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Ysceifiog

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"This parish, which is situated on the roads from Denbigh to Mold and Holywell, comprises a very considerable tract of good arable and pasture land, which is enclosed and cultivated; and a portion of hilly ground, which is too elevated for culture. .... The village, which is small, is seated on an eminence, commanding some finely varied and extensive prospects; and the surrounding scenery presents many interesting features.
Lead abounds in the parish, and several mines, which had been worked for many years with great advantage, have been recently discontinued, in consequence of the present low price of the metal. ....
On the high ground in this parish are the remains of a Roman encampment; and at Bryn Sion was found, in the year 1816, a very beautiful torque of pure gold, measuring fifty-two inches in length, and weighing twenty-four ounces; which was purchased by the Marquis of Westminster for three hundred guineas." [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, S. Lewis, 1834]

Ysceifiog is one of the "ancient parishes" of Flintshire. It originally comprised the eight townships of Batingen, Garneddwen, Gellilyfdy, Pen Ucha'r Plwy, Prys (or Prysau), Trefraith, Tre'r Llan Isaf and Tre'r Llan Uchaf.
On 27 June 1848, parts of the townships of Garneddwen, Tre'r Llan Uchaf and Pen Ucha'r Plwy went to the new parish of Rhesycae.
On 19 August 1853, part of the township of Gellilyfdy went to the new parish of Gorsedd.
In 1854, parts of the townships of Pen Ucha'r Plwy and Prys went to the new parish of Brynford.

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Bibliography

  • Death of the Reverend Canon Williams M.A., Rector of Ysceifiog and Rural Dean of Holywell. Holywell : W. Morris, pr., 1854.
  • Emery, Gordon. Ysceifiog ; with additional illustrations by David Bell. Rev. ed. Chester : Gordon Emery, 1999.
  • Lloyd, Nesta John Jones, Gellilyfdy Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 24 1969/70 Welsh Journals Online
  • Roberts, Enid Pierce Llys Coedymynydd; the activities of younger sons and minor gentry Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 36 2003 Welsh Journals Online
  • Roberts, Raymond. The Ysceifiog six Connah's Quay : Clwydian Walks, c1996.
  • Smith, P & M Bevan-Evans A few reflections on Gellilyfdy and the renaissance in north-east Wales Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 24 1969/70 Welsh Journals Online
  • Walls, L J & M Bevan-Evans Pentre, Lixwm - a Jacobethan hall house Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 25 1971/72 Welsh Journals Online
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Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 153714.
By 1835, the old church was in such a state of dilapidation that services had to be discontinued. The building was demolished, and a new church was erected on the same site during 1836 / 1837.
The church is dedicated to St. Mary.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

St Mary's - on CPAT

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 Ysceifiog :

Name of ChapelDenominationNumber of "adherents"
Lixwm - WelshBaptist60
BabellCalvinistic Methodist130
Berthen Gron, LixwmCalvinistic Methodist220
DdolCalvinistic Methodist95
Not named - WelshCongregationalNot stated
Fron - WelshWesleyan40
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Church Records

  • The following nonconformist registers for the Ysceifiog 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 ChapelDenominationType of RecordYears CoveredI.G.I. Batch Number
BabellCalvinistic MethodistBirths and Baptisms1819 - 1836C098251
Berthen GronCalvinistic MethodistBirths and Baptisms1812 - 1837C098261
  • The following nonconformist registers for the Ysceifiog area are held at the Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden :
Name of ChapelDenominationType of RecordYears Covered
Lixwm / LicswmCalvinistic MethodistBirths and Baptisms1807 - 1837
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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Ysceifiog 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 Ysceifiog 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 & Travel

Ysceifiog - on wikipedia

You can see pictures of Ysceifiog which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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

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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 Ysceifiog parish in the County of Flint on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ153717 (Lat/Lon: 53.235695, -3.270836), Ysceifiog which are provided by:

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Military History

Brothers [Smart] from Ysceifiog, Flintshire who all fought in the First World War - on the People's Collection Wales site

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Population

  • In 1831- the population was 1860.
  • In 1901- the population was 935.
    [ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]