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Denbigh

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"A borough, market town, and parish, having exclusive jurisdiction, in the Union of St. Asaph, locally in the hundred of Isaled, county of Denbigh (of which it is the ancient shire town); 218 miles (NW) from London, on the road from Ruthin to St. Asaph, containing 3786 inhabitants. ..... The town is picturesquely situated in the centre of the rich and beautiful Vale of Clwyd, partly at the base, and partly at the aclivity, of a steep, isolated, rocky eminence, the summit of which is crowned by the venerable remains of the castle. ..... The environs abound with beautiful and richly varied scenery; the air is remarkably salubrious; the land in the vicinity is rich and in a high state of cultivation; and in the immediate neighbourhood are numerous splendid seats and elegant villas, inhabitated by opulent families, whom the advantages of its situation have induced to select Denbigh for their residence. " [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

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Bibliography

  • A guide to Denbigh ..    Cheltenham : Edward J. Burrow, [1908?]
  • Burgess, John.    Denbigh and Flint        Carlisle 2000
  • Butler, L A S.      Denbigh Castle, town walls and friary     London : H.M.S.O., 1976.
  • Davies, Edward.  A visit to the town of Denbigh      Denbighshire Historical Society  48  1999
  • Davies, Margaret.    The Womens Voluntary Service in Denbigh        Denbigh and its past 12 1997
  • Davies, Meirion Lloyd.   The 1945 General Election in Denbigh        Denbigh and its past 15   2000
  • Denbigh then and now : researched and compiled by Brockhouse Women's Institute.   Mold : Clwyd Voluntary Services Council, [1988]
  • Eisteddfodau Dinbych   2001
  • Ellis, Bryn.   Denbigh in the Quarter Session Rolls in the C18th        Denbigh and its past 15   2000
  • Glynn, Peter.    Graves in Denbigh associated with the Great War     Hel achau, No. 53 (Aug. 1997), p. 23-26
  • Hughes,  John Gwyn.   A commentary on Denbigh and its past      Denbigh and its past. No. 15 (2000), p. 43-60
  • Hughes, Raymond.     Llwyn Isaf Waterworks, Denbigh       Trafodion (Denbighshire Historical Society), 49 (2000), p. 151-157.
  • Jones, Humphrey Adams.  The Congregational Church, The Denbigh Green        Denbigh and its past. No. 16 (2001), p. 34-42.
  • Jones, Frank Price.  Crwydro Gorllewin Dinbych    Llandybie 1969
  • Michael, Pam.   Quarrymen and insanity in north Wales from the Denbigh Asylum records      Industrial Gwynedd 2 (1997), p. 34-43.
  • Owen, R M.     Denbigh     Loggerheads : S.B. Publications, 1990   -  and vol 2 in 1994
  • Owen, R M.  New Post Office at Denbigh     Denbigh and its past. 12 (1997), p. 20-1.
  • Owen, R M.     Poaching in Denbigh      Denbigh and its past No. 14 (1999), p. [20-25]
  • Pritchard, John Wyn.  'Fit and proper persons'. Councillors of Denbigh, their status and position, 1835-94   (NLW's site)    Welsh History Review 17
  • Programme of the Grand National Eisteddfod, to be held in the ancient Castle of Denbigh 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th days of August, 1860 :         Denbigh : Printed at the "Cymro" office and "Eglwysydd" by W. Morris,
  • Rear, Bill.    The Denbigh and Mold line    Stockport : Foxline, 1992.
  • The old church of St David, Denbigh   1895?
  • Thomas, J Gwyn.   Details of the history of the Earls of Denbigh    Denbigh and its past. 12 (1997), p. 16-20
  • Vinogradoff, Paul  and Frank Morgan (eds).     Survey of the Honour of Denbigh, 1334      London : Published for the British Academy by Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1914.
  • Williams, E P.     The lighter side of Denbigh's history      Denbigh and its History. No. 14 (1999), p. [16-20]
  • Williams, John.  The Records of Denbigh and its Lordship    Wrexham 1860
  • Williams, John      The town of Denbigh and Denbigh Castle     Denbigh 1860
  • Williams, John.   Ancient and modern Denbigh  1856     [Mold] : Clwyd County Council Library & Information Service, 1989.
  • Williams, John.   The castle and borough of Denbigh         Denbigh : Thomas Gee, 1881.
  • Williams, T. Marchant (ed).       The Denbigh National Eisteddfod     London : J. Martin & Son, 1883.
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Cemeteries

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Churches

There are more than 30 churches identified in this place. Please click here for a complete list.
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Church History

For details of these churches see Churches in Denbigh

  • St. Marcella
  • St. Hilary
  • St. Mary
  • St. David

 

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Copy Order of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, to restore William Jones as vicar of Denbigh, 1654
  • Green Welsh Independent Chapel, Green

 

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 administrative district of Denbigh Borough :

Name of ChapelDenominationNumber of "adherents"
Not namedBaptists150
BrookhouseCalvinistic Methodists98
Capel MawrCalvinistic Methodists850
FronCalvinistic Methodists235
GlynCalvinistic Methodists100
HenllanCalvinistic Methodists320
Seion, Henllan StreetCalvinistic Methodists225
Vale StreetCalvinistic Methodists (English language)220
GreenCongregationalists65
Swan Lane
Tower Hill
Brookhouse
Congregationalists565
HenllanWesleyans30
PendrefWesleyans350
SalemWesleyans80
BodawenFC (sic)106
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Church Records

Parish Registers

  • The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the Denbighshire Record Office, Ruthin.
    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.
 BaptismsMarriagesBurials
All four Churches1683 - 19831686 - 18761683 - 1984
St. Mary's 1876 - 1981 
St. David's 1897 - 1980 
St. Marcella's 1928 - 1970 
  • Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :
BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1683 - 18121683 - 18121683 - 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 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
    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 WalesMicrofilmed copies
1671 - 18421671 - 1842

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.
BaptismsMarriages
1815 - 18421815 - 1837
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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Denbigh was assigned to the No. 3 ("Denbigh") sub-district of the St. Asaph Registration District, which was co-extensive with the St. Asaph poor law Union.

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

  • Years 1837 - 1851: St. Asaph XXVII. nnn
  • Years 1851 - 1930: St. Asaph 11b. nnn

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

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Description & Travel

Welcome to Denbigh

Journey to the past - Denbigh

Denbigh - on wikipedia

Denbigh Castle - on Castle Wales

Denbigh Castle on the People's Collection Wales site

Various landscapes on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see pictures of Denbigh which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

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History

Various items  -  on the People's Collection Wales site

  • David Lloyd Geroge chatting with the Archdruid Crwys during the Denbigh National Eisteddfod 1939
  • Order of aldermen and bailiffs in Denbigh to the Constables of the town, 22 September 1626 
  • Lancers at Denbigh during the Tithe War, c.1886-90
  • Draft petition of the aldermen, bailiffs and burgesses of Denbigh to the Privy Council for a new commission for mustering persons in the town [n.d.]
  • Receipt from E. Thomas, Denbigh Foundry, to the Rev. Michael D. Jones, 15 June 1866 (Welsh Settlement)
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Maps

"North-East Wales Churches and Ancient Parish Boundaries" produced by Clwyd Record Office in 1994, published by Genuki with the permission of Flintshire Record Office and Denbighshire Archives

Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R., Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: History Data Service, UK Data Archive [distributor], 17 May 2001. SN: 4348.   Here is a gazetteer/finding aid plus a set of overview maps to accurately identify the position of parishes within the county.

Map of the parish of Denbigh in the County of Denbigh  - on the People's Collection Wales site

The New Town - John Speed's map of Denbigh, 1610 - on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ054664 (Lat/Lon: 53.186593, -3.417864), Denbigh which are provided by:

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Medical Records

North Wales Hospital - Previous Names: North Wales Counties Lunatic Asylum, Five Counties Mental Hospital, North Wales Counties Mental Hospital, North Wales Mental Hospital, North Wales Hospital.
Location: Denbigh, Denbighshire

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Military History

Various items on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Denbigh War Memorial
  • An article from the Denbighshire Free Press about the death of J. Hughes from Denbigh during The First World War.
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Newspapers

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald Jan 16 1836 
  • Wrexham and Denbigh Weekly Advertiser Mar 11 1854 
  • Denbigh, Ruthin and Vale of Clwyd Free Press Jan 7 1882
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Occupations

Various items  -  on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Gwasg Gee printing works, Denbigh  
  • Long-case clock made by R. Griffith, Denbigh (1791-1840)
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Population

  • In 1831- the population was 3786.
  • In 1901- the population was 5301.
    [ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
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Schools

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • List of subscriptions received for a WW1 Memorial Tablet at Denbigh County School
  • A memorial revealed at Denbigh County School for former pupils who perished and survived service during the First World War
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Social Life & Customs

Various items -  on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Photograph of a group of three men outside The North Wales Hospital, Denbigh
  • Photograph of a group of nurses at The North Wales Hospital, Denbigh
  • Untearable dress from Denbigh Mental Hospital
  • Lockable boots used at Denbigh Mental Hospital
  • Denbigh North Wales Counties Mental Hospital
  • Denbigh National Eisteddfod Pavillion 1882
  • Photograph of the 1929 football team at The North Wales Hospital, Denbigh
  • International Hockey Trial Match held at Denbigh, 1908
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Statistics

  • Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as 1772 acres.
    [ The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]