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Northop

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"This place, which has obtained its present appellation in contradistinction to East, or Queen's Hope, was by the Welsh called "Llan-Eurgain," from the dedication of its first church to St. Eurgain, niece of St. Asaph, the second bishop of the see which from him derived its name. The parish, which is of very considerable extent, is situated on the estuary of the Dee, by which it is bounded on the north-east, and is traversed by the roads from Chester to Holyhead, and from Mold to Holywell, which cross each other near the church. .... The village, which is large, is pleasantly situated in a fertile and beautiful tract of country, abounding with finely varied and highly picturesque scenery, and is surrounded on all sides by elegant villas and handsome seats, inhabited by opulent families. .... The parish is rich in mineral treasure: coal and lead-ore have been worked here for several centuries; an extensive colliery is still carried on in the hamlet of Soughton, and several shafts are now being sunk on the Northop Hall estate, in the hamlets of Northop and Kelsterton." [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, S. Lewis, 1834]

Northop is one of the ancient parishes of Flintshire, and originally consisted of the eight townships of Caerfallwch, Golftyn, Kelsterton, Leadbrook Major, Leadbrook Minor, Northop, Soughton (or Sychtyn) and Wepre.
In 1844, the townships of Leadbrook, Kelsterton, Golftyn and Wepre went to the newly created parish of Connah's Quay.
(In 1872, the two townships of Leadbrook were transferred from Connah's Quay to Flint.)
In 1865, part of the township of Caerfallwch went to the newly created parish of Rhydymwyn.
In 1876, the remainder of the township of Caerfallwch went to the newly created parish of Caerfallwch.

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Bibliography

  • Bartlett, J. and K. M. Ellis. Remembering the dead in Northop: Journal of Contemporary History, 34 (April 1999)
  • Devlin, Mike. Tranquillity and infamy in Northop Country Quest. (September 2005), p. 14-15
  • Evans, David Sir Price Davies, Rector of Blisland Parish: Two letters, 1763, 1765 Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 24 1969/70 Welsh Journals Online
  • 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
  • Jennings, J M Further notes on the Reverend Price Davies Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 24 1969/70 Welsh Journals Online
  • Jones, P. Bryan. Life in Starkey Lane, Northop and Flint Mountain 1914-1936 (with special reference to the Carter family) from the diaries of the Revd. J.A.M. Sheal Hel achau, No. 98 (September 2008), p. 17-18
  • Lloyd, George Owen Jones of Northop Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 21 1964 Welsh Journals Online
  • Phillips, J. A circular walk from Northop including part of Wat's Dyke Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, 2009, p. 92-94
  • Pritchard, T W Northup Grammar school Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 29 1979/80 Welsh Journals Online
  • Rawsthorne, Lawrence. The library of the Bankes family of Soughton Hall and Mynachlog, in Northop, Clwyd : Mold : Clwyd County Council Library and Information Service, c1994
  • Sheal, John Allen. The Rev John Allen Sheal's diaries Hel achau, No. 98 (September 2008), p. 18-26
  • Sheal, John Allen. The Rev. John Allon [sic. Allen] Sheal's diaries, 1911-1937 at Ty Gwyn, Starkey Lane, Northop, Flintshire Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 55 (Autumn 2006), p. 24-28
  • Smith, P and P Hayes Llyseurgain and the tower Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 22 1965/6 Welsh Journals Online
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Church History

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of Northrop Hall, English Presbyterian Chapel

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 246685.
There is evidence of a church at Northop as early as the 6th century. The present building was extensively re-built in 1840, and underwent further alterations in 1877.
The church is dedicated to Saints Peter and Eurgain.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

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 Northop :

Name of ChapelDenominationNumber of "adherents"
Pantygof - WelshBaptist95
Bethel, RhosesmorCalvinistic Methodist226
SalemCalvinistic Methodist107
SychtynCalvinistic Methodist146
Jerusalem, Rhosesmor - WelshCongregational38
Bryn Seion, Sychtyn - WelshCongregational97
Not named - EnglishCongregational45
Not named, Northop HallEnglish Presbyterian260
Mount Gilead, Northop HallMethodist New Connexion320
Not named - WelshWesleyan40
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Church Records

  • The following nonconformist registers for the Northop 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
SalemCalvinistic MethodistBirths and Baptisms1806 - 1837C098341
  • The following nonconformist registers for the Northop 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 ChapelDenominationType of RecordYears Covered
Northop Hall (not named)Wesleyan MethodistBaptisms1863 - 1933
  • Note - This Wesleyan Methodist chapel was grouped into a "Circuit", with one set of registers serving the Circuit.
    It may not always be possible to identify the particular chapel in which the ceremony was performed.
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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Northop was assigned to the No. 3 ("Flint") 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 Northop 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

Northop Village site

Northop - on wikipedia

You can see pictures of Northop 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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History

Church and village scene at Northop, Flintshire on the People's Collection Wales site

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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 the parish of Northop in the County of Flint by which the apportionment of the rentcharge of the said parish was made under the Tithe Commutation Act on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ252687 (Lat/Lon: 53.209903, -3.122177), Northop which are provided by:

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Population

  • In 1831- the population was 3026.
  • In 1901- the population was 1550.
    [ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
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Schools

OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL;OLD FREE SCHOOL, NORTHOP on the People's Collection Wales site

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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish as 3260 acres.