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Dyserth

Dyserth is one of the ancient parishes of Flintshire, comprising the townships of Dyserth, Llewerllyd, Rhyd and Trecastell.
The name Dyserth is believed by some scholars to indicate one of the early methods of Christian evangelisation - by hermits; it occurs in several parishes in Wales, and in many parishes in Ireland, as Dysart.
The site of Dyserth Castle stands high on the rocky hill which dominates the village. Now almost nothing remains other than banks and ditch defences of the outer ward. Other evidence survived until the early part of this century, but has since been destroyed by the very extensive quarrying that has taken place in the area.
The Castle was constructed by Henry III following his defeat of Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1241, and was completed by 1250. It had a very short history, as it was destroyed in 1262 after a siege of some six weeks, by the Welsh, under the leadership of Llywelyn the last.

Bibliography

  • Davies. A.R. and L.M. Dyserth L.M. Davies, 1999.
  • Davies, Lucy M. Dyserth long ago Rhyl : L.M. Davies, 1993.
  • Davies, Lucy. Picture of old Dyserth Country Quest 26/4 (1985), p. 15
  • Edwards, Thos. Historical guide to Prestatyn, Dyserth, Meliden, Newmarket, Gwaenysgor, Llanasa, Talacre, etc Prestatyn : John T. Burrows, [1905]
  • Ellis, Bryn. Dyserth 'Crown' quarries Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (2000), p. 84-89.
  • Emery, Gordon. Dyserth - Cwm & Marian Mills [additional illustrations by David Bell]. Chester : Gordon Emery, 1989.
  • Emery, Gordon. Dyserth -Graig Fawr & Bryniau Chester : Gordon Emery, 1989.
  • Glenn, Thomas Allen. Prehistoric and historic remains at Dyserth Castle 1915
  • Glenn, Thomas Allen, Colonel Dyserth freeholders 1291/2-1570 and other notes Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.11 1925 Welsh Journals Online
  • Goodall, Stephen P. The Prestatyn and Dyserth branch line Oxford : Oakwood Press, 1986.
  • Phillips, J. A field of vision: 1911-1991 [history of the Dyserth and district field club] Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (1990), p. 78-81
  • Phillips, J. Post Christmas walk in and around Dyserth Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (2008), p. 117-118
  • Phillips, J. and J. Hughes. The 'Barbara Allen' nature walk at the NWWT Dyserth Grassland Nature Reserve Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (1997), p. 35-38
  • Roberts, Dewi. A history of witchcraft at Dyserth Country Quest. (December 2004), p. 49
  • St. Asaph, Rhuddlan, Dyserth and surrounding districts 5th ed. Cheltenham : Burrow, 1954.
  • Thompson, Trefor. The Prestatyn and Dyserth Railway [Rhuddlan] : North Clwyd Railway Association, 1978. (& 1985)

Churches

Anglican
St Bridget / St Cwyfan & St Ffraidd' Church, Dyserth
Methodist
Bethel Methodist Chapel, Dyserth
Methodist Chapel, Dyserth
Mynydd Seion Methodist Chapel, Dyserth
Other
Horeb Independent Chapel, Dyserth

You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Dyserth area or see them printed on a map.

Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 056794.
The church was mentioned in the Domesday book. It is located in the lower part of the village, near to the famous waterfall. The church has had two different dedications, formerly to St Cwyfan, whose cross stands on the border of the parish with Whitford; and currently to St Bridget (or the Welsh St Ffraid).
The church had become very dilapidated, and was extensively restored/rebuilt by Sir Gilbert Scott betwen 1873 and 1875. The Jesse window at the east end of the church is said to be one of the finest examples of Medieval stained glass in North Wales.
In the churchyard there are a number of very interesting graves, including a group of seventeenth century tomb-chests and table tombs.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

The Parish of St Bridget and St Cwyfan

Nonconformist Churches

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

Name of Chapel Denomination Number of "adherents"
Bethel Calvinistic Methodist 150
Horeb - Welsh Congregational 27
Mynydd Seion - Welsh Wesleyan 260

Church Records

  • The following nonconformist registers for the Dyserth area are held at the Public Record Office, Kew.
    They may be viewed on microfilm at LDS Family History Centres; and at the Flintshire Record Office, the Denbighshire Record Office and the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
    They have also been incorporated into the I.G.I., as part of an "official extraction" programme :
Name of Chapel Denomination Type of Record Years Covered I.G.I. Batch Number
Bethel
Capel Ucha		 Calvinistic Methodist Births and Baptisms 1823 - 1837 C101261
  • The following nonconformist registers for the Dyserth area are held at the Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden.
    They have not been filmed; and they have not been incorporated into the I.G.I. :
Name of Chapel Denomination Type of Record Years Covered
Mynydd Seion Wesleyan Methodist Births and Baptisms 1860 - 1955
(photocopies)

Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Dyserth was assigned to the No. 1 ("St. Asaph") 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 Dyserth are found under:

  • Years 1837 - 1851: St. Asaph XXVII. nnn
  • Years 1852 - 1946: St. Asaph 11b. nnn

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

Description and Travel

Dyserth - on wikipedia

Dyserth - community site

Dyserth Castle - on castle wales

You can see pictures of Dyserth which are provided by:

Historical Geography

You can see the administrative areas in which Dyserth has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.

Ask for a calculation of the distance from Dyserth to another place.

Maps

On Clwyd FHS's site there is a diagram showing parish names/positions with links to pages for the parish church

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ056790 (Lat/Lon: 53.299502, -3.417956), Dyserth which are provided by:

Population

  • In 1831- the population was 714.
  • In 1901- the population was 745.
    [ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish as 1884 acres.