Dyffryn Clwyd was a
cantref
A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.
Description
Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which wer ...
of Medieval
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and from 1282 a
marcher lord
A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales.
A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fran ...
ship. In 1536, it became part of the new county of
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnew ...
. The name means
Vale of Clwyd in English and is still the name for that region of north Wales in modern Welsh. Dyffryn Clwyd was one of the cantrefi of
Perfeddwlad
Perfeddwlad or Y Berfeddwlad was an historic name for the territories in Wales lying between the River Conwy and the River Dee. comprising the cantrefi of Rhos, Rhufoniog, Dyffryn Clwyd and Tegeingl. Perfeddwlad thus was also known as the Fou ...
, and itself was made up of three
commote
A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wal ...
s, Colion,
Dogfeiling and
Llannerch.
The lordship was granted in 1282 to
Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton,
[''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales''. John Davies, ]Nigel Jenkins
Nigel Jenkins (20 July 1949 – 28 January 2014) was an Anglo-Welsh poet. He was an editor, journalist, psychogeographer, broadcaster and writer of creative non-fiction, as well as being a lecturer at Swansea University and director of the crea ...
, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) p. 334 Justice of Chester and
Edward I's commander for his campaign of 1282 into north Wales. The lordship remained in the Grey family until
Richard Grey, 6th Baron Grey de Ruthyn, 3rd Earl of Kent sold it to
Henry VII in 1508.
Marcher Lords of Dyffryn Clwyd
*
Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1308)
*
John Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Wilton (1268–1323)
*
Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn (died 1353)
*
Reginald Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Ruthyn (1319–1388)
*
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn (1362–1440)
*
Edmund Grey, 4th Baron Grey de Ruthyn, 1st Earl of Kent (1416–1490)
*
George Grey, 5th Baron Grey de Ruthyn, 2nd Earl of Kent (d. 1503)
*
Richard Grey, 6th Baron Grey de Ruthyn, 3rd Earl of Kent (1478–1523), lord 1503–1508.
References
Cantrefs
Marcher lordships
Medieval Wales
Commotes of Gwynedd
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