Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for DENBIGH

DENBIGH, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in St. Asaph district, Denbighshire. The town occupies a steep acclivity, overhung by a castle-crowned rock, on an affluent of the river Clwyd, at the W side of the vale of Clwyd, adjacent to the Vale of Clwyd railway, 5½ miles S of St. Asaph. It was originally called Caledfryn, signifying a "rocky hill;" and it takes its present name from two words which signify a "small hill." It witnessed feuds and conflicts in the old Welsh times; and was the rendezvous of the chieftains, under the last Llewelyn, against the English. Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, got a grant of it from Edward I., walled it, and built its castle. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, Hugh de Spencer, the Crown, the Earls of March, the Earl of Salisbury, and Dudley, Earl of Leicester, successively held possession of it. The castle sustained a siege of four months, in 1646, by General Mytton; and was blown up at the Restoration. The eisteddfod, or triennial meeting of the Welsh bards, was long occasionally held here; and the last one enjoyed the presence of the late Duke of Sussex, and many of the nobility.

The town, as seen from some distance, looks very picturesque; and has been thought to resemble Stirling in Scotland. It comprises one long main street, smaller diverging streets, and a spacious market-place; contains many elegant residences; and has undergone great modern improvement. The space within the ancient walls is 1¼ mile in circuit; rises 240 feet above the level of the vale below; and commands a grand view, away to the blue tops of distant mountains; but contains now little less than the fragments of the castle, a bowling-green adjacent to them, the castle-house and grounds, St. Hilary's chapel and grammar-school, and the ruins of St. David's church. The walls were prodigiously strong, having been formed of two thick masses of masonry, filled up between with stones and hot cement; and some huge fragments of them still remain. The great gateway is a grand, but desolated specimen of ancient military architecture; was flanked by two large octagonal towers; and still presents a vast Gothic arch and one of the flanking towers. A statue of Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, is over the arch; and passages and dungeons, to the extent of 120 feet, have been explored. The town hall was built in 1752, by Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The old parochial church, situated at Eglwys-wen or Whitchurch, about a mile from the town, is now ruinous, and contains a large altar-tomb of Sir John Salusbury, who died in 1578, and a mean monument of Humphrey Llwyd, the distinguished Welsh antiquary. The new church, in the town, is an elegant edifice of 1840, after a design by Penson. St. Hilary's chapel, within the ancient walls, is a spacious structure in later English. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Calvinistic Methodists. A Carmelite priory was founded, at the foot of the town, about 1289, by the Salusburys of Lleweni; and remains of its church, with a well-preserved eastern window, still exist. The grammar school has £56 from endowment; a blue-coat school, £119; another school £25; and other charities £15. The orphan school, for educating and maintaining 55 girls, is a handsome edifice of 1860, erected at a cost of about £18, 000; and sprang from funds left, in the 16th century, by Thomas Howell, under trust of the Drapers' Company. The lunatic asylum for North Wales, situated near the town, is a large fine edifice, built at a cost of £27, 000, after designs by Fulljames and Waller; and has accommodation for 220 first and second class patients, besides paupers. The dispensary is well-managed; and a literary society exists, chiefly for the promotion of Welsh literature. The railway station is a picturesque structure, with arched basement, verandah platform, and surmount . ing tower.

The town has a head post-office, ‡ two banking offices, and several chief inns; is a seat of sessions, and a polling-place; and publishes 3 weekly Welsh newspapers. Markets are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays; and fairs on the second Wednesday of Jan., Ash-Wednesday, the Friday and Saturday before Palm-Sunday, 14 and 15 May, the last Tuesday and Wednesday of June, 18 and 19 July, 25 Sept., the second Tuesday and Wednesday of Nov., and the second Wednesday of Dec. A general country trade, and some manufactures of gloves and shoes, are carried on. The town was chartered by Edward I.; is governed by a mayor, six aldermen, and 12 councillors; and unites with Holt, Ruthin, and Wrexham, in sending a member to parliament. The borough extends 1½ mile everyway from the market-cross; and includes all Denbigh parish, and parts of Llanrhaidr-yn-Kimmerch and Henllan. Electors in the group of boroughs, in 1868, 934. Direct taxes, £6, 799. Pop. of Denbigh borough in 1861, 5, 946. Houses, 1, 261. The town gives the title of Earl to the Fieldings.

The parish comprises 1, 500 acres. Real property, £13, 820; of which £3, 307 are in railways. Pop., 4, 054. Houses, 841. The property is much subdivided. The rocks include limestone. The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacy of St. Davids, in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £400.* Patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The p. curacy of St. Davids was formerly a separate charge, and continued so till 1868.—The sub-district contains four parishes. Acres, 38, 200. Pop., 9, 053. Houses, 1, 921.


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

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Denbigh AP/CP       Denbigh SubD       St Asaph RegD/PLU       Denbighshire AncC
Place names: CALEDFRYN     |     DENBIGH
Place: Denbigh

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.