GENUKI : Llansilin, St. Silin

Llansilin

"A parish in the Union of Oswestry, principally in the Cynlleth division of the hundred of Chirk, county of Denbigh, extending also into the English county of Salop, in which it comprises the township of Sychdin. ..... This parish, which is eight miles in length, and averages about seven miles in breadth, is finely situated on the river Cynlleth; the lands are enclosed and in a high state of cultivation, and the soil is fertile and productive: the surrounding scenery is richly varied, and the views over the adjacent country abound with interest and variety."
[A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The ancient parish comprised townships of Bodlith, Llan, Lledrod, Lloran, Llys Dynwallawn (also known as Estyn Allan), Moelfre, Priddbwll, Rhiwlas Isfoel, Rhiwlas Uwchfoel, Sycharth and Sychtyn. (Sychtyn is in Shropshire).
In 1844, portions of Lledrod were assigned to Rhydycroesau (which is in Shropshire).
In 1877, parts of Sycharth and Priddbwll were assigned to Llangedwyn.
During the late Victorian period, parts of Moelfre and Lloran were assigned to Llangadwaladr.

Church History
Church Records
Civil Registration

Population
Statistics

Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 209281.
The church is dedicated to St. Silin. The earliest part of the present building dates from the thirteenth century, although there had been a church on the site from much earlier times. Much of the present building dates from the early 15th Century. The wooden spire was destroyed by fire, and the present tower was built in 1832.
There was a major restoration during 1889/1890, and the church was re-opened in June, 1890.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Nonconformist Churches

"Welsh Church Commission - County of Denbigh - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905" lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the Civil parish of Llansilin :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Bethel, Moelfre	Baptists	68
Salem	Baptists	115
Bethania	Calvinistic Methodists	51
Cefn Canol	Calvinistic Methodists	140
Rhiwlas	Calvinistic Methodists	99
Bethesda	Congregationalists	95
Not named	Wesleyans	70
Briw	Wesleyans	99
Moriah	Wesleyans	48

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Church Records

Parish Registers

The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
They may be viewed on microfilm at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
These microfilms are not available elsewhere.

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1668 - 1992	1668 - 1967	1668 - 1932

Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1666 - 1812	1666 - 1812	1666 - 1812

Bishop's Transcripts

Bishop's Transcripts for the years shown below have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Around the year 1951, most of the Bishop's Transcripts which had been deposited at that time were microfilmed by the LDS; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of the LDS.
The films may also be viewed at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.

Deposited at the National Library of Wales	Microfilmed copies
1666 - 1846	1666 - 1846

I.G.I.

The following have been incorporated into the I.G.I., as part of an "official extraction" programme.
They were extracted from the Bishop's Transcripts, not from the Parish Registers.

Baptisms	Marriages
1813 - 1846	1813 - 1837

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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Llansilin was assigned to the No. 2 ("Llansilin") sub-district of the Oswestry Registration District; which was co-extensive with the Oswestry Incorporation poor law Union.

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Llansilin are in the format :

Years 1837 - 1851: Oswestry XVIII.nnn
Years 1851 - 1930: Oswestry 6b.nnn

(GRO index references have no relevance at the local Superintendent Registrar's Office)

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Population

In 1831- the population was 1951.
In 1901- the population was 970.
[Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as 10,775 acres.
[ The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]

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Last Updated 23 Nov 2009 - Gareth Hicks