MARTIN (ST.), a parish in the hundred of OSWESTRY,
county of SALOP, 65 miles (W. by N.) from Ellesniere,
containing, with the townships of Ifton-Rhyn, Weston-
Rhyn, and Bron-y-gath, 1852 inhabitants. The living
is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of St. Asaph, rated in the king's books at £5.2. 35.,
endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200
royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of
St. Asaph. There is an ancient wood carving in the
roof of the church, in allusion to St. Martin, a translation
of whose life was made from the Latin by John
Trevor in 1488. The Ellesmere canal passes through
the parish, and at its verge, crosses the valley of the
Ceiriog by means of an aqueduct, near the neat village
of Chirk, where it enters Wales: it then immediately
passes under a tunnel, and, a little further on,
under another, whence it is continued to the beautiful
vale of Llangollen, where it is carried over the river Dee
by Pont-y-Cyssyltau aqueduct, a stupendous structure
of nineteen tall arches by Mr. Telford; on the banks of
the canal, near the Welch boundary of the parish, are
some coal works. The great road from Shrewsbury to
Holyhead has here been recently diverted from its original
course, whereby a considerable distance has been
saved, and the steep acclivity of Chirk hill avoided.