Not proofread: Created page with "<section begin="s1"/>and shut in by Cheshire on the N. and N .E., by Shropshire on the S., and by Denbighshire on the W. and N .W. The Clwyd valley is common to Flint and Denb..."
New page
<noinclude><pagequality level="1" user="Slowking4" /><div class="pagetext">{{rh|{{x-larger|522}}|{{x-larger|{{uc|FLINT}}}}|{{x-larger|}}}}<!-- replace "Foo" and "Bar" with the header from the page, delete and input page numbers as appropriate -->
</noinclude><section begin="s1"/>and shut in by Cheshire on the N. and N .E., by Shropshire
on the S., and by Denbighshire on the W. and N .W. The Clwyd
valley is common to Flint and Denbigh. Those of the Alyn and
Wepre (from Ewloe Castle to the Dee) are fine. The Dee, entering
the county near Overton, divides Maelor from Denbigh on the
W., passes Chester and bounds most of the county on -the-N.
The Clwyd enters Flint near Bodfary, and joining the Elwy near
Rhuddlan, reaches the Irish Sea near Rhyl. The Alyn enters the
county under Moel Fammau, passes Cilcen and. Mold (y Wyddgrug),
runs underground near Hesb-Alyn (Alyn's drying»up)~,
bends south to Caergwrle, re-enters Denbighshire and joins the
Dee. Llyn Helyg (willow-pool), near Whitford, is the chief lake.
Both for their influence' upon the physical features and for their
economic value the carboniferous rocks of Flintshire are the most
important. From Prestat n on the coast a band of carboniferous
limestone passes close by lylolywell and through Caerwen; it forms
the Halkin Mountain east of Halkin, whence it continues past Mold
tobeyond the county boundary. The upper portion of this series
is cherty in the north-the chert is quarried for use in the potteries
of, Staffordshire—but traced southward it passes into sandstones and
grits; above these beds come the Holywell shales, possibly the
equivalent of the Péndleside series of Lancashire and Derbyshire,
while upon them lies the Gwespyr sandstone, which has been thought
to correspond to the Gannister coal measures of Lancashire, butmay
be a representative of the Millstone Grit. Farther to the east, the
coal measures, with valuable coals, some oil shale, and with Hreclays
and marls which are used for brick and tile-making, extend from
Talacre through Flint, Northop, Hawarden and Broughton to Hopel
The carboniferous rocks appear again through the intervention of a
fault, in the neighbourhood of St Asaph. Silurian strata, mostly of
Wenlock age, lie below the carboniferous limestone on the western
border of the county. Triassic red beds of the Bunter fill the Clwyd
valley and appear again on the coal measures S.E. of Chester. Lead
and zinc ores have been worked in the lower carboniferous rocks in
the north of the county, and caves in the same formation, at Caer
Gwyn and Ffynnon Beuno, have yielded the remains of Pleistocene
mammals along with palaeolithic implements. Much glacial drift
obscures the older rocks on the east and north and in the vale of
Clwyd. Short stretches of blown sand occur on the coast near Rhyl
and Talacre.
The London & North-Western railway follows the coast-line.
Other railways which cross the county are the Great Western,
and the Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay, acquired by the
Great Central company. For pasture the vale of Clwyd is well
known. Oats, turnips and swedes are the chief crops. Stock
and dairy farming prospers, native cattle being crossed with
Herefords and Downs, native sheep with Leicesters and Southdowns,
while in the thick mining population a ready market is
found for meat, cheese, butter, &c. The population (81,700 in
1901) nearly doubled in the 19th century, and Flintshire to-day
is one of the most densely populated counties in North Wales.
The area of the ancient county is 164,744 acres, and that of
the administrative county 163,02 5 acres. The collieries begin at
Llanasa, run through Whitford, Holywell, Flint, Halkin (Halcyn),
Northop, Buckley, Mold and Hawarden (Penarlag). At Halkin,
Mold, Holywell, Prestatyn and Talacre lead is raised, and is
sometimes sent to Bagillt, Flint or Chester to be smelted. Zinc,
formerly only worked at Dyserth, has increased in output, and
copper mines also exist, as at Talargoch, together with Smelting
works, oil, vitriol, potash and alkali manufactories. Potteries
around Buckley send their produce chiefly to Connah's Quay,
whence a railway crosses the Dee to the Birkenhead (Cheshire)
district. Iron seams are now thin, but limestone quarries yield
building stone, lime for burning and small stone for chemical
works. Fisheries are unproductive and textile manufactures
small.
The county returns one member to parliament. The parliamentary
borough district (returning one member), consists of
Caergwrle, Caerwys, Flint, Holywell, Mold, Overton, St Asaph
and Rhuddlan. In addition, there is a small part of the Chester
parliamentary borough. There is one municipal borough,
Flint (pop. 4625). The other urban districts are: Buckley
(5780), Connah's Quay (3369), Holywell (2652), Mold (4263),
Prestatyn (1261) and Rhyl (8473). Flint is in the North Wales
and Chester circuit, assizes being held at Mold. The Flint
borough has a separate commission of the peace, but no separate
court of quarter sessions. The ancient county, . which is in the
dioceses of Chester, Lichfield and St Asaph, contains forty-six
entire ecclesiastical parishes and districts, with parts of eleven
others.
Among sites of antiquarian or historical interest, besides the
fragmentary ruin of Flint Castle, the following may be mentioned:
-Caerwys, 'near Flint, still shows traces of Roman occupation.
Bodfary (Bodfari) was traditionally occupied by the Romans.
Moel y gaer (bald hill of the fortress), near Northop, is a remarkably
perfect old British post. Maes y Garmon (perhaps
for M eusydd Garmon, as y, the article, has no significance before
a proper name, and so to be translated, battlefields of Germanus).
A mile from Mold is the reputed scene of une vicloife sans larmes,
gagnée non par les armes, mais par la foi (E. H. Vollet). The
Britons, 'says the legend, were threatened by the Picts and
Saxons, at whose approach the Alleluia of that Easter (A.D. 430)
was sung. Panic-duly seized the invaders, but the victor, St
Germanus, confessor and bishop of Auxerre (A.D. 380-448), had
to returnto the charge in 446. He has, under the name Garmon,
a great titular share in British topography. At Bangor Iscoed,
“ the great high 'choir in Maelor, ” was the monastery, destroyed
with over 2000 monks, by /Ethelfred of Northumberland in 607,
as (by a curious coincidence) its namesake Bangor in Ireland
was sacked by the Danes in the oth century. Bede says (ii. 2)
that Bangor monastery was in seven sections, with three hundred
(working) monks. The supposed lines of direction of Watt's and
Offa's dykes were: Basingwerk, Halkin, Hope, Alyn valley,
Oswestry (Croés Oswallt, “ Oswald's cross ”), for Watt's, and
Prestatyn, Mold, Minera, across the Severn (H afren, or Sabrina)
for Offa's. Owain Gwynedd (Gwynedd or Venedocia, is North
Wales) defeated Henry II. at Coed Ewloe (where is a tower)
and at Coleshill (Cynsylll). Near Pant Asa (pant is a bottom)
is the medieval Maen Achwynfan (achwyn, to complain, maen,
stone), and tumuli, menhirs (meini hirion) and inscribed stones
are frequent throughout the county. There is a 14th-century
cross in Newmarket churchyard. Caergwrle Castle seems early
Roman, or even British; but most of the castles in the county
date from the early Edwards.
See H. Taylor, Flint (London, 1883).
<section end="s1"/>
<section begin="s2"/>'''FLINT''', a municipal borough and the county town of the
above; a seaport and contributory parliamentary borough, on
the south of the Dee estuary, 192 m. from London by the London
& North-Western railway. Pop. (rgor) 4265. The seat of
great alkali manufactures, it imports chiefly sulphur and other
chemicals, exporting coal, soda, potash, copper, &c. The county
gaol' here, as at Haverfordwest, occupied an angle of the castle,
was removed to Mold, and is now Chester Castle (jointly with
Cheshire.) "
Flint Castle was built on a lonely rock by the riverside by
Edward I. Here met Edward II. and Piers Gavestonf Edward
III. bestowed its constable ship upon the earls of Chester, and
here Richard II. surrendered to Bolingbroke. It was twice
taken, after siege, by the parliamentarians, and finally dismantled
in 1647.1 'There remain a square court (with angle towers),
round tower and drawbridge, all three entrusted to a constable,
appointed »by the crown under the Municipal Corporations
Reforms Act. Made a borough by Edward I., Flint was chartered
by Edward III., and by Edward the Black Prince, as earl of
Chester.
<section end="s2"/>
<section begin="s3"/>'''FLINT''' (a word common in Teutonic and Scandinavian
languages, possibly cognate with the Gr. 1r7i1/005, a tile), in petrology, a dark grey or dark brown crypto-crystalline substance which has an almost vitreous lustre, and when pure appears structureless to the unaided eye. In the mass it is dark and opaque, but thin plates or the edges of splinters are pale yellow and translucent. Its hardness is greater than that of steel, so that a-knife blade leaves a grey metallic streak when drawn across its surface. Its specific gravity is 2-6 or onlya little less than that of crystalline quartz. 'It is brittle, and when hammered readily breaks up into a powder of angular grains. The fracture is perfectly conchoidal, so that blows with a hammer detach flakes which have convex, slightly undulating surfaces. At the point of impact a bulb of percussion, which is a somewhat<section end="s3"/><noinclude><references/></div></noinclude>