The village of Hawarden in the old County of Flint has two castles.The ruined 13th century castle was used by Edward I as a base for his invasion of Wales. It was captured by Dafydd, brother of the Welsh Prince, Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, in 1282. The new castle was William Ewart Gladstone's home after his marriage to Catherine Glynne, heiress to the Hawarden Estate.
Hawarden was once a thriving market town, where in the 18th and 19th centuries the production of coal, iron and bricks flourished. Businesses included John Rigby's iron foundry, established in the 1770s and closed in 1854 and the Castle Hill Farm complex which was established in the early 19th as Fox's Brewery and continued as a working brewery until 1950.
Gladstone founded St Deiniol's Library at Hawarden in 1890 as a centre for Christian learning and a place for study. It is now a library and conference centre.
Associated sites:
St Deiniol's Library (Nprn 23465)
St Deiniol's church (Nprn 310514)
Hawarden Castle (Nprn 95095)
RCAHMW, 2009.
Resources
DownloadTypeSourceDescription
application/pdfCPAT - Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust ReportsClwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust Report No 1632 entitled: "Stafford House, Hawarden, Flintshire: Archaeological Watching Brief" prepared by Ian Grant, January 2019.
application/pdfUSAA - U.S.A.A.F. Aircraft Accident ReportsDigitised air accident report,produced by the U.S. War Department during World War II, relating to the crash of a U.S.A.A.F. P-38J Lightning at Hawarden, 12/02/1944.
application/pdfCPAT - Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust ReportsClwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust Report relating to Historic Settlements in Flintshire. CPAT Report No. 1142. Produced for Cadw. Paper and digital copy.
