Flintshire

Parishes

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Halkyn / Helygain

"The village, which has arisen within the present century, and greatly increased since the discovery of some rich mines in the vicinity, is pleasantly situated in a fertile district; and the elevated ground adjacent to it commands a fine prospect of the surrounding scenery which, on the north, east and south expands into an almost boundless view. .... At a small distance from the village rises the Halkin mountain, rich in mineral treasures. It extends into the parishes of Northop, Ysceiviog, and Holywell, and forms one continued series of excavations made in search of lead-ore, of which no part of the principality has been more productive."
[ A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, S. Lewis, 1849]

Halkyn is one of the "ancient parishes" of Flintshire, comprising the townships of Hendrefigillt, Lygan y Llan and Lygan y Wern. On 27 June 1848, the township of Hendrefigillt went to the new parish of Rhesycae. Archdeacon Thomas (1911) states that on 31 March 1865, part of the township of Lygan y Llan went to the new parish of Rhydymwyn, but from a study of the township boundaries, that seems to be unlikely.

Bibliography

• Baker, Rosa.         An incomer, confusion, and Halkyn Parish Registers     Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 43 (Autumn 1999), p. 29-30
• Berry, David.          Walks around Holywell & Halkyn Mountain           Machynlleth : Kittiwake, 2003.
• Cornwell, J.D. & G.S. Kimbell.              Geophysical surveys in part of the Halkyn-Minera mining district, north-east Wales .         Keyworth : British Geological Survey, 1985
• Ebbs, Cris.     Workings and artefacts of Halkyn District United Mines, Flintshire         Archaeology in Wales. 47 (2007), p. 98-101.
• Ellis, Bryn.           The Halkyn riots, 1866 / Bryn        Llafur, Vol. 5, no. 3 (1990), p. 14-19.
• Ellis, Bryn.      Windmill, Halkyn, Clwyd         Melin, No. 8 (1992), p. 3-8
• Ellis, Bryn.       The history of Halkyn Mountain           Holywell : Helygain, 1998.
• Ellis, Bryn.      Lead mining on Halkyn Mountain       Hel achau, 44 (1994), p. 19-21.
• Ellis,  Bryn  and J. Phillips.      A walk on Halkyn Mountain       Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (2000), p. 32-37.
• Halkyn mountain communities in times past.         Halkyn : Countryside News, 1993.
• Halkyn Mountain Project report :         Cardiff : Welsh Office, 1983.
• Hughes, D R.        The early life of the Rev. Evan Talfryn Jones of Moel y Crio, Halkyn        Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 44 (Spring 2000), p. 24-25
• Jenner,  Lorna  and Tim Erasmus.       Halkyn Mountain Common ;      illustration by Wendi Williams-Shiel and Chris Hull.         [Mold] : Flintshire Countryside Service, 2004.
• St Mary's Church Halkyn : [Clwyd Family History Society].         Gwernymynydd : Clwyd Family History Society, 1999.
• Syme, Alistair.             Halkyn horse's legendary leap        Country Quest, March 2008, p. 44-45
• Williams, C J.      A handlist of the Grosvenor (Halkyn) MSS      Hawarden : Clwyd Record Office, 1988.

Church History

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Church of St Mary, Halkyn - on wikipedia

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 Civilparish of Halkyn :

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Church Records

Parish Registers

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

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

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 Flintshire and Denbighshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
  In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.

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.

Nonconformist Records

• The following nonconformist registers for the Halkyn 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 :

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Civil Registration

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Halkyn are found under:

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

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

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Description and Travel

Halkyn - on wikipedia   -   also Pentre Halkyn - also Halkyn Castle

Halkyn photographs - on geograph.org.uk

Halkyn Mountain - on BBC Wales

Maps

Population

• In 1831- the population was 1538.
• In 1901- the population was 889.
  [Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish as 1271 acres.

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Last Updated 24 Jan 2011 - Gareth Hicks