Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/48

FLINT. 40 FLINT. Holywell, Halkin, Kilken, Mold, MUwr, and Talar- Goch, near Dyserth. Some of these are believed to have been worked by the Romans, and were considered the richest lead-mines in England, but recently have not been found so productive as formerly. Copper is also found, and there are considerable brass works at Holywell, besides calamine, sulphate of zinc, popularly known as black jack, and barytes, the last occurring at Cefn Meiriadog. Many other mineral productions, as marble, chart, petroleum, millstone, building stone, fire- clay, potters' clay, are found in different parts of the county. The surface is moderately hilly, and along the coast low and sandy, with much wasto land, and some rich meadows recently reclaimed from the Dee. The chief ranges of hills are those which skirt the S.W. boundary of the c'ounty, along the valleys of the Upper Alyn and Clwyd, rising at Moel-^-Famma to the height of 1,845 feet ; at Arthur's Camp to 1,491 ; and at Moel-y-Cloddian to 1,452. Another range of hills, as mentioned above, runs through the middle of the county from S.E. to N.W., rising at Moel-y-Gaer to the height of 1,050 feet, and separating the water-shed of the county into two grand divisions, the one drained by the Alyn, or Alun, and the Clwyd, and the other by the Dee. These rivers, though they have part of their course within Flintshire, rather belong to other counties, except, perhaps, the new channel of the Dee, which constitutes the only inland navigation this county possesses. Other rivers are the Elwy, Terrig, and Wheler. The county is traversed by theChester and Holyhead section of the London and North- Western railway, which passes along the estuary of the Dee from the Dee ferry to Ehyl, a distance of about 28 miles. There is also a branch line of 13 miles from Chester to Mold; and the Vale of Clwyd lino, which branches off from the Chester and Holyhead main line at Rhyl, then passing by llhuddlan and St. Asaph, where there are stations, is carried as far as Denbigh, a distance of 11 miles. The Chester and Shrewsbury section of the Great Western line touches the county on the S.E. There is also a short goods lino from the collieries near Mold to the Dee. Three prin- cipal lines of road traverse the county from S.E. to N.W. One following the course of the Dee leads from Chester to Flint. The second, which also leads from Chester, passes through Hawarden and Northop to Holywell, where it separates into two branches, one going to Rhuddlan and the other to St. Asaph. The third enters the county from Wrcxham, and passing through Caergwrle and Mold, goes to Denbigh. Crossing these roads nearly at right angles is a fourth road leading from Ruthin in Denbighshire through Mold and Ha- warden, across the Dee ferry to Liverpool. Numerous branch roads connect these at various points, and lead to the principal villages and towns. The county 19 gene- rally divided into large estates, and the farmhouses and buildings constructed of stone. Much wool and butter are sent to market, and good crops of wheat are raised in all the lower lands lying near the coast, and in the fertile valleys of the Alyn, Clwyd, and Dee. Barley, potatoes, oats, and green crops, are occasionally grown ; and in the uplands, and along the banks of the Dee, is much good pasture for cattle and sheep, the former being of large size for native breeds. Although agriculture is in a forward state, yet the mines and collieries constitute the chief source of wealth, and employ a large proportion of the inhabitants. The manufactures are not numerous, consisting chiefly of cotton spinning and trades connected with the working of metals, also paper making, brick and tile works, and potteries. The county town is Mold, where the assizes and quarter sessions are held, but the county gaol is at Flint, the former county town. It is contributory with six other boroughs to Flint in returning one member to parliament, and is the only market town except Holywell in the county. St. Asaph is a city, being the seat of a bishopric and the head of a Poor-law Union, the only other union in the county being that of Holywell, which is likewise the head of a County Court district and superintendent registry. Rhuddlan and Flint are the polling places for the county, which returns one member to parliament, besides the one for the borough of Flint mentioned above. The county is divided into five hundreds Coleshill, Prestatyn, Rhudd- lan, Mold, and Maelor, comprising 23 parishes and portions of 12 others, all within the diocese of St. Asaph and province of Canterbury. For military purposes it forms part of the N.W. district, and is included for legal purposes in the North Wales and Chester circuit. The local government is conducted by a lord-lieutenant, deputy-lieutenant, and about 30 county magistrates. The chief seats are Asaph Palace, of the Bishop of St. Asaph; Halkin Hall, of the Marquis of Westminster ; Downing, of Viscount Feilding ; Mostyn Hall, of Lord Mostyn, whose old seat, Peugwern, was recently destroyed by fire, including in the ruin a priceless collection of Welsh MSS. ; Gredington, of Lord Kenyon ; Talacre and Greenfield, of Sir Piers Mostyn, Bart. ; Bodel- wyddan, of Sir Hugh Williams ; Hawarden Castle, of Sir Stephen Glynne, besides numerous other mansions. The antiquities are numerous and highly interesting, including several Roman camps, as Caergwrle, i.e. "camp of the giant legion," near the village of Hope, where a hypocaust, inscribed tiles, bricks, and other Roman remains, have been found, including some large beds of iron ; scoria? at Caer Estyn, which seems to confirm the assertion that the iron and lead mines of Flintshire were worked by the Romans. Another Roman station is at Caersws, where many remains, such as querns, bricks, Samian ware, and the foundations of a Roman villa, have been dug up. Caerwys, now a decayed village, is also said to have been a Roman station, which impression is favoured by the arrangement of the streets at right angles to each other, as at Caerwent, in Monmouthshire. Caerwys was also celebrated for being the cradle of Eisteddfoddian, or festivals of the bards, which were held here by royal commissions of Edward I., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth. In later times it was the county town, the assizes being held here until their removal to Flint. Ancient pillars are still standing on Mostyn Hill and at Diserth, where are traces of a British camp. On the Wrexham road, near Overton, is Bangor Iscoed, where the largest and most ancient monastery in Great Britain stood. It was founded about the year 180 by Lucius, son of Coel, the first Christian king of Britain, and had, before its destruction by Ethelfred of Northum- bria in 603, no fewer than 2,400 monks, over whom Nennius, the historian, was abbot in the 7th century. Offa's Dyke, which formed the great boundary lino between the Welsh and Saxons, and is supposed to have been formed by the Mercian king of that name, com- mences on the N. coast of Flintshire, near Prestatyn, and runs S. in the direction of Mold. At several points the line of the dyke is crossed by Roman roads, a circum- stance which has caused some antiquaries to believe it of much earlier date than that ordinarily assigned. Watt's Dyke is also partly in this county, being somewhat similar to the preceding, but not so clearly denned nor so persistent as that of Offa. It is probable that it com- menced at the sea-coast, near Basingwerk Abbey, and ran in a S. direction past Halkin, through the gorge of the Alyn, to Wynnstay, formerly called Watt's Stay from this circumstance. At Basingwerke are beautiful ruins of an abbey, and at St. Asaph the cathedral is well deserving of notice ; as also the castles of Flint, Eulo, Hawarden, Mold, Rhuddlan, Basingwerke, and Diserth, more fully noticed under the several parishes in which they startd. FLINT, a parochial chplry., market town, and parlia- mentary and corporate borough, in the par. of Northop, hund. of Coleshill, co. Flint, North Wales, 4J miles S.E. of Holywell, 14 S.W. of Chester, and 196 from London. The Chester and Holyhead railway has a station here. A castle was commenced here by Henry II., and completed, 1277, by Edward I., consisting of a square court abutting on the sea, with truncated corners and towers at the angles, while the keep was detached from the citadel, or Double Tower, as it was called, this last being connected with the rest of the building by only a drawbridge. After figuring in