Historic Flintshire
Flintshire (Welsh:
Sir y Fflint) was one of thirteen
historic counties of Wales. It was notable for having several exclaves
and being the smallest county in Wales. It was a maritime county bounded
to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by the Dee estuary, to the
south-east by
Cheshire (England) and to the south and west by
Denbighshire.
The largest of its exclaves, the
Maelor Saesneg
(the
English-speaking Maelor), was bounded on the west by
Denbighshire, on the east by
Cheshire (England), and on the south by
Shropshire (England). Other exclaves of Flintshire included the
manors of
Marford and Hoseley,
Abenbury Fechan and
Bryn
Estyn, all on the outskirts of
Wrexham in Denbighshire, and
also a small part of the parish of
Erbistock in Denbighshire.
Additionally, a small part of Flintshire, including the village of
Sealand, was isolated across the
River Dee when its course
was changed to improve navigation.
The county was formed in 1284 under the terms of the
Statute of Rhuddlan and included the cantrefi (hundreds)
of Tegeingl, Hope and the Maelor Saesneg formerly parts of the
Welsh kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys Fadog. The
Lordships of Mold and Hawarden and also the enclave of Marford & Hoseley were later added to the county. The county town was Mold.
See also: Ancient Parishes of
Flintshire
1974-1996 Clwyd
Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county
of Flintshire were abolished, for both local government and ceremonial
purposes, on 1 April 1974. All of Flintshire becoming part of
the newly formed county of Clwyd covering the whole of north-east Wales.
The county of Clwyd was was divided into six administrative
districts:
- Alyn and Deeside (formed entirely from parts of historic
Flintshire)
- Colwyn
- Delyn (formed entirely from parts of historic
Flintshire)
- Glyndŵr
- Rhuddlan (formed entirely from parts of historic
Flintshire)
- Wrexham Maelor (which included parts of historic
Flintshire)
Modern Flintshire
Following further local government reorganisation, the county of
Clwyd was itself abolished and the present county of Flintshire was
created on 1 April 1996. This covers a substantially different
area from the historic county of Flintshire however. Mold continued to be the county town.
The new county included:
- the Alyn and Deeside district of Clwyd, and formerly in historic
Flintshire
- the Delyn district of Clwyd, and formerly in historic Flintshire
However:
- the detached parts of historic Flintshire, which had been part of
Wrexham Maelor district of Clwyd, became part of the newly formed
County Borough of Wrexham
- the Rhuddlan district of
Clwyd and formerly in historic Flintshire became part of the new Denbighshire