FLINT, a borough and market-town and sea-port and chapelry (parochial), in the parish of NORTHOP, and in the Northop division of the hundred of COLESHILL, county of FLINT (of which it is the ancient capital), NORTH WALES, 6 miles (N.) from Mold, 5 (E. S. E.) from Holywell, 13 (W. N. W.) from Chester, and 204 (N. w.) from London, containing 2216 inhabitants. The name of this place, though not occurring in Domesday-book, is undoubtedly Saxon; but its derivation has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, not being in any way deducible from the nature of its soil or substrata, in which is found neither silex nor petrosilex. The origin of the town, though undoubtedly remote, is involved in the greatest obscurity. Although it cannot be identified with any Roman station mentioned in the Itineraries, it was nevertheless either of Roman or Roman British origin, as is proved by the circumstance of its even now occupying a rectangular intrenched area, like that of a Roman place of defence, and by the discovery, at various times; both here and in the neighbourhood, of a vast quantity of Roman coins, fibular, &c.; while at the same time it is still traditionally related that a very large town existed here at an early period. The Roman remains were chiefly found in the " old washes," as the miners term the spots where they separate ore from ancient scoria, from the abundance of which at this place, and in its immediate vicinity, it has been reasonably supposed that the process of smelting was carried on here to a great extent by the Roman conquerors of Britain, who constituted it a port for the exportation of the metal, and placed here a small garrison to protect the works and enforce the payment of the duties. It is conjectured by Mr. Pennant that this place is identical with that noticed in the Norman Survey as " tenementum de Coleselt," comprising one hide of taxable land, and forming part of the possessions of Robert de Rhuddlan, of whom it was held by one Edwin, a free man, and with that included among the benefactions enumerated in the charter of Davydd ab Llewelyn to the abbey of Basingwerk, under the designation of "Capella de CoWt." Flint and its immediate vicinity have at different periods been the scene of important and interesting historical events. In the division of his dominions made by Roderic the Great, sovereign of all Wales, among his three sons, it was ordained, that if any quarrel should arise between the princes of North Wales and Powys, a meeting of the parties was to be held at Morva Rhianedd, on the banks of the Dee, near the site of the present town of Flint, in which the Prince of South Wales was to determine the controversy. Ftanulph Earl of Chester; invading North Wales, in the year 1150, was met at Counsyllt, Cynsyllt, or Coleshill, to the west of this town, by Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, who totally defeated his forces with great slaughter, few escaping death except the prisoners and the leaders of the invading army, the latter of whom saved themselves by the swiftness of their horses. On the invasion of North Wales by Henry II., in 1157, after a party of his troops had been defeated at Coed-Euloe, near Hawarden, this monarch advanced at the head of his army along the shores of the Dee to the town of Flint, a little beyond which, at the place where the Earl of Chester had been defeated by Owain Gwynedd, he received a severe check from this prince's forces. Giraldus Cambrensis, in his Itinerary of the journey made through Wales by Archbishop Baldwin and himself, in 1188, for the purpose of preaching the crusades, mentions the fact of their resting one night at " Coleshulle, or the hill of coal," undoubtedly the same place as that identified by the respectable antiquary above-named with the present town of Flint. Much doubt prevails as to the period of the first erection of the castle of Flint, which, from the thirteenth century until the termination of the civil war of the seventeenth, holds a distinguished place in the Welsh annals. Camden, who is followed by Lord Lyttelton, asserts that it was begun by Henry II. and completed by Edward Leland, however, adduces the anthority of an ancient writer, who attributes even its foundation to the latter monarch, in the year 1275, when, being encamped on Saltney marsh, near Chester, preparing for an invasion of North Wales, he certainly either originally erected or rebuilt this fortress, to secure, together with Rhuddlan castle, the country which he had already subdued, and to afford his army a safe retreat, in case he should meet with any disaster. Although Henry, after his partial defeat at Counsyllt, might probably construct some slight fortification here, for the protection of his discomfited forces, yet the certainty of Edward's being the original founder of the present castle is proved by a petition of the inhabitants of Flint, in the year 1281, in which they state, amongst other grievances, that the king had built the castle upon their soil, by which means numbers of persons were injured, and, although ,the justiciary had received a royal mandate to grant them a specified remuneration of land, equal in quantity and quality, they had been despoiled of their property, and had received in lieu neither land nor money. Previously to this, in 1277, the men of Flint obtained an order for the proclamation of a market at this town. In 1280, an order was issued for the custody of the gate of the castle, at which time probably the place was first garrisoned. In 1282, this fortress was besieged and 'taken by the forces of Llewelyn ab Grufydd, Prince of North Wales, and his brother Davydd ; being then, besides Rhuddlan, the only fortress in North Wales in the possession of the English. In the following year, Edward resided for some time in this castle, and made the town a free borough; empowering the inhabitants, by his charter, dated from the castle on the 8th of September, to cut down timber in the woods of Northop, Leadbrook, Keldreston, Wolfynton, Weppre, and Sutton, for the smelting of their lead-ore; also granting them a right of pasture in these woods. The same monarch, in 1290, issued an order for superintending the works of the castles of Flint, Rhuddlan, and Chester, which places were of the first importance, as commanding a free entrance into his newly-conquered dominion of North Wales. Edward II. resided for some time in this castle, in which he received with exulting pleasure his banished favourite, Piers Gaveston, who had landed from Ireland at Carnarvon. The castle and town of Flint appear almost always, when in the possession of the English, to have belonged to the earldom of Chester, with which they were granted by Edward III., in the seventh year of his reign, to his son Edward, surnamed the Black Prince, to whom he issued an order, two years afterwards, to take the castles of Flint and Rhuddlan into his custody, to furnish them with provisions, and to place in them sufficient garrisons, as had been done in the same prince's castles of Beeston and Chester. The castle of Flint has, in like manner, been always enumerated in the charters investing the eldest sons of succeeding kings of England with the earldom of Chester, when they were created princes of Wales. From a schedule of the 50th of Edward III. it appears, that the town of Flint then yielded to the Earls of Chester a revenue of 1656; and that of " Colshul," of which there is a separate entry, 4. 7. 10. But in a later account the profits arising from the former appear to have greatly decreased, while those from the latter have increased, to an amount nearly equal to the original estimate of those derived from Flint. In 1385, the castle was bestowed by Richard II., with the office of chief justice of Chester, on Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and subsequently, in 1399, on Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who, in the following year, on the return of this unfortunate monarch from his Irish expedition, inveigled him to this fortress, for the purpose of delivering him into the power of the usurping Bolingbroke, who was afterwards advanced to the throne, under the title of Henry IV. Having decoyed him from among his friends at Aberconway, Percy conducted him to Flint castle, under an escort of Bolingbroke's soldiers, who had met them on the road: here the unfortunate Richard was at first received with every outward sign of respect by his rival and his attendants, who, however, on the following day commenced treating him with indignity, and he was conveyed a virtual prisoner to Chester. During the insurrection of the Welsh under Owain Glyndwr, in the reign of Henry IV., that monarch garrisoned the castle of Flint against the men of this borough, who had joined their revolted countrymen, and were making frequent attempts to gain possession of it. But the garrison resisted every assault, and kept possession of the fortress till the insurrection was quelled, upon which event Henry, Prince of Wales, procured from his father a free pardon for all the burgesses of Flint who had joined the standard of the insurgents. Soon after the commencement of the civil war in the reign of Charles I., the castle was repaired and garrisoned for the king by Sir Roger Mostyn, Bart., who had raised a force of one thousand five hundred men, equipped and maintained at his sole expense. Sir Roger was appointed governor of the castle of Flint, which, in 1643, was vigorously besieged by the parliamentarian forces under Sir William Brereton and Sir Thomas Myddelton: though closely pressed, the garrison made an obstinate and protracted defence, till reduced by want of provisions to feed on the flesh of their horses; and this resource also failing, and being entirely hopeless of relief, they at length surrendered upon honourable terms. The castle was afterwards retaken by the royalists, under the command of Sir William Vaughan, in September 1645, and was reinforced in the November following by the garrison of Beeston, which, after a gallant but unsuccessful resistance to the parliamentary forces, was allowed by the terms of their capitulation to march to this place with all the honours of war. After receiving this accession of force, the castle remained unmolested till August 1646, when it was finally surrendered to Major-General Mytton, and in the following year was dismantled by order of the parliament. The town is situated on the shore of the estuary of the river Dee, which sometimes flows close to it, occasionally receding, and approaching it again, opposite to Parkgate in Cheshire, from which place it is distant five miles, and consists of four principal streets, intersecting each other at right angles, with many smaller ones, dividing it into squares, and exhibiting, with little deviation, the regular plan of an ancient Roman city: the buildings are, notwithstanding, very inferior in appearance to what might be expected from the regularity with which the streets are disposed; and, with the exception of its convenient situation for sea-bathing, which attracts a considerable resort of company during the summer months, the town possesses few recommendations as a place of residence. For the accommodation of persons who visit it for the benefit of the waters hot baths have been constructed on an extensive scale, and are provided with every requisite accommodation. The neighbourhood abounds with pleasing walks and rides through a tract of country rich in picturesque beauty and finely varied scenery. The principal branch of trade is the smelting of lead-ore, for which purpose very extensive works have been erected on the site of the ancient Roman hearths, the proprietors of which, by investing a large capital in the lead and coal works, the formation of wharfs, and other improvements, have materially increased the trade and added to the importance of the town. In these works, erected by Geo. Roskill and Co., in 1812, in which is a very extensive reverberating furnace, six thousand tons of lead are annually smelted, from which nearly forty thousand ounces of fine silver are extracted. In 1824, a tower, one hundred and forty feet high and forty-two feet in diameter, was added to the works, for the purpose of collecting the sulphur from the different flues in this extensive concern, in conducting the various departments of which one hundred and twenty persons are constantly employed. The making of boilers for steam-engines has also been lately introduced, and is carried on to a limited extent; and close to the town are extensive collieries, in which eight hundred men are constantly employed, and one thousand five hundred tons of coal are raised weekly: rail-roads have been constructed to convey the coal from the works to the wharfs, whence it is sent coastwise to Chester and to various parts of North Wales. The principal exports, in addition to the vast quantity of coal, are the produce of the lead-works, consisting of lead in pigs, bars, sheets, and patent pipes, and red lead, litharge, and silver. The estuary of the river Dee is navigable for vessels of two hundred and My, or three hundred, tons' burden, which can at any time approach the quay; and the various wharfs, piers, and embankments which have been constructed, for the accommodation of the works above mentioned, afford every facility to the commerce of the town, which is rapidly improving. The market has fallen into disuse: fairs are held on the first Monday in February, July 3rd, and November 3rd. This town was first made a free borough by Edward I., who, in 1283, granted the inhabitants a charter of privileges, which is said to have been confirmed by Edward II., and extended by Edward III. The latter monarch bestowed both the town and castle, together with several others, upon his son Edward the Black Prince, whom he created Earl of Chester, to which earldom the town and county of Flint are still appended. Prince Edward gave the inhabitants a charter of incorporation, and ordained that the constable of the castle for the time being should be mayor of the borough. Their charter was confirmed in the 2nd and 3rd of Philip and Mary, and subsequently in the 12th of William III. The government is vested in a mayor (the constable of the castle), appointed by letters patent, two bailiffs, a recorder, and twelve capital burgesses, assisted by a mace-bearer and other officers elected annually, on the 29th of September, from among the burgesses at large. The revenue of the borough has been greatly diminished by an act which was obtained in 1816, for enclosing the waste lands in the parish, by which the burgesses have been deprived of the greater portion of the lands assigned to them by the charter of Prince Edward, exceeding six hundred acres in extent. The elective franchise was first granted to this borough, as the shire town, in the 27th of Henry VIII., since which period it has constantly returned one member to parliament, in conjunction with the contributory boroughs of Caergwrle, Caerwys, Overton, and Rhudd-, lan: the right of election in this, as in each of the contributory boroughs, is vested in all the resident householders paying scot and lot, in number at present four hundred and forty-nine: the bailiffs are the returning officers; and the nomination and election of the member both for the county and the boroughs take place in this town. The late act for amending the representation of the people added the towns of St. Asaph, Holywell, and Mold to the former district of contributory boroughs, but did not alter the constituency of the latter, owing to its scot and lot character, except by subjecting each individual voter to the registry, in common with the £10 householders in other boroughs. The limits of the borough, which remain unaltered by the late act, include not only the whole chapelry of Flint, but also the township of ColeshillVawr, in the adjacent parish of Holywell, the latter of which, on account of its ancient importance, has given name to the hundred in which the whole is' locally situated. None of the members of the corporation exercise magisterial authority, the town being under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty sessions here; but though it is the ancient provincial metropolis of Flintshire, the assizes and quarter sessions for the county have for many years been held at Mold., The county court, for the recovery of debts under forty shillings, is held here, on the first Wednesday in every month, by the under sheriff. The guildhall, erected in the reign of Elizabeth, is in a very dilapidated state, and is used only at the annual election of the officers of the corporation. The county gaol, erected on part of the site of the ancient castle, in .1785, is small and inconvenient, not admitting of a due classification of the prisoners: the expense of its erection was partly defrayed by subscription, but chiefly by the county, as is expressed by a neat inscription over the entrance gateway, written by Thomas Pennant, Esq., the antiquary and naturalist; who was a great promoter of the work from benevolent motives, the former gaol having become quite unfit for human residence: even the present edifice is about to be taken down, and a building better adapted to the purpose is to be erected at Mold. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of St. Asaph, and in the patronage of the Vicar of Northop: the two last incumbents were, however, presented by the Bishop of St. Asaph. The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small but neat edifice, having some portions in the early style of English architecture: There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists, A National school was built here in 1820,,py the subscriptions of a few individuals, by whom it is supported; one hundred and twenty children are gratuitously instructed in it. Twelve almshouses were built by the corporation, for the accommodation of poor burgesses; but, from the alienation of the lands of that body, by the late. enclosure act, they have no endowment. There are some small charitable bequests and donations for distribution among the poor. At a short distance to the east of the town are the remains of the castle, occupying the summit of a rock of freestone, which is washed by the tide at high water: this extensive pile comprised within its outer walls a quadrangular area, at each of three angles of which was a strong circular tower, and at the fourth a similar bastion of much greater dimensions, erected by Edward I., and called the double tower; from its inner enclosure being surrounded-by an outer concentric wall, forming a circular gallery, from which four-arched openings afforded entrance to the inner and central area, twenty-two feet in diameter. This tower, which was the " donjon," or keep, communicated with the quadrangle by a drawbridge across an intervening moat, which isolated it from the rest of the works, and, from the prodigious thickness of the walls, and the completeness of its fortifications, was considered impregnable. From it Richard II. descended to meet Bolingbroke, on being betrayed into his power by the Earl of Northumberland. The principal remains of this ancient fortress are the towers and the east and north walls, which are fast going to decay: the foundations of the eastern tower are underm fined by the sea, which, in high tides, dashes with great violence against its base; and a considerable portion of this interesting and once important structure was taken down in 1785, for the purpose of erecting the county gaol. It is still nominally under the government of a constable, appointed by the crown,. who receives a fee of £10: it has also a porter, who receives a fee of £6. 1. 8. About a mile from the town, on the lower road to Chester, formerly stood an ancient cross, from which the hundred of Atiscross, noticed in the Norman survey as comprising nearly all the country between the rivers Dee and Conway, took its name: the shaft of this cross it still preserved, and the ground around it is called Croes Ati: tradition states that a large town once existed here, and the foundations ' of buildings have been turned up by the plough. This is one of the places at which the scoria and Roman antiquities above noticed have been found: the scoria contained such quantities of lead as to induce the washers of ore to farm these spots, and to smelt it over again, by which means many tons of metal have been obtained: in removing it for that purpose, coins of the emperors Nero and Vespasian were found in a state of high preservation, together with a variety of ancient instruments and ornaments of Roman construction. Among the interesting remains thus discovered may be noticed a rich ornament of gold, elegantly formed of twisted wire, studded with globular beads of solid gold, which appears to have belonged to a bracelet, or necklace, of gold links, ornamented with pieces of blue glass, of which a part only was found; a small head of brass affixed to iron; a stylus, or instrument for writing on the ceratce tabelle, or waxen tablets; a species of narrow spoon used to collect tears for the lachrymatory ; instruments of sacrifice; golden balit, or amulets; two fibula, or brooches; various species of buttons; instruments for dressing lamps, keys, rings, &c. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £325. 13.