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| Flintshire Sir y Fflint (Welsh) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historic county | |||||||||||||||
| 1536–1974 | |||||||||||||||
 Flag adopted in 2015 | |||||||||||||||
 Show location in Wales Show location in England and Wales Show location in the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
| • 1831 | 184,905 acres (748.28 km2) | ||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||
| • 1831 | 60,012[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Density | |||||||||||||||
| • 1831 | 0.32 | ||||||||||||||
| Status | Shire county underJusticiar of Chester (1284–1536) Non-administrative county (1536–1889) Administrative county (1889–1974) Historic county (non-administrative) | ||||||||||||||
| Chapman code | FLN | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Flintshire County Council (1889–1974) | ||||||||||||||
| • HQ | County Hall,Mold | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• First established byStatute of Rhuddlan | 1284 | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 1536 | ||||||||||||||
• Council established | 1889 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1974 | ||||||||||||||
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Flintshire (Welsh:Sir y Fflint), also known as theCounty of Flint, wasone of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974. It was located in thenorth-east ofWales. Flintshire was first created in 1284 by theStatute of Rhuddlan, until all counties were re-organised in 1536 into the set of thirteen.
Most of what was Flintshire was along the north-east coast of Wales, however the county was notable for having one of the few largecounty exclaves, theEnglish Maelor (Maelor Saesneg), to survive theCounties (Detached Parts) Act 1844.
The administrative county of Flint was abolished under theLocal Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, and became part of the new administrative area ofClwyd. The exclaves became part ofWrexham Maelor district – other parts formed the districts ofAlyn and Deeside,Delyn andRhuddlan. Aunitary authority, also namedFlintshire, was formed in 1996 under theLocal Government (Wales) Act 1994, consisting only of the Alyn and Deeside and Delyn districts – the Wrexham Maelor parts now form part ofWrexham County Borough, with the former Rhuddlan district forming the northernmost part of the currentDenbighshire unitary authority.
The former county did not have the same boundaries as the current administrative county ofFlintshire; in particular the former county included a largeexclave called theEnglish Maelor (Maelor Saesneg); it also includedPrestatyn,Rhyl andSt Asaph which are now administered as part of modern-dayDenbighshire, as well asBangor-on-Dee andOverton-on-Dee, which are administered as part ofWrexham County Borough. Other exclaves of the historic Flintshire included the manors ofMarford and Hoseley, Abenbury Fechan and Bryn Estyn, all on the outskirts of Wrexham, and also a small part of the parish ofErbistock around theBoat Inn. These were all completely surrounded by thehistoric county of Denbighshire. Additionally, a small part of Flintshire, including the village ofSealand, was isolated across the River Dee when its course was changed to improve navigation.
Flintshire was a maritime county bounded to the north by theIrish Sea, to the north-east by the Dee estuary, to the east byCheshire and to the south and southwest byDenbighshire. The Maelor Saesneg was bounded on the north-west by Denbighshire, on the north-east by Cheshire, and on the south byShropshire. A medium height range of hills, theClwydian Range (part of theClwydian Range and Dee ValleyArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty) ran in southeast-northwest direction along the border between the main part of Flintshire and Denbighshire, almost reaching the sea near Prestatyn. TheOffa's Dyke Path ran along the crest of these hills.
The highest point in the historic county (county top) was found within these hills atMoel Famau, height 554.8 metres (1,820 ft), a notable viewpoint topped by the ruined remains of the Jubilee Tower, built in 1810 to commemorate the golden jubilee ofKing George III.
Flintshire was the smallest of what are now known as thehistoric counties in Wales. The coast along the Dee estuary was heavily developed by industry and the north coast much developed fortourism. The Clwydian Mountains occupied much of the west of the county. The highest point wasMoel Famau (1,820 feet / 554 metres). The chief towns wereBuckley,Connah's Quay,Flint,Hawarden,Holywell,Mold,Queensferry, andShotton. The main rivers were theDee (the estuary of which forms much of the coast) and theClwyd. The main industries were manufacturing of aircraft components (Airbus), engines (Toyota), paper (Shotton Paper), steel processing (Corus), agriculture and tourism.
Places of special interest included castles in Flint, Hawarden, Rhuddlan and Ewloe, Greenfield Valley, St. Winefride's Well in Holywell and Wepre Country Park, in Connah's Quay.
The county was formed in 1284 under the terms of theStatute of Rhuddlan, following the defeat of thePrincipality of Wales. However, the region had been English since the 8th century, and formed part ofCheshire until it was captured by the Welsh in the late 12th century. In the 13th century, prior to its re-capture by the Normans, the region comprised:
Yr Hob and Ystrad Alyn, which been part of Gwynedd earlier in the century, had become sufficiently Welsh that they were regarded as another part ofWelsh Maelor, rather than distinguished from it likeEnglish Maelor (Maelor Saesneg). They were not initially included in Flintshire, but instead became Marcher Lordships. Yr Hob became theLordship of Hope, while Ystrad Alyn was split in two - the Lordships ofMold andHawarden. Following theLaws in Wales Act (1536), these three Lordships were merged into Flintshire.
From the medieval period until 1974, Flintshire was divided intocivil parishes for the purpose of local government; these in large part equated toecclesiastical parishes (see the table below), most of which still exist as part of the Church in Wales.[2] Chapelries are in italics.
| Hundred | Parishes |
|---|---|
| Coleshill | Cilcain/Kilken •Halkyn/Helygain •Holywell/Treffynnon •Llaneurgain/Northop (Flint/Y Fflint) •Whitford/Chwitffordd |
| Maelor | Bangor Is-y-coed/Bangor-on-DeeW (Worthenbury/Wrddymbre) •HanmerW •Hope/Yr Hôb •Iscoed/WhitewellW2 •Overton-on-Dee/OwrtynW •Penley/Llannerch BannaW1 |
| Mold | Penarlâg/Hawarden •Yr Wyddgrug/Mold (Nercwys/Nerquis •Treuddyn) |
| Prestatyn | Alltmelyd/MelidenD •Diserth/DyserthD •Gwaenysgor •Llanasa •Trelawnyd/Newmarket |
| Rhuddlan | BodfariD •Caerwys •CwmD •Llanelwy/St AsaphD •Nannerch •RhuddlanD •TremeirchionD •Ysgeifiog/Ysceifiog |
1chapelry toEllesmere in Shropshire2chapelry toMalpas in CheshireMost of these parishes are in the modern county of Flintshire, but those marked D are in Denbighshire, and those marked W are in Wrexham.
Flintshire County Council established its base at the old County Hall in Chester Street in Mold.[3] Additional facilities acquired included a local militia barracks (originally designed byThomas Mainwaring Penson) which was converted for use as council offices in the late 1880s.[4] After finding, in the 1930s, that the Chester Street facilities were too cramped, county leaders decided to procure modern facilities:[5] the site they selected formed part of the Llwynegrin Hall estate which was acquired for the purpose.[6] The new building, known asCounty Hall, Mold, was completed in October 1967.[5]
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