FLINTSHIEE. 



59 



bj hills, which in the Moel Fammau ("Mother of Hills ") attain an elevation of 1,823 

 feet. Coal and lead abound, and there are also iron works, but the manufacturino- 

 industry is of little importance. 



Haicarden, near which there are some potteries, overlooks the alluvial plain 

 at the mouth of the Dee. Mold lies some 4 miles inland, on the Alvn, a 

 tributary of the Dee : the hills enclosing it are rich in coal and oil shale, whilst 

 the river turns the wheels of several paper-mills. 



Flint, the county town, with large chemical works and collieries, lead mines and 

 paper-mills, in its neighbourhood, was formerly accessible to large vessels, but its 

 silted-up port now admits only small coasting vessels. Four miles to the west of it 



Fig. 29. — The Sands of the Dee, from above Bagilt. 



lies the ancient town of Holywell (Trefynnon), 1 mile from the estuary of the Dee. 

 It has lead mines, lime-kilns, and Roman cement works, and supplies the potteries 

 of Staffordshire with chert, but is celebrated more especially for its copious and 

 miraculous well, dedicated to St. Winifrid, and formerly a noted place of jjilgrim- 

 age and source of wealth to the adjoining Abbey of Basingwerk. A iew miles 

 inland lies Cacrufjs, the "Fortress of Assize," which up to 1672 was the county 

 town, and famous for its eisteddfods, but is now of little note. Mosti/n, a small 

 port below Holywell, exports coal from the collieries in its neighbourhood, 

 whilst Rhyl, near the mouth of the Elwy, has become a favourite seaside resort. 

 Proceeding up the Elwy, past Rhuddlan and its marshes, where Offa, King of 



