PRESTATYN-with-NANT, a township, in the parish of MELIDEN, union of ST-ASAPH, hundred of PRESTATYN, county of FLINT,
NORTH WALES, 6 miles (N. N. E.) from St. Asaph: the population is returned with the parish. This place, from which the
hundred derives its name, was once a lordship, and had a castle, which is supposed to have been erected at a very early
period by the native British inhabitants of the district. This fortress was wrested from its ancient owners, in the reign
of Henry II., by the English, who had possession of it in the year 1167, when it was destroyed by Owain Gwynedd,
Cadwaladr, and Rhys, Prince of South Wales, who then reduced the whole of Tegengle to the power of Owain. The lordship was
granted by Richard I. to Robert Banaster, who kept it for nearly four years, and built a town, which was afterwards burnt
by Owain Gwynedd. In the seventh of Edward I. Robert de Crevecceur laid claim to it, in right of his ancestor Banaster,
and, on an inquisition taking place, it was determined in his favour. From the Crevecceurs the lordship passed by marriage
to the Con ways of Bodrhyddan, and on the division of the family estates, after the death of Sir John Conway, it fell, in
right of his mother, to the Rev. Richard Williams of Vron, who disposed of it to his brother-in-law, Richard Wilding,
Esq. Of the ancient castle there are still some small vestiges, consisting of portions of the foundation, on an elevated
spot called Plfis Prestatyn, in a meadow below the mill; and likewise traces of the fosse by which it was surrounded, at
some distance. The township is situated on the shore of the Irish Sea, in a flat district, which is highly cultivated and
richly productive of all kinds of grain, but more especially of excellent wheat, for the growth of which the soil is
peculiarly favourable. From the shore, which is a fine sandy beach, extends for a distance of four miles, in a westerly
direction, a sand-bank termed Chester Bar, which is dry at low water; and other extensive iminks are observable at a
greater distance from the coast, projecting into the sea, and occupying the mouth of the estuary of the Dee: at the
distance of half a mile from the shore the water varies from one to two fathoms in depth.