OVERTON, or OVERTON-MADOC, a borough and parish (anciently a market-town), in the union of ELLESMERE, hundred of MAELOR, county of FLINT, SOUTH WALES, 5 miles (N. N. W.) from Ellesmere; containing 1662 inhabitants. This place, which is divided into two portions, called the Ville and the Foreign, derives the adjunct to its name from Madoc ab Meredydd, Prince of Powys and lord of Overton, who is said to have erected a castle here, of which the only vestige is the site, still designated Castle Field. At the time of the Conquest, the place, termed in Domesday-book " Ovretone," was in the possession of a Saxon chieftain, but was granted by the Conqueror to Robert Fitz-Hugh, one of his followers. Edward I., in the 14th year ' of his reign, gave the lordship to his queen Eleanor, who bestowed it upon Robert de Crevecceur, with the privilege of a weekly market and a fair; and in the 20th of his reign, Edward made it a free borough by charter. The same monarch, in the following year, commanded Reginald de Grey, chief justice of Chester, to go personally to Overton, and to assign to the burgesses, and to such others as might be induced to become inhabitants, competent lands within the demesne of Overton Castle, and wood to build them burgages; and in the 28th of his reign, Edward conferred upon the burgesses exemption from toll for seven years, and various other immunities. Edward II. gave the borough and lordship to his queen Isabel; and in the 14th of the reign of Edward III. they were granted, together with other lands in Maelor, to Eubule le Strange, baron of Knockyn, with a confirmation of the preceding charter, which was also enlarged, with additional privileges, in the reign of Richard II. The parish comprises about 6000 acres, the soil of two-thirds of which is stiff clay, and that of the rest, gravelly loam. The village is beautifully situated on elevated ground on the banks of the Dee, over which river is a handsome stone bridge of two lofty arches, connecting the counties of Denbigh and Flint, and on the turnpike-road leading from Chester to Shrewsbury. The surrounding scenery is beautifully picturesque, being composed of a great diversity of features in pleasing combination and agreeable contrast. From a ridge near the village is seen, on one side, an extensive plain of verdant meadows, enlivened by the windings of the river Dee, skirted in front by fertile and richly-wooded slopes, and bounded in the distance by the lofty summits of the surrounding mountains; on the other side, the Vale Royal of Cheshire, with richly diversified and highly picturesque scenery, and the fertile and open plains of Salop, in luxuriant cultivation, are seen in all their beauty. The village is prepossessing in its appearance, and, with its venerable church, as seen from almost every point of view, forms a highly picturesque and interesting feature in the landscape. At the bridge, which is about a mile from the village, the river, after spreading through the adjacent plains, becomes contracted in its channel, and flows rapidly between its lofty and precipitous banks, which are crowned with wood. There is neither trade nor manufacture of any kind carried on; but upon the banks of the Dee, between Overton and the contiguous village of Bangor-Iscoed, exists a considerable quantity of a species of ductile clay, adapted for the use of potters. The market has long been discontinued; fairs are held on the Monday before Holy Thursday, June 11th, August 9th, and October 8th. Overton is one of the contributory boroughs within the county which are united in the return of a member to parliament; the right of election is in every householder who is rated to the relief of the poor, and has paid his rates for six months previously; and the present number of voters is about three hundred. The limits of the borough, which are co-extensive with those of the parish, and comprise an area of nine miles in circumference, were not altered by the Boundary Act of 1832. The village is also one of the polling-places in the election of a knight for the shire. The borough is within the jurisdiction of the county m4strates, who hold petty-sessions for the hundred at this place; and a house of correction for the hundred was erected here in 1824, at the expense of the county. The living is a perpetual curacy, united to the rectory of Bangor-Iscoed: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £551. 8. 2., subject to rates, averaging £40. b. 9. annually. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, and originally a spacious cruciform structure, consists at present only of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a lofty square tower surmounted with an embattled circular turret, commanding a very extensive view: the prevailing character is the early style of English architecture; the tower, which appears to be of later date, is supposed to have been built when the church was reduced in dimensions by the removal of the transepts and the original tower at the intersection, which had probably fallen into decay. In the chancel is a pew that appears to have been granted to the Kynaston family, and on which is the inscription " Protectoris Auctoritate," 1649. The north aisle has been recently enlarged, and two hundred and eighty-one additional sittings have been erected, of which a hundred and sixty-six are free, in consideration of a gift of £200 by the Incorporated Society for building and enlarging churches and chapels. The churchyard, which is large, is remarkable for the great number of yew trees of extraordinary growth with which it abounds. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists, erected in 1816. A National school, for the gratuitous education of poor children, has been built and is supported by subscription; and about 200 children are taught in five day schools, in three of which the instruction is at the parents' cost. There are also three Sunday schools, conducted by gratuitous teachers, in two of which are 180 males and females, who attend the Established Church, and in the other, appertaining to Wesleyan Primitive Methodists, are 20; and about 100 children are taught at their parents' expense in six infants' schools. A small estate belongs to the poor of the parish, said to have been a grant of a person named John Lloyd, but whether by will or deed does not appear; it is situated in the township of Macs Lewis, and contains nine acres, one of which is coppice: about thirty years since timber to the amount of £80 was cut from the land, which sum was applied towards the erection of a poor house, £4 interest, in lieu, being now paid out of the rates. Another property, consisting of about ten acres, and yielding a rent of £15, was purchased in 1732 at Penly with some consolidated charities amounting to £100; and about sixty years ago, a rood of land was added under an inclosure act. The produce of the whole, including Lloyd's estate, is £29. 1., which is expended in clothing, and distributed at Christmas among the poor, who also receive bread on Sundays to the amount of £5. 4. annually, arising from a rent-charge on land in the township of Cloy, the grant of 'Thomas and Margaret Eyton. A sum of £48, arising from a sale of timber off the poor's land was spent by an order of vestry in 1781, but no interest has ever been paidrand therefore it must be regarded as lost. The site of the ancient carde occupies the brow of a lofty promontory overlooking the river Dee; and in the park of Gwernhailed, in the parish, are the remains of a large circular cam)), surrounded by a rampart of earth, called the Castle Yard: it commands the whole of the country to the west of the river, and near it is a tumulus, twenty two yards in length and twelve yards broad, raised to a considerable height; it is designated the Giant's Grave, but nothing is recorded of its origin or hit?. tory. In the mansion of Maesgwaelod, for several centuries the residence of the Hanmer family, and from which the township took its name, now the property of Major Fletcher, who commanded the rear of the British army at the battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January, 1809, are the keys of that city, which were brought away by the Major, and deposited here; they are held together by a ring, from which is suspended a steel plate, with the - legend " Portigo de Puerta de Abigo.'