas, the finest view of the 

 entire Snowdon range may be obtained. Near the village is Castell 

 Coch, an earthwork of uncertain date. Ruabon (or according to the 

 Welsh orthography, Rhiw Abou) is a village at the junction of the 

 roads from Oawestry and Llangollen to Wrexham, 25 miles S.E. from 

 Denbigh : the population of the entire parish, which covers an area 

 of 14,364 acres, was 11,507 in 1851. The church, which is spacious, 

 is adorned with some elegant monuments of the Wynn family, espe- 

 cially one by Rysbrack, to the memory of the first Sir Watkin Williams 

 Wynn, who died in 1747. There are several Dissenting meeting-houses 

 in the parish, also two sets of almshouses. Many of the inhabitants 

 are employed in the collieries and iron-works : the iron-ore is partly 

 dug in the adjacent kills, and partly brought from Lancashire. The 

 Ellesmere Canal passes through the parish ; there is a mineral railway 

 to Ruabon Brook, and the Shrewsbury and Chester railway has a 

 station here. A market is held every Monday. Three fairs are held 

 in the year. Wynnstay, the seat of the Wynu family, is at Ruabon, 

 the entrance to the park being immediately from the village. The 

 grounds are of great extent and very beautiful. The house contains 

 some good pictures. In the parish is an ancient British fortified post : 

 the area is about 4 acres, and it is defended by two ramparts and two 

 ditches : the inner rampart is a massy wall, on the top of which is 

 a carriage drive. In the vicinity of this post, iu 1161 or 1162, Owen 

 Cyfeiliog, prince of Powys, defeated the English, and commemorated 

 his victoiy in a poem called ' Hirlus Owaiu,' ' the Drinking Horn of 

 Owain." 



Divisions for Ecclesiastical and Legal Purposes. The county of 

 Denbigh is for the most part comprehended in the diocese and arch- 

 deaconry of St. Asaph : a small part is in the diocese and archdeaconry 

 of Bangor, and several parishes are iu the peculiar jurisdiction of the 

 Bishop of Bangor. A very small part is in the diocese and arch- 

 deaconry of Chester. According to the ' Census of Religious Worship,' 

 taken in 1851, there were then in the registration county (which 

 includes a population of 4332 more than the county proper) 341 places 

 of worship, of which 98 belonged to Calviuistic Methodists, and 73 to 

 other bodies of Methodists; 76 to the Church of England ; 49 to 

 Independents; 31 to Baptists ; and 14 to smaller bodies. The total 

 number of sittings provided was 78,120. The county is divided by 

 the Poor-Law Commissioners into three Unions, Llaurwst, Ruthiu, 

 and Wrexham, which include 82 parishes and townships, with a 

 population in 1851 of 69,375, but the boundaries of the Unions are 

 not strictly coextensive with those of the county. Denbighshire is 

 included in the North Wales circuit : the assizes are held at Ruthin ; 

 and the quarter sessions alternately nt Ruthin and Denbigh. County 

 courts are held af Denbigh, Llanrwst, and Ruthm. 



History, Antiquities, <fcc. Denbighshire, before the conquest of 

 South Britain by the Romans, was comprehended in the territory of 

 the Ordovices, a powerful tribe, into whose dominions Caractacus iu 

 his last struggle against the Romans transferred the seat of war, and 

 whose subjugation was not completed till the time of Agricola. In 

 the Roman division of the conquered part of the island, Denbighshire 

 was included in Britannia Secunda. Of monuments of the time 

 preceding the Roman conquest may be noticed two kistvaens, or stoue 

 cells, mentioned by C'amden : and perhaps the tumuli at Llan Annon 

 yn Yale. At Abergele are the remains of a British post, called Coppa 

 yr Wylfa, or the Mount of the Watch Tower ; but we know not to 

 what period it is to bo referred. 



When the Saxons established themselves in Britain, Denbighshire, 

 as being on the frontier towards Mercia, one of the kingdoms of the 

 heptarchy, or rather octarchy, established by that people, became the 

 scene of frequent struggles. To the time of these struggles we may 

 refer some existing monuments, as the pillar of Eliseg, near Llan- 

 golleu ; and the famous dyke, or ditch, called Offa's Dyke, made by 

 Ofla, king of Mercia, as a barrier against the predatory incursions of 

 the Welsh. This ditch is strengthened at intervals by small forts 

 on artificial mounds : several of the mounds yet remain. The ditch 

 is on the Welsh side of the mounds. The dyke crossed that detached 



2 7. 



