Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MOLD

MOLD, a town, a township, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Flint. The town stands in a fertile hollow, on the river Alyn, and on the line of railway from Chester to Denbigh, in the centre of a rich mineral region, near the N end of the Halkin mountains, 1½ mile W of Wats dyke, 4 E by N of the Moel-Famman summit of the Clwydian hills, and 10½ W by S of Chester; consists chiefly of four long streets, at right angles to one another; and has a head post office,‡ designated Mold, Flintshire, a railway station, two banking offices, a hotel, three bridges, a court-house or shire hall, a recent market-house, a church, dissenting chapels, national schools, and charities £98. The court-house is a neat recent edifice; and was built after designs by Jones of Chester, at a cost of about £3,000. The church is mainly of the latter part of the 15th century; has a S aisle and a tower of later date; was recently restored and altered, under the direction of the architect Scott, at a cost of about £2,000; has windows of very rich and varied stained glass; and contains monuments of Bishop Warton Davies of Llanerch, and Dr. Wynn of Tower, and the grave of Wilson the painter. An ancient castle stood on Bailey hill, Yr Wyddgrûg, or "the Conspicuous, ''at the top of the town; is said to have been built by Eustace de Cruer; was stormed and taken in 1144, by Owen Gwynedd; was destroyed by Owen Glendower; was soon afterwards rebuilt; was taken in 1267 by a Welsh force, and again in 1322 by Sir Griffith Llwyd; was again restored; became the property of the Monaltos, who took their name from "monsaltus, ''or "the high hill ''on which the castle stood; passed from them to the Stanleys; and was found, not many years ago, to inhume several skeletons, which were supposed to be those of persons who had fallen in the affray of 1322. A spot, about a mile to the W, called Maes-y-Garmon, was the scene of a battle in 448, when the Britons under Germanus gained the "Victoria Alleluiatica ''against the Saxons and Picts; where a stone column was erected in 1736, to commemorate that victory; and where a gold corslet, 3 feet 7 inches long, was found in 1833. Rhual House, adjacent to that battlefield, is a gabled structure of the 17th century, belonged to the Griffith family, and is now the residence of Col. Phillips. A weekly market is held in the town on Saturday; fairs are held on 13 Feb., 21 March, 12 May, 2 Aug., and 22 Nov.; industry is carried on in cotton and woollen mills; and much trade exists in connexion with numerous neighbouring collieries. The town is the head-quarters of the county militia, and a seat of sessions and assizes; and, in consequence of the removal to it of the assizes and county business, it is now, for all practical purposes, the capital of Flintshire. It also, by the reform act, was made a borough, to unite with Flint, Holywell, Caergwrle, Caerwys, Overton, Rhuddlan, and St. Asaph, in sending a member to parliament. Real property, £8,798; of which £250 are in mines. Pop. in 1851,3,432; in 1861, 3,735. Houses, 797.

The township is conterminate with the borough.—The parish contains also the townships of Arddynwent, Argoed, Bistree, Broncoed, Gwernafield, Gwsaney, Hartsheath, Hendrebiffa, Leeswood, Llwynegrm, and Nerquis, and the chapelry of Tryddyn. Acres, 18,104. Real property, £51,414; of which £15,438 are in mines, £1,000 in ironworks, £38 in quarries, and £288 in gasworks. Pop. in 1851,10,893; in 1861,12,216. Houses, 2,569. Tower, Nerquis-Hall, Gwsaney, Hartsheath, and Pentre are old seats. Tower stands 1½ mile S of the town; was the scene of a horrid tragedy in 1465, done by Reinalt ap Gryfydd; belonged, for a considerable time, to the Wynnes; passed to the Eytons; is a tall machicolated and embattled tower of the early part of the 15th century, with a dwelling-house of the time of Queen Anne on one side; and has, at the SE angle, an interior circular turret staircase, leading to the roof. Nerquis Hall was built by one of the Wynnes in 1638, and is now the seat of the Rev. Lloyd Wynne. Many acres of land here, previonsly of small valne, were planted with different kinds of trees by the late Dr. Thackeray of Chester. There are numerous tumuli. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £322. * Patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The p. curacies of Bistree, Gwernafield, Nerquis, Tryddyn, and PontBlyddyn are separate benefices.-The parish, as assessed for poor-rate purposes, excludes the township of Nerquis and the chapelry of Tryddyn. Acres, 12,270. Pop. in 1861,10,209.—The sub-district excludes only Tryddyn chapelry, but includes all Cilcen parish; and is in the district of Holywell. Acres, 20,953. Pop., 11,719. Houses, 2,480. - The hundred contains Mold and Hawarden parishes, and part of Gresford. Acres, 36,379. Pop. in 1851,17,364; in 1861,19,517. Houses, 4,060..


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a township, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Mold CP/AP       Mold Urban CP       Mold Hundred       Mold SubD       Flintshire AncC
Place: Mold

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