Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for RHUDDLAN, or Rhyddlan, a decayed town

RHUDDLAN, or Rhyddlan, a decayed town, a parish, and a hundred, in Flint. The town stands on the river Clwyd, and on the Vale of Clwyd railway, 3¼ miles S S E of Rhyl; was anciently a place of much importance; figured long in connexion with a great castle; was chartered by Edward I.; contains the remnant of a house in which a parliament of 1283 was held, enacting the "statutes of Rhuddlan, " which secured the liberties of Wa1es, and first gave to the king's son the title of Prince of Wales; unites with Flint, Holywell, Mold, Overton, St. Asaph, Caerwys, and Caergwrle in sending a member to parliament; is a sub-port to Chester, and a polling-place; and has a head post-office, ‡ designated Rhuddlan, Flintshire, a railway station, a bridge, a church, four dissenting chapels, three daily schools, and fairs on 2 Feb., 25 March, and 8 Sept. The castle was built in 1015, by Llewelyn ap Sitsyllt; burnt in 1063, by Harold; restored soon afterwards, by the Earls of Chester; strengthened in 1157, by Henry II.; taken in 1167, by Owen Gwynedd; besieged in 1220, by Llewlyn ab Jorwerth; relieved by Dutton, with a motley army from Chester fair; taken subsequently by the Welsh; restored and visited by Edward I.; given by Edward III. to the Black Prince; seized in 1399, by Percy, when betraying Richard II. to Bolingbroke; taken in 1646 from the royalists, by Mytton; and subsequently dismantled. The shell of the castle still stands; presents an imposing appearance, as seen from a little distance; is a quadrangular pile, of red sandstone; has a round tower at each of two angles, and a gateway flanked with towers at each of two other angles; and retains part of the fosse in good condition, and an outward bastion which defended the escarpment toward the river. The bridge was built in 1595, by Bishop Hughes. The church stands close .to the bridge; is a rude structure, with a large decorated window and a somewhat massive tower; and contains a modern monument to Dean Shipley, and some ancient memorials. The marsh of Morfa Rhuddlan, on the other side of the river, was the scene, in 795, of the defeat of Caradoc by Offa, celebrated in the Welsh air of " Morfa Rhuddlan; "and was also the place where a base line of the Trigonometrical survey was measured The borough boundaries include the townships of Brynbychan, Brynywall, Criccin, Pentre, and Yscawen, and part of the parish of St. Asaph. Pop., 1, 406. Houses, 320. The parish contains the townships of Brynbychan, Brynywall, Criccin, Pentre, Yscawen, Brynhedydd, Cefndu, Rhydorddwy, Trellywelyn, and Rhyl; and is in the district of St. Asaph. Acres, 5, 670; of which 1, 560 are water. Real property, £.4, 855. Pop. in 1851, 3,049; in 1861, 4, 397. Houses, 942. The increase of pop. was chiefly in Rhyl. The property is much subdivided. Pengwern was formerly a seat of the Mostyn family, and belongs now to Sir H. Williams. Bodryddan is the seat of S. Conway, Esq. A black friary was founded in 1268, at Toothill; and has left some traces. A Knights Templars preceptory was at Yspytty. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £264.* Patron the Bishop of St. Asaph. The p. curacy of Rhyl is a separate benefice. The hundred contains also four other parishes and parts of three others. Acres, 32, 830. Pop. in 1851, 10, 654; in 1861, 11, 564. Houses, 2, 510.


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

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish, and a hundred"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 3rd order divisions")
Administrative units: Rhuddlan AP/CP       Rhuddlan Cmt/Hundred       Flintshire AncC
Place names: RHUDDLAN     |     RHUDDLAN OR RHYDDLAN A DECAYED TOWN     |     RHYDDLAN A DECAYED TOWN
Place: Rhuddlan

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.