Mostyn is a village in Flintshire situated on the estuary of the river Dee. The village takes its name from one of North Wales' most influential families, the Mostyns of Mostyn Hall who had brought the lease to the Mostyn Colliery in 1602 and opened (in 1802), an ironworks at Mostyn to produce iron using coal from the colliery. The Chester to Holyhead Railway built to improve links between London and Dublin, and went through Mostyn, resulted in Mostyn Station being opened in 1848. Mostyn Port developed by the 1840s, and by 1872 had expanded considerably. The Mostyn Colliery and Darwen and Mostyn Iron Co. had developed on reclaimed land and a new dock had been built. Railway sidings ran along either side of the original dock and along the new dock, as well as serving the colliery and ironworks. By the end of the 19th century waste from the dockside industries had been dumped along the edge of the estuary reclaiming new ground and had also been used to construct a 680m-long breakwater alongside the Mostyn Gutter. The 1960s saw a two-phase redevelopment of Mostyn, rebuilding the old timber quay and installing dockside railway tracks and cargo-handling equipment. The first phase was completed in 1967 and the second in 1969 with a new 363ft-long quay and transit shed complete with nine large cranes and space for five vessel. Mostyn is now the only active port of any size on the Dee and has recently been extended to take on roll-on roll-off ferries and to accommodate larger cargo ships, including the shipment of aircraft wings for the European Airbus, constructed at nearby Broughton.

References: OS historic mapping; Ports and Harbours in North-east Wales, CPAT (http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/ports/ports.htm).

Associated sites:
Mostyn Hall - Nprn: 36033
Mostyn Railway station - Nprn: 85060