Flintshire
Parishes
Contents
Holywell / Treffynnon
"The town of Holywell is situated on the estuary of the Dee nearly opposite to Parkgate. ... It is built on the declevity of a hill gradually extending to the sea, the surrounding hills forming a kind of amphitheatre. ... The town of Holywell ranks the first in the principality of Wales. Its inhabitants are intelligent and enterprising, and few places can boast of society being better cemented, or good cheer and hospitality more uniformly practised."
[From The Histories of Holywell, Flint, St. Asaph and Rhuddlan, Poole, 1831]
Holywell is one of the "ancient parishes" of Flintshire. It originally comprised the townships of Holywell, Brynford, Bagillt Fawr, Bagillt Fechan, Calcot, Coleshill Fawr, Coleshill Fechan, Greenfield, Stokyn and Wellstone (or Trefynnon).
On 23 May 1844, the new parish of Bagillt was created from the townships of Bagillt Fawr, Bagillt Fechan, Coleshill Fawr and Coleshill Fechan.
In 1854, most of the township of Brynford was lost to the new parish of Brynford.
In 1983, the area of Wellstone was transferred to the parish of Brynford.
Cemeteries
In addition to the churchyard of St. James Parish Church, there is a public cemetery in Fron Park Road.
The cemetery, which was opened about 1910, is still in use, and is administered by Flintshire County Council. The opening time is 8.00 a.m. until sunset.
The cemetery records, from 1910 to 1927, and from 1936 to date, are held at the Flintshire County offices in Flint.
Researchers who wish to see the cemetery records must make a prior appointment, by contacting :
Church History
Ordnance Survey reference SJ 185763
The church in Holywell was founded bt St. Beuno during the seventh century, and was dedicated to St. Winifred, his niece, for many centuries. However, after extensive rebuilding in 1769/1770, it was re-dedicated to St. James the Apostle. There was a further renovation, including a considerable amount of rebuilding and alteration, during 1884/1885.
The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.
There is a district church at Greenfield.
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 "Holywell Urban District":
| Name of Chapel |
Denomination |
Number of "adherents" |
| Bethel - Welsh
|
Baptist
|
230
|
| Rehoboth
|
Calvinistic Methodist
|
476
|
| Penymaes
|
Calvinistic Methodist
|
Not stated
|
| Chapel Street - Welsh
|
Congregational
|
298
|
| Tabernacle - English
|
Congregational
|
130
|
| Not named
|
English Presbyterian
|
135
|
| Pendre - Welsh
|
Wesleyan
|
305
|
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.
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
| 1677 - 1995 |
1677 - 1997 |
1677 - 1978 |
- Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
| 1677 - 1825 |
1677 - 1812 |
1677 - 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 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.
| Deposited at the National Library of Wales |
Microfilmed copies |
| 1667 - 1866 |
1667 - 1866 |
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.
| Type of Record |
Years Covered |
I.G.I. Batch Number |
| Baptisms |
1823 - 1848 |
C056621 |
| Marriages |
None |
- |
Nonconformist Records
- The following nonconformist registers for the Holywell 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 |
| Rehoboth
|
Calvinistic Methodist
|
Births and Baptisms
|
1809 - 1837
|
C098191
|
| Seion, Chapel Street
|
Congregational
|
Births and Baptisms
|
1800 - 1837
|
C098511
|
| Pendre, Chester Road
|
Wesleyan
|
Births and Baptisms
|
1809 - 1837
|
C098401
|
- The following nonconformist registers for the Holywell 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 |
| Tabernacle
|
Congregational
|
Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
|
1867 - 1986
|
| Spring Gardens
|
English Presbyterian
|
Baptisms
|
1951 - 1971
|
Civil Registration
When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Holywell was assigned to the No. 2 ("Holywell") sub-district of the Holywell Registration District, which was co-extensive with the Holywell poor law Union.
In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Holywell 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)
Population
- In 1831- the population was 8969.
- In 1901- the population was 4972.
[Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
Statistics
Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish, including Greenfield, as 3200 acres.
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Last Updated 29 Nov 2009 - Gareth Hicks
