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Halkyn

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"The village, which has arisen within the present century, and greatly increased since the discovery of some rich mines in the vicinity, is pleasantly situated in a fertile district; and the elevated ground adjacent to it commands a fine prospect of the surrounding scenery which, on the north, east and south expands into an almost boundless view. .... At a small distance from the village rises the Halkin mountain, rich in mineral treasures. It extends into the parishes of Northop, Ysceiviog, and Holywell, and forms one continued series of excavations made in search of lead-ore, of which no part of the principality has been more productive." [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, S. Lewis, 1849]

Halkyn is one of the "ancient parishes" of Flintshire, comprising the townships of Hendrefigillt, Lygan y Llan and Lygan y Wern. On 27 June 1848, the township of Hendrefigillt went to the new parish of Rhesycae. Archdeacon Thomas (1911) states that on 31 March 1865, part of the township of Lygan y Llan went to the new parish of Rhydymwyn, but from a study of the township boundaries, that seems to be unlikely.

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Bibliography

  • Baker, Rosa.         An incomer, confusion, and Halkyn Parish Registers     Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 43 (Autumn 1999), p. 29-30
  • Berry, David.          Walks around Holywell & Halkyn Mountain           Machynlleth : Kittiwake, 2003.
  • Cornwell, J.D. & G.S. Kimbell.              Geophysical surveys in part of the Halkyn-Minera mining district, north-east Wales .         Keyworth : British Geological Survey, 1985
  • Ebbs, Cris.     Workings and artefacts of Halkyn District United Mines, Flintshire         Archaeology in Wales. 47 (2007), p. 98-101.
  • Ellis, Bryn.           The Halkyn riots, 1866 / Bryn        Llafur, Vol. 5, no. 3 (1990), p. 14-19.
  • Ellis, Bryn.      Windmill, Halkyn, Clwyd         Melin, No. 8 (1992), p. 3-8
  • Ellis, Bryn.       The history of Halkyn Mountain           Holywell : Helygain, 1998.
  • Ellis, Bryn.      Lead mining on Halkyn Mountain       Hel achau, 44 (1994), p. 19-21.
  • Ellis,  Bryn  and J. Phillips.      A walk on Halkyn Mountain       Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (2000), p. 32-37.
  • Halkyn mountain communities in times past.         Halkyn : Countryside News, 1993.
  • Halkyn Mountain Project report :         Cardiff : Welsh Office, 1983.
  • Hughes, D R.        The early life of the Rev. Evan Talfryn Jones of Moel y Crio, Halkyn        Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 44 (Spring 2000), p. 24-25
  • Jenner,  Lorna  and Tim Erasmus.       Halkyn Mountain Common ;      illustration by Wendi Williams-Shiel and Chris Hull.         [Mold] : Flintshire Countryside Service, 2004.
  • St Mary's Church Halkyn : [Clwyd Family History Society].         Gwernymynydd : Clwyd Family History Society, 1999.
  • Syme, Alistair.             Halkyn horse's legendary leap        Country Quest, March 2008, p. 44-45
  • Williams, C J.      A handlist of the Grosvenor (Halkyn) MSS      Hawarden : Clwyd Record Office, 1988.
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Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 209712.
Although there has been a church at Halkyn for at least 1000 years, the present church dates only from 1878. The old church was demolished, and an entirely new building was erected a short distance away, the cost being met in full by the Duke of Westminster. The new church was consecrated on 29 October 1878.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Church of St Mary, Halkyn - on wikipedia

'Halkyn Church' by Moses Griffith, c. 1770-1800 (watercolour) on the People's Collection Wales site

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 Halkyn :

Name of ChapelDenominationNumber of "adherents"
Felin y NantCalvinistic MethodistNot stated
SionCalvinistic Methodist150
Ebeneser, Rhesycae - WelshCongregational220
Moriah - WelshWesleyan248
Salem - WelshWesleyan130
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Church Records

  • The following nonconformist registers for the Halkyn 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
Seion (Pentre Halkyn)Calvinistic MethodistBirths and Baptisms1817 - 1837C098241
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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Halkyn 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 Halkyn 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

Halkyn - on wikipedia   -   also Pentre Halkyn - also Halkyn Castle

Various landscapes on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see pictures of Halkyn 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

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ202706 (Lat/Lon: 53.226633, -3.196935), Halkyn which are provided by:

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Population

  • In 1831- the population was 1538.
  • In 1901- the population was 889.
    [Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish as 1271 acres.