Hawarden (; ) is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is part of the

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

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 (; , ) is a village and electoral ward in the community (Wales), community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. Flintshire County Council is based at St Davi ...

(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. Following ...

and

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

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

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

consists of distribution and industrial business premises beyond Shotton/ Queensferry and the

Dee Dee or DEE may refer to: People Surname * Dee, an alternate spelling of the Welsh surname Day * Dee, a romanization of several Chinese surnames, including: ** Those listed at Di (surname) ** Some Hokkien pronunciations of the surname Li () ...

. 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 in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s, some with

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s. The village is from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. 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 Gogerddan (also spelled 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 Plas Gogerdda ...

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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

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

Cornavii The Cornovii were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. 150. From his description, their territory is reliably known to have been at the northern tip of Scotland Scotland is a ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. 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 numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Atiscros.

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

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

County Palatine of Chester A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, 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 The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

. Efforts to subdue north Welsh territory into a degree of

fiefdom A fief (; ) 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 feudal alle ...

followed intermittently, with no great success. In the castle Llewellyn of Wales who was in possession negotiated peace in 1264 with Simon de Montford, 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 John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

and agreed to betroth his daughter to Llewellyn in exchange for restoring the '' de facto'' 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 Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

's successful campaign imposing exacting terms on the Welsh, building

Flint Castle Flint Castle () 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 one day's march from Che ...

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 Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...

. 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 town straddling the counties of Flintshire and Cheshire on the England–Wales border. The local government Community (Wales), community of Saltney lies entirely in Wales, while the English areas are Unparished area, unparished. The ...

(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 politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

(1809–1898) spent his later life in Hawarden Castle, which had in the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

been acquired by his wife's family, the

Glynne baronets The Glynne Baronetcy, of Bicester in the County of Oxford, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 20 May 1661 for William Glynne, the former Member of Parliament for Carnarvon. He was the son of Sir John Glynne, Lord Chi ...

. In 1847 water was brought into the place at an expense of upwards of £1000 to be recouped by the

River Dee Company Sealand is a community in Flintshire and electoral ward, north-east Wales, on the edge of the Wirral peninsula. It is west of the city of Chester, England, and is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border. At the 2001 Cens ...

. 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 () 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%, calcium carbonate 6–10% ...

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, confidan ...

, the second daughter of the Prime Minister, at

St Margaret's Church, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...

– a society wedding attended by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. In 1896, Hawarden was the location of prime minister William Ewart Gladstone's meeting with

Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901) was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in importan ...

, a key reformer in the Qing dynasty's Self Strengthening Movement, on his diplomatic mission to the UK. 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 (), is a residential library in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales, UK. Gladstone's Library is Britain's only Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Ministerial Library and serves a ...

in 2010.

Education

Hawarden Village Church School (previously Rector Drew Primary School) is the junior school of the village.

Hawarden High School Hawarden High School () is an English language medium secondary school in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Flintshire LEA. The school traces its history back to 1606 when a single-classroom grammar school was established with £300 ...

is a high school which dates back to 1606 and was attended by

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...

and

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 The Wales national football team () represents Wales in international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales. They have been a member of FIFA since ...

. In 1927,

Knutsford Ordination Test School Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...

relocated to Hawarden — first to the Old Rectory, then to the new castle in 1939 before it closed the following year.

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 MONY Group plc, trading as Money Supermarket, is a British company which specialises in technology-led money-saving platforms including several Comparison shopping website, price comparison websites. The company enables consumers to compare pri ...

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

Hawarden Airport Hawarden Airport , also known as Hawarden Aerodrome, is an airport near Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales, near the border with England and west southwest of the city of Chester. Aviation Park Group (APG) is based at the airport and provides hand ...

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

Visitor attractions

* St Deiniol's Church * Hawarden Castle * Old Hawarden Castle *

Governance

At the lowest level of local government, Hawarden Community Council elects or co-opts twenty-one community councillors from three wards namely Hawarden Aston, Hawarden Ewloe and Hawarden Mancot. There are three identical

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

s for

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 Tŷ Dewi Sant, Ewloe since 2025. It was previously based at County Hall in Mold. Elections take place ...

, each of which elects two councillors. 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 (), known locally as "The Quay" and formerly known as Wepre, is a town and community in Flintshire, on the River Dee and next to the border with England. With a population of 16,771, it is the largest town in Flintshire. The ...

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that 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 ...

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. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and the city of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Hawarden railway station Hawarden railway station () serves the village of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated on the Borderlands Line north of Wrexham Central and all passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales. The station is unstaffed. Histo ...

is on the Borderlands line with services direct to to the north and to (via ) to the south. There are three interchanges with local roads onto the major

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway (), 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 route, with the exception o ...

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 t ...

linking

Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...

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

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(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), known upon moving to London as Emma Hart, and upon marriage as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, beco ...

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

(1809–1898), 12 years as

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

; 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 Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

; lived in Hawarden Castle from 1886 *

Edith Austin Edith Lucy Austin Greville (15 December 1867 – 27 July 1953) was a Welsh tennis player who was active from the late 1880s until 1919. She was married to fellow player George Greville. Career Austin was born in Hawarden, Flintshire, North W ...

(1867–1953) tennis player and Wimbledon singles finalist in 1894 and five time British Covered Court Champion was born in Hawarden. *

Maysie Chalmers Maysie Chalmers (13 March 1894 – 29 July 1982, Burlingham), also known as Mrs Pender Chalmers, was a British electrical engineer and designer, and an aviator who competed in flying races, after an early career as an actress. In the 1920s and 1 ...

(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 The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

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 flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

, father of

Jeremy Hunt Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...

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 Bang ...

(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 appearanc ...

(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 Disc jockey, 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 ...

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

(born 1979), footballer with 326 club caps and 89 for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; went to school in Hawarden.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

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