, settlement_type =

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flintshire County Council.svg , shield_size = 100px , shield_alt = , shield_link = , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_alt = , image_map = File: Flintshire UK location map.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Flintshire shown within

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 ...

, coordinates = , subdivision_type =

Sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

, subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Constituent country , subdivision_type2 =

Preserved county The preserved counties of Wales are the eight current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and othe ...

, subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_name2 = Clwyd , established_title = Established , established_date = 1 April 1996 , seat_type = Administrative HQ , seat =

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...

, seat1_type = Largest town , seat1 =

Connah's Quay Connah's Quay ( cy, Cei Connah), known locally as "The Quay" and formerly known as Wepre, is a town and community in Flintshire, lying within the Deeside conurbation along the River Dee, near the border with England. It is the largest town in ...

, government_type =

Principal council A Principal council is a local government authority carrying out statutory duties in a principal area in England and Wales. The term “principal council” was first defined in the Local Government Act 1972, Section 270. This act created great r ...

, governing_body =

Flintshire County Council Flintshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Flintshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. It is based at County Hall in Mold. Elections take place every five years. The last election was on 5 May 2022. Histor ...

, leader_title =

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, leader_name = , leader_title1 = Leader , leader_name1 = Ian Roberts (

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

) , unit_pref = Imperial , area_total_km2 = 438 , area_rank =

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

, population_total = , population_as_of = , population_density_km2 = , population_rank = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicity , population_blank1 = 97.8% white , postal_code_type = Postcode areas , postal_code = CH
LL , area_code = 01352
01745
01244 , area_code_type = Dialling codes , blank_name_sec1 = GSS code , blank_info_sec1 = W06000005 , website
www.flintshire.gov.uk
, leader_title2 = Chairman , leader_name2 = Marion Bateman , leader_title3 = Chief Executive , leader_name3 = Colin Everett , leader_title4 = MPs , leader_name4 = Rob Roberts ( C)

Mark Tami Mark Richard Tami (born 3 October 1962) is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Alyn and Deeside since 2001. Early life Born in Enfield, north London, Tami was educated at Enfield Grammar School (b ...

( L) , timezone =

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...

, utc_offset = +0 , timezone_DST =

British Summer Time During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and ev ...

, utc_offset_DST = +1 , blank2_name_sec1 =

ISO 3166-2 ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and defines codes for identifying the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. The ...

, blank2_info_sec1 = GB-FLN , blank3_name_sec1 = NUTS 3 code , blank3_info_sec1 = UKL23 , blank4_name_sec1 = ONS code , blank4_info_sec1 = 00NJ , official_name = Flintshire ( cy, Sir y Fflint) is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

north-east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. It

borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to the east,

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 (Bontnewy ...

to the west and

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam) is a county borough, with city status, in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the ...

to the south. It is named after the historic county of the same name which has notably different borders. Flintshire is considered part of the Welsh Marches and formed part of the historic Earldom of Chester and Flint. The county is governed by

which has its main offices in

County Hall, Mold County Hall ( cy, Neuadd y Sir Yr Wyddgrug) is a municipal facility at Raikes Lane in Mold, Flintshire. It was the headquarters of the old Flintshire County Council from 1967 to 1974, the headquarters of Clwyd County Council from 1974 to 1996 ...

. The largest town in the county is

, followed by

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

Buckley Buckley may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Buckley's, a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation * Buckley Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer * Buckley Broadcasting, an American broadcasting company * Buckley School (California), ...

and

History

Flintshire takes its name from the historic county of

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, which also formed an administrative county between 1889 until 1974 when it was abolished under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. The re-establishment of a principal area in 1996 under the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

does not share the same boundaries and covers a smaller area.

Early history

At the time of the Roman invasion, the area of present-day Flintshire was inhabited by the

Deceangli The Deceangli or Deceangi (Welsh: Tegeingl) were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain, prior to the Roman invasion of the island. The tribe lived in the region near the modern city of Chester but it is uncertain whether their territory co ...

, one of the Celtic tribes in ancient Britain, with the

Cornovii The Cornovii is the name by which two, or three, tribes were known in Roman Britain. One tribe was in the area centred on present-day Shropshire, one was in Caithness in northernmost Scotland, and there was probably one in Cornwall. The name has ...

to the east and the Ordovices to the west. Lead and silver mine workings are evident in the area, with several sows of lead found bearing the name 'DECEANGI' inscribed in Roman epigraphy. The Deceangli appear to have surrendered to Roman rule with little resistance. Following Roman Britain, and the emergence of various

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a monarchy, kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the Heptarchy#List of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, numerou ...

s, the region had been divided into the Hundred of Englefield ( cy, Cantref Tegeingl), derived from the Latin Deceangli. Cheshire-Domesday-Hundreds

It became part of the Kingdom of

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

by the 8th century AD, with much of the western boundary reinforced under

Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...

after 752, but there is evidence that

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to ha ...

is probably a much earlier construction. By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 it was under the control of

Edwin of Tegeingl Edwin of Tegeingl (born about 1020 and died 1073) was a prince or lord of the cantref of Tegeingl in north-east Wales. Biography Later pedigrees provide Edwin and his descendants with a Welsh pedigree, making him son of Gronwy and great-great-g ...

, from whose Lordship the Flintshire coat of arms is derived. Edwin's mother is believed to have been Ethelfleda or Aldgyth, daughter of Eadwine of Mercia. At the time of the establishment of the Earldom of Chester, which succeeded the Earl of Mercia, the region formed two of the then twelve

Hundreds of Cheshire The Hundreds of Cheshire, as with other Hundreds in England, were the geographic divisions of Cheshire for administrative, military and judicial purposes. They were introduced in Cheshire some time before the Norman conquest. Later on, both the n ...

of which it remained a part for several hundred years. Flintshire today approximately resembles the boundaries of the Hundred of Atiscross as it existed at the time of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. Atiscross, along with the Hundred of

Exestan Exestan was one of the original twelve Hundreds of Cheshire bordering Wales to the west. It appears in the Domesday Book in 1066 under the control of various Lordships including Thorth of Wroxeter. There were 9 settlements within the Hundred, seve ...

, was transferred from the

Earldom of Chester The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, and a ...

to the expanding

Kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, th ...

from the west in the 13th century following numerous military campaigns. This region, as well as an exclave formed from part of the Hundred of Dudestan (known as

Maelor Saesneg English Maelor ( cy, Maelor Saesneg) comprises one half of the Maelor region on the Welsh side of the Wales-England border, being the area of the Maelor east of the River Dee. The region has changed counties several times, previously being part ...

), later formed the main areas of Flintshire, established by the

Statute of Rhuddlan The Statute of Rhuddlan (12 Edw 1 cc.1–14; cy, Statud Rhuddlan ), also known as the Statutes of Wales ( la, Statuta Valliae) or as the Statute of Wales ( la, Statutum Valliae, links=no), provided the constitutional basis for the government of ...

in 1284 under Edward I. It was administered with the Palatinate of Chester and Flint by the Justiciar of Chester. The county was consolidated in 1536 by the

Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 ( cy, Y Deddfau Cyfreithiau yng Nghymru 1535 a 1542) were Acts of the Parliament of England, and were the parliamentary measures by which Wales was annexed to the Kingdom of England. Moreover, the legal sys ...

under the Tudor King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, when it was incorporated into the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

; it included the detached exclave of

Welsh Maelor The Maelor is an area of north-east Wales along the border with England. It is now entirely part of Wrexham County Borough. The name ''Maelor'' is an old Welsh word: it can be translated as "land of the prince", from ''mael'' ("prince") and ''l ...

. Flintshire as a separate local authority remained in existence until 1974 when it was merged with those of Denbighshire and Edeyrnion Rural District to form the administrative county of Clwyd. Clwyd was abolished 22 years later and Flintshire reorganised in its present form in 1996. However, some parts of the historic country are not included within the present administrative boundaries: significantly

English Maelor English Maelor ( cy, Maelor Saesneg) comprises one half of the Maelor region on the Welsh side of the Wales-England border, being the area of the Maelor east of the River Dee. The region has changed counties several times, previously being par ...

was incorporated into Wrexham County Borough, and

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that ...

and

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...

into

Modern history

The current administrative area of Flintshire (a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

and

Principal area {{Short description, Formal legal term for a county in England and Wales In England and Wales local government legislation, a principal area is one of the sub-national areas established for control by a principal council. They include most of the ar ...

) came into existence in 1996, when the former

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Clwyd was split into three smaller areas. The principal area was formed by the merger of the Alyn and Deeside and Delyn districts. In terms of pre-1974 divisions, the area comprises: *the former borough of

*the urban districts of

Holywell Holywell may refer to: * Holywell, Flintshire, Wales * Holywell, Swords, Ireland * Holywell, Bedfordshire, England * Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England * Holywell, Cornwall, England * Holywell, Dorset, England * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...

*the rural district of Holywell Rural District *all of

Hawarden Rural District Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name had ...

except the parish of Marford and Hosley The district of

Rhuddlan Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in the county of Denbighshire, Wales, in the historic county of Flintshire. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. ...

, which was also formed entirely from the administrative county of Flintshire was included in the new

instead. Other parts of the pre-1974 administrative Flintshire to be excluded from the principal area are the

Maelor Rural District Maelor was a rural district in the administrative county of Flintshire, Wales, from 1894 to 1974. The area approximated to the hundred of Maelor or English Maelor ( cy, Maelor Saesneg), and was notable for forming a detached part of the county ...

and the parish of

Marford and Hoseley Marford is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, near the Wales-England border. Marford covers some , where the hills of north-east Wales meet the Cheshire Plain. Distant landmarks that can be seen clearly from Marford include Eaton Hall ...

, which became part of the

Wrexham Maelor Wrexham Maelor ( cy, Wrecsam Maelor) was a local government district with borough status, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales, from 1974 to 1996. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local G ...

district in 1974 and are now part of

Geography

Flintshire is a maritime county bounded to the north by the

Dee estuary The Dee Estuary ( cy, Aber Dyfrdwy) is a large estuary by means of which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five-mile (8 km) 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles ...

, to the east by

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, to the west by

and to the south by

. The coast along the Dee estuary is heavily developed by industry and the north coast much developed for

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. The

Clwydian Range The Clwydian Range ( cy, Bryniau Clwyd; also known as the Clwydian Hills; or simply the Clwyds) is a series of hills in the north-east of Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, the highest point being the pop ...

occupies much of the west of the county. The highest point is

Moel Famau Moel Famau is the highest hill in the Clwydian Range and the highest point (county top) of the county of Flintshire in Wales (both the historic county and the current council area). It lies on the boundary between Denbighshire and Flintshire. ...

(1,820 feet/554 metres). The chief towns are

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home ...

, Queensferry, and Shotton. The main rivers are the Dee (the estuary of which forms much of the coast), and the

River Alyn The River Alyn ( cy, Afon Alun) is a tributary of the River Dee, in north-east Wales. The River Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding N ...

Historic buildings and structures

File:Flint Castle 01.JPG, File:The corner.jpg, File:New Hawarden Castle.JPG, File:Ewloe Castle.JPG, File:Maen Achwyfan 655181.jpg, File:Flintshire bridge.jpg, File:Jubilee Bridge - Queensferry, Wales (2015).jpg, File:Llyfrgell Sant Deiniol and Gladstone's Library Hawarden Penarlâg 07.JPG,

Railways

Located on the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...

(

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

) with services run by

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

and

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

specifically calling at Flintshire stations such as

and Shotton with an interchange at Shotton with the Borderlands Line, which links other Flintshire stations with the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

area.

Industry

Parts of Flintshire have major manufacturing industries. Amongst these are an advanced

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

plant that manufactures engines, UPM Shotton Paper, and

Airbus UK Airbus UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus which produces wings for Airbus aircraft. When Airbus was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 2001, BAE Systems transferred its UK Airbus facilities in return for a 20% share of the new comp ...

, making the wings for the

A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...

and the

A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

at Broughton. There are daily flights of the

Airbus Beluga The Airbus A300-600ST (Super Transporter), or Beluga, is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and outsize cargo. It received the official name of ''Super Transporter'' early on; however, the nam ...

transport aircraft of

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

wings from Broughton for the smaller aircraft. The wings for the A380, which are too large to be transported by air, use a multi-modal transport using Flintshire's roads, the River Dee and the port of

Mostyn Mostyn is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales, and electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, located near the town of Holywell. It has a privately owned port that has in the past had a colliery and ironworks and was invo ...

, also in Flintshire. Flintshire is also known for its internet companies, the largest and most well known being

Moneysupermarket.com Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC is a British price comparison website-based business specialising in financial services. The website enables consumers to compare prices on a range of products, including energy, car insurance, home insurance, tr ...

based in

Ewloe Ewloe (; cy, Ewlo, ) is a village and electoral ward in the community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/ Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. The A55 expressway passes through Ewloe and its mos ...

. Flintshire included much of the

North Wales Coalfield The North Wales Coalfield comprises the Flintshire Coalfield in the north and the Denbighshire Coalfield in the south. It extends from Point of Ayr in the north, through the Wrexham area to Oswestry in Shropshire in the south. A much smaller a ...

, with the last colliery at

Point of Ayr :''There are two other similarly named points in the British Isles: Point of Ayre, Isle of Man and Point of Ayre, Orkney, Scotland.'' Point of Ayr ( cy, Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately t ...

closing in 1996. Flintshire is home to

Shotwick Shotwick is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Puddington, on the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The villag ...

Solar Park, currently the largest photovoltaic solar array in the UK. It was built in 2016 and covers 250 acres of the south western edge of the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

near the village of

. It has a maximum generating capacity of 72.2 MW and is connected directly to the largest paper-mill in the UK, UPM Shotton Paper. Flintshire was home to a thriving

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

industry with many of the local communities and homes being built around this sector. Steelmaking came to an end in 1980 with the loss of 6500 on one day. The Shotton Steelworks site, now owned by Tata Steel, continues to produce coated steel products, mainly for the construction industry.

Fairtrade

On 19 November 2004, Flintshire was granted Fairtrade County status.

Education

Flintshire County Council is the

Local Education Authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

of Flintshire. It runs 72

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s, 2

special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

s and 11

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s. Six of the primary schools and one comprehensive are Welsh medium schools. Four of the secondary schools have come together with

Coleg Cambria Coleg Cambria in North East Wales is one of the UK's largest colleges, with over 7000 full-time and 20,000 part-time students, and has international links covering four continents. Coleg Cambria was created following the merger of Deeside College ...

to form the Deeside Consortium. In December 2022, the

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

Committee met and

Bistre West councillor Carolyn Preece recommended weekly vegan school meals in the local schools to combat climate change.

Media

Flintshire's local newspapers include two daily titles,

North Wales Daily Post The ''Daily Post'' is a daily newspaper for the North Wales region of Wales. Its website is branded ''North Wales Live''. The newspaper gained independence from the ''Liverpool Daily Post'' in 2003 which later ceased production in December 2013 ...

and '' The Leader''. There are two radio stations broadcast in the area –

Communicorp Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia ...

station

Heart FM Heart is a British radio network and brand of 13 adult contemporary local stations operated by Global throughout the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the Heart stations are owned by Global, while th ...

and Global Radio station

Capital North West and Wales Capital North West and Wales is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula & North Wales. The station broadcasts from its studios in Gwersyllt, Wrexh ...

broadcast from ''the studios'' based in Wrexham. Whilst

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is b ...

runs a studio and newsroom for their radio, television and online services located at

Glyndŵr University Glyndŵr was one of six local government districts in the county of Clwyd in Wales from 1974 to 1996. History The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of six former districts and two ...

but does not base their broadcasting there. An online news website covering the Flintshire area
Deeside.com
operates from Deeside.

Politics and government

Flintshire has been traditionally a Labour Party stronghold, but in the 2019 general election, the

Welsh Conservatives The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...

won the Delyn constituency. The Alyn and Deeside constituency is a historically and still is a

Welsh Labour Party Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

constituency, which is represented by

Notable people

See ''People from Flintshire'' *

Gareth Allen Gareth Allen (born 9 September 1988 in Mynydd Isa, near Buckley, Flintshire) is a Welsh former professional snooker player. Career Allen started playing snooker aged three, joining his local snooker club and playing on full sized table at twelv ...

(born 1988 in Mynydd Isa, near Buckley), former professional snooker player. *

Saint Asaph Saint Asaph (or Asaf, Asa) was, in the second half of the 6th century, the first Bishop of St Asaph, i.e. bishop of the diocese of Saint Asaph. Biography No traditional Welsh account devoted to the life of Asaph exists. He is, though, well-a ...

, 6th century Christian saint, the first Bishop of St Asaph *

Claire Fox Claire Regina Fox, Baroness Fox of Buckley (born 5 June 1960), is a British writer, journalist, lecturer and politician who sits in the House of Lords as a non-affiliated life peer. She is the director and founder of the think tank Institute of ...

(born 1960), writer, journalist, lecturer and politician; grew up in Buckley *

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

(1809–1898), 12 years as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

; retired to Hawarden Castle. * Jade Jones (born 1993 Bodelwyddan), taekwondo athlete; 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist *

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...

(born 1979), footballer with 362 club caps and 89 for

went to school in Hawarden *

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a t ...

(born 1961 in St Asaph), footballer with 602 club caps and 73 for

Gary Speed Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...

(1969 in Mancot – 2011), footballer and manager with 677 club caps and 85 for

International relations

Flintshire has one formal twinning arrangement with: *

Menden Menden (, official name: ''Menden (Sauerland)''; Westphalian: ''Mennen'') is a city in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr river. History Menden's ...

, Germany

References

External links

*
Flintshire archaeological informationChester Recognizance Rolls
calendar surname-indexed with scans
Things to do in Flintshire
{{Authority control Counties of Wales Principal areas of Wales History of Flintshire