Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village,

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

and electoral ward in

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

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is part of the

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from nei ...

conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name had a population of 1,887, whereas the community of the same name, which also includes

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 ...

(which also has a castle)

Mancot Mancot is a village in Flintshire, Wales, approximately 1 mile from Queensferry, and Hawarden and 6 miles from Chester. According to the 2001 Census, Mancot had a population of 3,462. In 1849 the population of the village was 282. Followin ...

and Aston had a population of 13,920. The scenic wooded Hawarden Park abuts the clustered settlement in the south.

Hawarden Bridge Hawarden Bridge (; cy, Pont Penarlâg) is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (which later became the Great Central Railway), as part of t ...

consists of distribution and industrial business premises beyond Shotton/ Queensferry and the Dee. The west of the main street is called The Highway, its start marked by the crossroads with a fountain in the middle, near which are

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s, some with restaurants. The large village is west and north-west of England and is from Chester. In 2014 it was named in ''The Sunday Times'' annual Best Places To Live List. The highest temperature in Wales was recorded in Hawarden on 18 July 2022 at 37.1°C. The previous highest temperature recorded in Wales, 35.2°C, was also recorded in Hawarden on 2 August 1990. Hawarden has held this record almost continuously, until it was replaced for a few hours by

Gogerddan __NOTOC__ Gogerddan, or in English, Gogarthen, was an estate near to Trefeurig and the most important in what was then the county of Cardiganshire, Wales. Owned since at least the fifteenth century by the Pryse family, the main house, called Pl ...

which recorded a temperature of 35.3°C on 18 July 2022, first breaking the Welsh record, after which Hawarden surpassed Gogerddan.

Etymology

Both the English and Welsh names of the village allude to its elevated geographical position. English ' is from Old English ' "high" + ' 'enclosure' and has had its bisyllabic pronunciation since the sixteenth century, its trisyllabic, now solely written, form being due to the influence of Welsh, which stresses and therefore kept the penultimate syllable. The Welsh name ' is older than ' and is a compound of ' "high ground" + ', which is most likely a form of ' 'rich in cattle' although may be a personal name.

History

The 1848 Topographical Dictionary of Wales led by Samuel Lewis states that Hawarden is of remote antiquity and was called 'Pennard Halawg', or more properly 'Pen-y-Llwch', the headland above the lake. The hill forts such as the huge remains next to the medieval Hawarden Castle and Trueman's Hill

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

were - it records locally - believed to date to the time of fortifications against incursions of the Cornavii tribe and the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. The Normans recorded that the Saxons called the place Haordine where, east of today's village, was the principal manor of the Saxon

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Atiscros.

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

granted the lands and manor to Hugh Lupus since it formed part of the

County Palatine of Chester 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 town ...

, whereupon Hawarden Castle was built and later proved key to Welsh history, at that time lived in by Roger Fitzvalerine, then the Montaults, or de Montaltos, barons of Mold, who held it as seneschal. Efforts to subdue north Welsh territory into a degree of

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

followed intermittently, with no great success. In the castle Llewellyn of Wales who was in possession negotiated peace in 1264 with

Simon de Montford Sir Simon Montford (died circa 30 January 1495) was an English Lord of several manors, who was executed for treason. Simon Montford was the son and heir of Sir Baldwin Montfort, Knt, of Coleshill Manor, Warwickshire (1410-c1458) by his spouse Jo ...

, who led a brief rebellion against

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

and agreed to betroth his daughter to Llewellyn in exchange for restoring the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' Welsh castle to Robert de Montault. The rebellion failed. Accordingly, by 1280 the castle became a crown asset, listed as a ''Castrum Regis''. Later, following Edward's successful campaign imposing exacting terms on the Welsh, building

Flint Castle Flint Castle ( cy, Castell y Fflint) in Flint, Flintshire, was the first of a series of castles built during King Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales. The site was chosen for its strategic position in North East Wales. The castle was only o ...

and strengthening other castles, in 1282 Llewellyn's brother Dafydd took the castle back, killing the garrison and transferring Roger de Clifford to remote Snowdon. This second recapture of the castle triggered Edward's killing of Llewellyn and annexation of Wales. The castle became a prized possession: see Hawarden Castle. The village of

Saltney Saltney is a cross-border town, split between Flintshire, Wales and Cheshire, England. The town is intersected by the England–Wales border, with its larger part being a community of Wales in the historic county of Clwyd. The town forms par ...

(next to Chester, but in Wales) was part of the parish.

19th century

The prime minister

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) spent his later life in Hawarden Castle, which had in the Glorious Revolution been acquired by his wife's family, the Glynne baronets. In 1847 water was brought into the place at an expense of upwards of £1000 to be recouped by the River Dee Company. In the nineteenth century the economy of the parish (about three times larger than the modern Community Council area) involved weekly markets, many seams of coal, the making of tiles, bricks and drainage pipes and chemicals such as Glauber salts and

ivory black Bone char ( lat, carbo animalis) is a porous, black, granular material produced by charring animal bones. Its composition varies depending on how it is made; however, it consists mainly of tricalcium phosphate (or hydroxyapatite) 57–80%, calci ...

making. In 1886 the curate of Hawarden, the Rev. Harry Drew, married

Mary Gladstone Mary Drew (''née'' Gladstone; 23 November 1847 – 1 January 1927) was a political secretary, writer, and hostess. She was the daughter of the British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone, and achieved notability as his advisor, confidant ...

, the second daughter of the Prime Minister, at St Margaret's Church, Westminster – a society wedding attended by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. Gladstone bequeathed his library to the town under the name of St Deiniol's Library in honour of the patron saint of the parish church next door. It is the only residential library in Britain and was renamed

Gladstone's Library Gladstone's Library, known until 2010 as St Deiniol's Library ( cy, Llyfrgell Deiniol Sant), is a residential library in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building and a registered charity. Gladstone's Library is Britain' ...

in 2010.

Education

Rector Drew Junior School, renamed in 2016 to Hawarden Village Church School is the junior school of the village. Hawarden High School is a high school which dates back to 1606 and was attended by Michael Owen (International footballer), but also

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 ...

, the former manager of the

Wales national football team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

Economy

Queensferry consists predominantly of industrial, commercial and storage businesses by the River Dee and is situated to immediately northeast of the community - the village is residential.

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 ...

has significant premises at St David's Park by the main A55 road in nearby Ewloe.

Hawarden Airport Hawarden Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Penarlâg) , is an airport near Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales, near the border with England and west southwest of the English city of Chester. Aviation Park Group (APG) is based at the airport and provides ha ...

, sometimes called ''Hawarden (Chester) Airport'', with adjoining Hawarden Industrial Park is in nearby Broughton.

Visitor attractions

* Hawarden Castle * Old Hawarden Castle *

There are three pubs in Hawarden; The 'Old Grocery', The 'Fox and Grapes' and The 'Glynne Arms' with The 'Crown And Liver' a near fourth.

Governance

At the lowest level of local government, Hawarden elects or co-opts twenty community councillors to Hawarden Community Council, from four community electoral divisions namely Aston, Ewloe, Hawarden and Mancot. The four community wards (including Hawarden covering the village) also form four county wards for elections to

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 ...

. Hawarden ward elects one county councillor, while Aston, Ewloe and Mancot elect two county councillors each. The county archives, the Flintshire Record Office, are housed in the Old Rectory at Hawarden.

Climate

Transport

Close towns include

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 ...

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

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 sta ...

and the city of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Hawarden railway station is on the Borderlands line with services direct to

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

to the north and to Wrexham to the south. There are three interchanges with local roads onto the major

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway ( cy, Gwibffordd Gogledd Cymru) is a major road in Wales and England, connecting Cheshire and north Wales. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway primary ...

linking North Wales to Chester and the major

A494 road The A494 is a trunk road in Wales and England. The route, which is officially known as the Dolgellau to South of Birkenhead Trunk Road, runs between the terminus of the M56 motorway between Mollington, Cheshire, Mollington and Capenhurst and th ...

linking Dolgellau via Mold to the Wirral where it divides into the roads towards Liverpool and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(the M53 and M56 motorways) - the village has a choice of three routes towards Chester city centre.

lies some east of the village.

Notable residents

* Sir John Glynne, 6th Baronet (1713–1777) politician and landowner, built Hawarden Castle. *

Emma, Lady Hamilton Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 176515 January 1815), generally known as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy me ...

(1765–1815), maid, model, dancer and actress; raised in Hawarden. *

(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 i ...

; retired to Hawarden Castle. * Edmund J. Baillie (1851–1897) businessman, horticulturalist and vegetarianism activist. *

(1847–1927), daughter of the

UK Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

; lived in Hawarden Castle from 1886 * Maysie Chalmers (1894–1982), actress, electrical engineer and designer, leading figure in the

Electrical Association for Women The Electrical Association for Women (EAW) was a feminist and educational organisation founded in Great Britain in 1924 to promote the benefits of electricity in the home. History The Electrical Association for Women developed in 1924 from a p ...

. * Air Marshal Sir John Rowlands (1915–2006), recipient of the George Cross for bomb disposal in WWII; later worked on nuclear weapons programme. *

Nicholas Hunt Admiral Sir Nicholas John Streynsham Hunt (7 November 1930 – 25 October 2013) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He was Commander-in-Chief Fleet from 1985 to 1987. Early life Hunt was born on 7 November 1930 in Hawarden, Flintshire, the younge ...

(1930–2013), navy

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

, father of

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

MP. *

Barry Jones, Baron Jones Stephen Barry, Baron Jones (born 26 June 1938) is a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1970 to 2001, and since then as a life peer. Early life Jones was educated at Hawarden Grammar School and Bango ...

(born 1938), politician, went to Hawarden Grammar School *

Tony Millington Anthony Horace Millington (5 June 1943 – 5 August 2015) was a Welsh footballer who played as a goalkeeper for West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Peterborough United and Swansea City in the 1960s and 1970s and made 21 international appear ...

(1943–2015) footballer, with over 350 club caps and 21 for

Sasha (DJ) Alexander Paul Coe (born 4 September 1969), known professionally as Sasha, is a Welsh DJ and record producer. He is best known for his live events and electronic music as a solo artist, as well as his collaborations with British DJ John Digwe ...

, (born 1969), DJ and producer, real name ''Alexander Paul Coe'' *

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 326 club caps and 89 for

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 ...

; went to school in Hawarden.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

* {{authority control Communities in Flintshire Wards of Flintshire Villages in Flintshire