Flintshire

Parishes

Contents

Hawarden / Penarlâg

"Hawarden (pronounced Harden), a small town, consisting of little more than one street, half-a-mile in length, pleasantly situated on an eminence. It is of great antiquity, and the remains of fortified posts around it serve to remind that it has been the scene of conflict, and bravely defended against hostile attack. Its early British name was "Pen-y-Llwch" .... i.e. the head of the swamp or lake; which accords with the tradition that the adjacent low land was formerly under water. In the record of the Norman survey, the name is written "Haordin"."
[From Black's Picturesque Guide to North Wales ,1879]

Hawarden is one of the "ancient parishes" of Flintshire. It originally comprised the sixteen townships of Aston, Bannel, Bretton, Broughton, Ewloe Town, Ewloe Wood, Hawarden, Mancot, Manor, Moor, Pentrobin, Rake, Saltney, Sealand and Shotton.
On 12 December 1874, the new parish of Buckley was created, from the township of Ewloe Wood and parts of the townships of Ewloe Town and Pentrobin.
On 30 May 1921, the new parish of Shotton was created, from parts of the townships of Shotton, Aston, Sealand and Saltney.

The parish of Hawarden was traditionally a "peculiar" i.e. the rector was exempt from the jurisdiction of any bishop - he held his own ecclesiastical courts, proved wills, and granted marriage licences. Confirmations were performed by invited bishops. Peculiars were abolished in 1849, and on the 30th of July 1849 the peculiar of Hawarden was attached to the diocese of St. Asaph. However, the Rector of Hawarden continued to prove wills until 1858, and he is still permitted to grant marriage licences to this day.

Bibliography

• A brief account of Hawarden Church and its objects of interest / revised and reprinted in 1978 from the original 1911 text of W. Bell Jones.    Hawarden Parish Church, [1978?].
• Banks, Robet.       The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone and Hawarden Castle and village          Manchester : Abel Heywood & Son ; London : Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1898.
• Bennett, J H E         Introduction and index to the wills proved at the peculiar court of Hawarden, and to miscellaneous papers relating to the same court, from 1554-1800      Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.4  1914  Welsh Journals Online
• Davies, H. Rhys.      Some memories of wartime Hawarden. [Part 1]     Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 47 (Autumn 2001), p. 19-26
• Davies, H. Rhys.       Some memories of wartime Hawarden. [Part 2]     Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 48 (Spring 2002), p. 12-16
• Donnell, Harold 'Don'.       Some Hawarden families and characters         Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society, No. 24 - Millennium issue (Spring 2000) p. 69-71
• Drew, Mary.           St. Deiniol's, Hawarden :    with an introduction by the Warden of St. Deiniol's.         London : Oxford University Press, 1925.
• Ellis, Bryn.       Quarter Session records for Hawarden and Mold, 1747-1799     Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society, No. 21 (Spring 1997) p. 12-20.
• Gladstone, William.         The Hawarden events book         Malvern : Cappella Archive, 2009.
• Goulborn, Karlyn & Robert and Patricia Welch.     Hawarden          Market Drayton : S. B. Publications, 1989.
• Gruffydd, K. Lloyd.           Crime and punishment in the parish of Hawarden during the eighteenth century        Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 25 (Spring 2001), 3-23.
• Gruffydd, K. Lloyd.           Crime in Hawarden parish during the eighteenth century      Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 26 (Spring 2002), p. 3
• Gruffydd, K. Lloyd.             The sieges of Hawarden Castle during the First Civil War, 1642-6        Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 28 (Spring 2004), p. 3-16.
• Gruffydd, K. Lloyd.             Some further Hawarden parish accidents, 1803-1812      Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 13 (Christmas 1988), p. 31
• Harries, E R       Two Hawarden documents of 1746/7          Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.15  1954/5   Welsh Journals Online  
• Hawarden Castle & park in Flintshire           Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.4  1914  Welsh Journals Online
• Hawarden fancy fair, held in the ruins of the old castle, Tuesday the 25th, and Wednesday the 26th of August, 1835.         Chester : printed by T. Griffith, [1835]
• Hawkes, G I.     The Astbury family of Hawarden parish and of Galchog Hall, Northop         Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 18 (Spring 1994), p. 16-31.
• Hawkes, G I.      Extracts from the Hawarden parish registers showing glimpses of social and economic conditions up to the early nineteenth century       Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 12 (July 1987), p. 18-24.
• Hayes, Peter A          Some cottages in the Hawarden district       Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 23 1967/8      Welsh Journals Online
• Jagger, Peter J.(ed)    Gladstone, politics and religion         London : Macmillan, 1985.
• Jones, W Bell          Hawarden Deeds           Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.7  1920   Welsh Journals Online
• Jones, W. Bell.      The story of St. Deiniol's Parish Church, Hawarden        Gloucester : British Publishing Co., [1933].
• Jones, W Bell          Hawarden Grammar School            Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.6  1917   Welsh Journals Online
• Lewis, Viian.          The squire of Hawarden        Country Quest, August 2008, p. 32-33.
• List of the wills and other papers of the peculiar court of Hawarden, now preserved in the probate registry, St Asaph       Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.4  1914  Welsh Journals Online
• Lovelock, M S.       Parish of Hawarden, Flintshire      Rev ed.         Deeside : Matthew Stephen Lovelock, 2005.
• March-Phillipps, Lisle and Bertram Christian.             Some Hawarden letters, 1878-1913            London : Nisbet & Co. ltd, [1917]
• Mason, Paul F. and Phyllis Rolfe.       Historic Hawarden     2nd ed.         Hawarden : Clwyd Record Office, 1986.
• Meredith, Gwenllian.         St Deiniol's Library Penarlâg- Hawarden :         Cambria (Carmarthen, Wales), Vol. 10, no. 4 (Christmas/New Year 2008), p. 16-21.
• Morris-Jones, H.      The Hawarden corn mill         Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society, No. 20 (Spring 1996) p. 3-4.
• Official guide to the Hawarden rural district, Flintshire : issued by the Authority of Hawarden Rural District Council.         Croydon : Home Publishing Co., [1950?]
• Pritchard, T W.      A history of the old parish of Hawarden       Wrexham : Bridge Books, 2002.
• Pritchard, William.            St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden      Much Wenlock : RJL Smith & Associates, 1997.
• Rawson, R Rees.       The coal-mining industry of the Hawarden district on the eve of the Industrial Revolution       1941 printing.
• Richards, P S     The Hawarden Bridge, Shotten, Chester, iron and steel works of Messrs  John Summers & Co    Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 25 1971/72     Welsh Journals Online
• Ross, R.    John's progress, or, How a Hawarden boy became Lord Mayor of London in 1791       Country Quest 29/5 (1988), p. 16-17
• St John the Baptist, Pentrobin, Flintshire (Parish of Hawarden) : Clwyd Family History Society.         Gwernymynydd : Clwyd Family History Society, 2002.
• Scarll,  P.  and J. Phillips.       Historic village, woodland and farmland around Hawarden      Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, 2009, p. 21-25
• Seal of the "peculiar and exempt jurisdiction" of Hawarden       Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.4  1914  Welsh Journals Online
• Sillitoe,  Paul J.      Sir John Glynne's canal, Hawarden, Flintshire :       Archaeology in Wales. 47 (2007), p. 93-98.
• Smith, David J.            Hawarden         [Bebington, Merseyside] :   [198-?]
• The Ecclesiastical parish of Hawarden, 1872-1895 / by the Rector for the time [i.e. S.E.G.]         Chester : Phillipson & Golder , [1895]
• The Hawarden visitor's hand-book.         Rev. ed. 1890.         Chester : Phillipson & Golder, [1890] - also 1883/85
• The Hawarden visitors' hand-book.          Chester : Printed for the compiler by Phillipson & Golder, [between 1896 and 1905?]
• The irony of Hawarden's airfield :       Country Quest (September 1996), p. 16-17
• The tragicall historie of the Lady Alice of Hawarden, and her true Knight Sir Lionelle :         [London? : s.n., after 1820?]
• Thompson, Ann.       Hard times at Hawarden       Country Quest. (April 2002), p. 17
• Timbrell, W F John Rev.           Altar plate in the church of St Mary, Hawarden            Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.6  1917   Welsh Journals Online
• Timbrell, W F John Rev.           Altar plate in the church of St John-the-Baptist, Hawarden          Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.7  1920   Welsh Journals Online
• Timms, Rosemary.     Letters from the Rigbys of Hawarden     Hel achau, 38 (1992), p. 27-9.
• Tucker, Norman            Colenel Roger Whitley            Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 22 1965/6     Welsh Journals Online    
• Tyson, Blake.              Some accidents in Hawarden parish, 1772-1812           Buckley: the magazine of the Buckley Society. No. 12 (July 1987), p. 15-17
• Veysey, A. Geoffrey.      The history of Hawarden Institute      Hawarden : Clwyd Record Office, 1993
• Veysey, A. Geoffrey.       Mr Gladstone and Hawarden            Hawarden : Clwyd Record Office, 1982.
• Whittaker, W E B.     The Glynnes of Hawarden    Chester : Printed for the Society by G. R. Griffith, 1906.  &   Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol.4  1914  Welsh Journals Online
• Wickham, E C.        Brief memorials of William Henry Gladstone         Chester : Phillipson and Golder, 1891.
• Willett, Richard.         A memoir of Hawarden Parish    Facsim. ed.         [Mold] : Clwyd County Council Library & Information Service, 1990.
• Williams, C J.       Handlist of the Glynne-Gladstone MSS in St. Deiniol's library, Hawarden          Kew : List and Index Society, 1990.  

Cemeteries

• Flintshire County Council,
  Housing and Community Services,
  Cemeteries Section,
  County Offices,
  Flint,
  Flintshire.
  CH6 5BD.

  Tel: 01352 703360
  Fax: 01352 703373

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Church History

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of Hawarden, St Deiniols Church

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 315659
The church, which is dedicated to St. Deiniol, has a history of at least 1000 years - the list of known Rectors dates back to 1180.
Considerable damage was caused by a fire, started deliberately, on the night of the 29th of October 1857. Fortunately, however :

"The Church Registers which were in a safe under the gallery when the fire took place were rescued by a young parishioner named Richard Hammond, who entered the burning building by breaking through a window."
[From "The Parish of Hawarden", W. Bell Jones, 1945 (unpublished)]

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

St Deiniol's Church - on wikipedia

The modern parish of Hawarden is administered as a "Rectorial Benefice", consisting of the parish church of Hawarden and the five district churches :

• Broughton (opened 1824)
• Ewloe (opened 1938)
• Pentrobin (opened 1843)
• Sandycroft (opened 1912)
• Sealand (opened 1867)

Because of increasing industrialisation, and the consequent rise in population, two former districts of Hawarden parish (Buckley and Shotton) eventually became parishes in their own right.

Researchers should note that parishioners have always had the option to be baptised, married or buried in any church of the parish of Hawarden, subject to the consent of the incumbent.
A thorough search of all the registers is therefore advisable!

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 Hawarden :

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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.

• Registers of baptisms, 1960 - 1993, at the nearby Mission Church, Mancot (now closed) have been deposited in the Flintshire Record Office. They may be viewed on microfilm.

• 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 Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden.
  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.

Nonconformist Records

• The following nonconformist registers for the Hawarden area are held either at the Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden (FRO) or at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth (NLW).
  They have not been filmed; and they have not been incorporated into the I.G.I. :

• Note - many of the Methodist chapels were grouped into "Circuits", with one set of registers serving the Circuit; and it may not always be possible to identify the particular chapel in which the ceremony was performed.
  Over the years, there have been several re-organisations of these Circuits in the eastern part of Flintshire. It is therefore advisable to also search the Methodist registers for the Buckley and Connah's Quay areas.

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Civil Registration

In 1853, the poor law Union of Hawarden was created, and the parish of Hawarden became part of that Union - but for purposes of civil registration, it remained in the Hawarden sub-district of Great Boughton registration district.

On the 1st January 1870, the Great Boughton registration district was re-structured, and re-named as "Chester".

On 1 January 1903, the sub-district of Hawarden was upgraded to a Registration District in its own right.

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

• Years 1837 - 1851: Gt. Boughton XIX. nnn
• Years 1852 - 1869: Gt. Boughton 8a. nnn
• Years 1870 - 1902: Chester 8a. nnn
• Years 1903 - 1946: Hawarden 11b. nnn

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

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Description and Travel

Hawarden - on wikipedia

Hawarden Community Council

Hawarden Castle - on castle wales

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

Population

• In 1831- the population was 5414.
• In 1901- the population was 7949.
  [ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Statistics

The "ancient" parish of Hawarden was approximately 17,300 acres in extent.

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Last Updated   8 Jan 2013 - Gareth Hicks