Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HOLYWELL

HOLYWELL, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district in Flintshire. The town stands on an eminence under the Halkin mountain, 1¾ mile SSW of a station of its own name on the Chester and Holyhead railway, about the same distance from the nearest part of the Dee estuary, and 5 miles NW by W of Flint. It is known to the Welsh as Treffynnon, signifying "well town;" and it got both that name and its English one from a celebrated copious spring at it, dedicated to St. Winifred. It was, till the middle of last century, a mere village, mainly dependent on visitors to its famous well; but it became a place of stir, a seat of much trade, the working centre of a very valuable mineral region; and, though now not quite so prosperous as it was some years ago, it is still the most important town in the county. It begins above St. Winifred's well; descends along the stream issuing from the well; consists principally of one long street; and, though rather straggling, is comparatively well built, contains many excellent houses, and presents an interesting appearance. The road to it from the r. station is bordered by a succession of disagreeable works and squalid cottages; yet, notwithstanding all the unpleasantness, noise, and bustle there and in the town, produced by numerous manufactories, the scene may be called picturesque. "This, " says Warner, "is the only instance of that sort of beauty we have ever seen blended with so much mechanism, and so many specimens of human art. It is a deep glen, with well wooded banks on each side, having the Chester channel in the distance. The works are kept in such excellent order, that one of the first emotions occurring to the mind is that of wonder, at so much work carried on with so much cleanliness." The seats of Saithelwyd Hall, Coedmawr, Kinsale, and Greenfield Hall are in the neighbourhood. A Roman bath has been found; and a fort of the Earls of Chester was at Bryn-y-Castell. See also the article BASINGWERK. St. Winifred's well is, by legend, assigned a miraculous origin in the 7th century, connected with a saintly virgin who became abbess of Gwytherin monastery. It was, throughout the Romish times, a resort of pilgrims, among whom were William the Conqueror, Henry II., Edward I., and James II. It bursts from a rock into a polygonal basin of about 200 tuns of capacity; flows incessantly and perennially, at the rate of about 100 tuns per minute; is intensely cold, yet never freezes; is almost invariable in volume, yet undergoes considerable discoloration after wet weather; and sends forth its stream with force to turn a number of mills and factories. Its sides are clothed with Jungermannia asplenioides, or sweet scented moss; and the stones are coated with Byssus iolithus. A chapel stands over it, built by the Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry VII.; consists of nave, N aisle, and apsidal chancel; forms an exquisite specimen of late perpendicular English architecture; and is now used as a Sunday school and lecture room. Groined arches on which the chapel rests rise from the sides of the well's basin; have a very rich and graceful character; and are adorned with figures and escutcheons of the Stanley family. Two baths are in the building for public use; the well's basin was long used as a bath, in the faith of its possessing highly therapeutic virtues; and votive offerings, comprising sticks, crutches, and hand barrows, are stuck among the decorations of the groined arches, placed there by persons who supposed themselves to have been cured of ailments by the bath. The parish church stands on a low site near the well; was rebuilt in 1769; includes some parts of a previous church of Norman date; is a plain edifice, with embattled tower; and contains a headless effigies of St. Winifred, and tombs of the Mostyns, the Pennants, and the Pantons. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Calvinistic Methodists, Wesleyans, United Free Methodists, and Roman Catholics, national and British schools, a workhouse, and charities £116. The town has a head post office, ‡ two banking offices, and four chief inns; is a seat of petty sessions; and publishes two weekly newspapers, the one in English, the other in Welsh. A weekly market is held on Friday; and fairs are held on 23 April, Trinity Tuesday, and 2 Sept. Manufactures of cottons and galloons are carried on. Large establishments for smelting lead and copper, for making shot, and for other kindred purposes, exist; and extensive lead, copper, and zinc mines are in the neighbourhood. A tram railway, for conveyance of mineral produce, runs into the mines under the hill. The town, with some rural outskirts, all within the parish, is a borough; and it unites with Flint, Mold, Caerwys, Caergwrle, Overton, Rhuddlan, and St. Asaph, in sending a member to parliament. Real property in 1860, £9, 658; of which £1, 259 were in mines, and £20 in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 5, 740; in 1861, 5, 335. Houses, 1, 220. The parish includes also the townships of BagilltFawr, Brynford, Calcot, Coleshill-Fawr, Greenfield, and Welstone; and extends to the estuary of the Dee. Acres, 13, 382; of which 5, 850 are water. Real property, £30, 336; of which £4, 438 are in mines, £285 in quarries, £241 in railways, and £250 in gas works. Pop. in 1851, 11, 301; in 1861, 10, 292. Houses, 2, 327. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £250.* Patron, Jesus College, Oxford. The chapelries of Bagilt and Brynford are separate benefices.—The sub-district contains also the parishes of Ysceifiog and Nannerch, -part of the latter electorally in Denbigh. Acres, 22, 079. Pop., 12, 100. Houses, 2, 733.—The district comprehends also the sub-district of Flint, containing the parishes of Flint, Halkin, and Northop; the sub-district of Mold, containing the parish of Cilcen and twelve townships of Mold; and the sub-district of Whitford, containing the parishes of Whitford, Caerwys, Gwaenysgor, Newmarket, and Llanasa. Acres, 89, 479. Poor rates in 1863, £19, 103. Pop. in 1851, 41, 047; in 1861, 39, 941. Houses, 8, 811. Marriages in 1862, 214; births, 1, 307, -of which 69 were illegitimate; deaths, 830, -of which 295 were at ages under 5 years, and 26 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 2, 375; births, 11, 678; deaths, 8, 403. The places of worship, in 1851, were 22 of the Church of England, with 10, 660 sittings; 21 of Independents, with 4, 933 s.; 11 of Baptists, with 1, 402 s.; 31 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 6, 749 s.; 4 of New Connexion Methodists, with 476 s.; 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 281 s.; 1 of Wesleyan Reformers, with 470 s.; 32 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 6, 542 s.; 2 undefined, with 324 s.; 2 of Roman Catholics, with 340 s.; and 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 16 attendants. The schools were 25 public day schools, with 3, 240 scholars; 42 private day schools, with 1, 333 s.; 122 Sunday schools, with 14, 900 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 4 s.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Holywell AP/CP       Holywell SubD       Holywell RegD/PLU       Flintshire AncC
Place names: HOLYWELL     |     TREFFYNNON
Place: Holywell

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