Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/326

RHOSGOCH. 311 RIIWNGYDDNYFORDD. was formerly the seat of the Lloyds, to whom it came through Elystan Glodrydd, Prince of Ferregs. KHOSGOCH, a tnshp. in the par. of Worthen, co. Montgomery, 6 miles N.E. of Montgomery. RHOS-LLANERCHRUGOG, a vil. and ecclesiastical district in the par. of Ruabon, co. Denbigh, 2 miles from Kuabon, its post town, and 4 S.W. of Wrexham. The vil- lage is considerable. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the neighbouring coal and iron mines. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of St. Asaph, val. 300, in the patron, of the crown and bishop alternately. The church is a commodious structure. Near it is Wynnstay, the seat of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart. EHOSMAEN, a hmlt. in the par. of Llandilofawr, co. Carmarthen, 2 miles from Llandilofawr, and 15 N.E. of Carmarthen. It is situated amongst the hills, near the new marble bridge over the river Towey. RHOS-MARKET. See ROSE-MARKET, co. Pembroke. RHOSTIE, or RHOSDHU, a par. in the upper div. of liar hund., co. Cardigan, 6 miles S.E. of Aber- ystwith, and 9 from Tregarou. The village, which is small and wholly agricultural, is situated near the sea-coast. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of St. David's, val. 101, in the patron, of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. RHOS-Y-MAMBICH, a tnshp. in the par. of Llan- gwym, eo. Denbigh, 13 miles S.W. of Ruthin. RHOS-Y-MEDRE, a chplry. in the par. of Ruabon, co. Denbigh, 3 miles S.W. of Wrexham, and 5 N. of Chirk. It ia situated on a branch of the river Dee, near the Ellesmere canal and the line of the Shrews- bury and Chester railway, which has a station at Ruabon. The chplry. comprises the tnshps. of Bodulltin, Kenrick- Christionydd, and Hafod. The village is considerable. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the collieries at Cefn Mawr, and the Acrevair ironworks. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of St. Asaph, val. 80. RHUABON. See RUABON, co. Denbigh. ' RHUAL, a demesne in the par. and hund. of Mold, co. Flint, 1 mile N. V. of Mold. It is a spacious mansion of the time of Charles I., containing several portraits by Vandyke and others. RHUDDLAN, a hund. in the co. of Flint, North Wales, contains the pars, of Caerwys, Cwm, Dymeir- chion, Rhuddlan, Ysceifiog, and parts of St. Asaph, Bod- fary, and Nannerch. RHUDDLAN, a par., decayed market town, and parliamentary borough in the above hund., co. Flint, 3 miles N.W. of St. Asaph, and 8 from Denbigh. It is a station on the Vale of Clwyd railway, and steamers go to Liverpool. It is situated at the bridge over the river Clwyd, about two miles from the sea, and is a sub- port to Chester. The par. contains, besides the borough of Rhuddlan, the bathing-place of Rhyl, which forms a separate chplry., and nine other tnshps. The village itself, though formerly an important borough and market town, is now a decayed place of only one street. It was made a free borough by Edward I., and is still nominally governed by bailiffs and other officers, and is contributory to Flint in returning one member to par- liament. The bounds of the borough include parts of the pars, of Rhuddlan, St. Asaph, Cwm, and Dysarth, with a population in 1861 of 1,406, while the population of the whole par. of Rhuddlan was 4,397. It is also a polling-place for the county and borough elections, and a seaport town, having a quay to which small craft can come up. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agricul- ture. The bridge was built in 1595 by Bishop Hughes. In the town there still exists part of an old wall, meta- morphosed into the gable end of a row of small houses, on which a tablet has been placed by the late Dean of St. Asaph, pointing this out as the building in which Edward I. held a parliament after Llewelyn's death in 1283, when the "Statutes of Rhuddlau" were passed, securing to the principality of Wales its judicial rights and independence : and here the king's son was first proclaimed Prince of Wales. The principal historical interest, however, is attached to the castle, which occupies a striking position overhanging the banks of the river Clwyd, and which, although now a mere shell, has an im- posing appearance. It is a red sandstone building of qua- drangular form, the walls 17 feet in thickness, and having at two opposite angles a round tower called Twr-y- Brenhin, while the other two corners are occupied by gateways flanked by two towers, each now in ruins. Part of the fosse is still in good condition, as well as a square bastion that defended the escarpment towards the river, and there are remains of a room in which Eleanor of Aragon was born, an ancestress of the Tudors. The castle is said to have been originally built in 1015 by Llewelyn ap Sitsyllt, but was burnt by the English, under Harold, in 1063, and entirely destroyed by Gru- fydd ap Cynan, Prince of North Wales, but was subse- quently rebuilt by the Norman Earls of Chester, and strengthened by Henry II. in 1157 ; but ten years later was stormed by Owain Gwynedd, and having been re- taken by the English, was besieged by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth in 1220, while held by Randal Blundeville j but the latter was relieved by the Duttons, who came to its rescue with a mob of minstrels and strangers col- lected at Chester fair ; and for this good service Dutton was rewarded with the unenviable title of " Magisterium omnium peccatorum et meretricum totius CaistreshireT" It was several times visited by Edward I., who held here his parliament, mentioned above, and was given by Edward III. to the Black Prince. In 1399 it was seized by Percy, when betraying Richard II. to Bolingbroke, and was for a short time the resting-place of that unfor- tunate monarch, when on his way to Flint as a prisoner. In the civil war of Charles I. it was garrisoned for the king, but was taken by Mytton, and dismantled by order of parliament. The tithes were commuted in 1839. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of St. Asaph, val. 264, in the patron, of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a rude ancient structure, situated near the bridge, with a massive tower and a decorated E. window. It contains a modern monument to Dean Shipley, and tombs of the Conways of Bodryddan. There is also a district church at Rhyl, the living of which is a perpet. cur.,* val. 155. The Baptists,Wesleyans, Independents, and Calvinistic Methodists have places of worship, and there are three daily schools. The parochial charities produce 4 per annum. On the opposite side of the river Clwydis Rhuddlan Marsh, where a base lino of the Trigo- nometrical Survey wasmeasured, and where in 795 a great battle is said to have taken place between the Welsh, under Caradoc, and the Saxons under Offa, King of Mercia, in which the latter were victorious, and the Welsh prince, with all his nobles, slain, as commemo- rated in the Welsh air of " Morfa Rhuddlan." On the S.E. of the castle are traces of a priory for Black Canons, founded in the 12th century, with the effigies of a knight, now worked into the wall of a neighbouring farmhouse ; also at Yspytty Farm was a preceptory of the Knights Templars. Fairs are held on 2nd February, 25th March, and 8th September. RHUGGATT, a tnshp. in the par. of Corwen, co. Merioneth, 2 miles from Corwen, and 10 N.E. of Bala. It includes the hmlt. of Bonwen. It is situated near the river Dee, under Berwyn Mountain. RHULEN, or RULEN, a chplry. in the par. of Glascomb, hund. of Colwyn, co. Radnor, 7 miles from Builth, its post town, 6 S.E. of Radnor, and the same distance N.W. of Hay. It is situated on the river Edwy. The land is of a hilly character, and part waste. Near Harpton are the Blaen Edwy sulphur spirings. The living is a cur. annexed to the vie.* of Glascomb, in the dioc. of St. David's. RHUSNANT, a tnshp. in the par. of Llandysiho, hund. of Deythur, co. Montgomery, 7 miles N.K. <>f Welshpool, and 6 E. of Llanfyllin. It is in conjunction with the hamlet of Rhantregynwen. The Montgomery canal and the river Vyrnwy pass in the vicinity. RHUWRRIAD, a tnshp. in the par. of St. Harmon, huud. of Rhayader, co. Radnor, 3 miles N.E. of Rhaya- dor. It is situated on a branch of the river Wye. RHWNGYDDNYFORDD, a tnshp. in the par. of Llysfaen, hund. of Creaddyn, co. Denbigh, formerly in