DENBIGH, a parish and borough and market-town, having exclusive jurisdiction,locally in the hundred of Isaled, county of
DENBIGH (of which it is the ancient shire town), NORTH WALES, 218 miles (N. w.) from London, on the road from Ruthin to
St. Asaph, containing 3786 inhabitants. This place was originally Seal and Arms. named by the Welsh Casten Caled-Vryn y
Rho's, "the castle on the craggy hill in RhOs," from the prominent situation of the castle in the ancient territory of
that name. Its present name is a modernization of the Welsh designation Dinbech, signifying a small hill, probably from a
comparison with the loftier eminences by which it is surrounded. Edward I. bestowed the lordship upon Davydd, brother of
Llewelyn, the last sovereign of North Wales, who, on the death of that prince, assumed the title of Prince of Wales, and
convened an assembly of the native chieftains, which was held at this place, in order to deliberate upon the most
effective mode of prosecuting the war against the English. But their efforts were unavailing; and Davydd, having been
surprised and taken prisoner in the vicinity, was conveyed to Rhuddlan castle, where Edward was then staying, and thence
to Shrewsbury, where, having been tried and convicted of treason, he was condemned to an ignominious death, which was
carried into execution in a most barbarous manner. Edward then granted the castle and lordship to Henry Lacy, Earl of
Lincoln, who built on the site of the former a magnificent structure, surrounded the small town with walls, one mile and a
half in compass, and conferred divers privileges on the inhabitants, which entitled him to the distinction of founder of
the future importance of the place; though it has been stated that the castle was not entirely finished by him, in
consequence of the death of his son, who, falling into a deep well in the Red Tower, was drowned, and the afflicted
parent, according to Camden, " desisted from his work before he had laid on the roof." Scarcely were these fortifications
completed when Lacy was ordered by his sovereign to take the command of the army, jointly with the Earl of Lancaster, the
king's brother, then about to embark on a continental expedition: but a wide-spread revolt breaking out in North Wales,
at the head of which was Madoc, an illegitimate son of the late Prince Llewelyn, the projected expedition was abandoned,
and the Earl of Lincoln, with a view to preserve his newly-erected castle of Denbigh, advanced into Wales before the king,
and, arriving in the vicinity of this place, on the 11th of November, 1294, was suddenly attacked by the Welsh, who,
relying on the situation of the English army, determined to stake their hope of success on the issue of a single battle,
in which they were signally victorious, the English being defeated and compelled to retire. On the death of Lacy, the
lordship passed to Thomas Earl of Lancaster, in right of his wife Alicia, daughter and sole heiress of the Earl of Lincoln;
but, reverting to the crown on his attainder, it was bestowed by Edward II. on his favourite, Hugh Spencer, Earl of
Winchester, whose conduct towards his vassals was highly oppressive, in depriving them of several of the privileges
conferred by Lacy. On the execution of Spencer, this lordship was again forfeited to the crown, and was conferred by
Edward III. on Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. This nobleman having suffered the same fate as his two predecessors, that
monarch assigned the lordship to William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, who died in 1333; and on the reversal of the
attainder of the Earl. of March, it was restored to his grandson Roger, and, passing to Richard Plantagenet, Earl of
Cambridge, by marriage with Anne, sister of Roger, the last Earl of March, it came to the house of York, and thus became
vested in the crown. During the war between the rival houses of York and Lancaster, Denbigh was held for Henry VI. by his
half-brother, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, from whom it was taken by the Yorkists in 1460; but in 146R, Pembroke,
returning with an army of two thousand Welshmen, burnt the town in revenge. Leland informs ns that Edward IV. was besieged
in the castle, from which be was permitted to retire only upon condition of leaving the kingdom for ever. The castle
appears to have remained from this time in the possession of the crown, till the year 1563, when Elizabeth granted it,
with the lordship, to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, whom she created Baron of Denbigh. The conduct of this nobleman
rendered him obnoxious to the inhabitants, whom his extortions drove into open rebellion against his authority: various
tumultuary proceedings took place, in which some of the gentlemen resident in the neighbourhood being implicated, were
tried and beheaded. The queen, in order to allay the strong feelings of discontent which the rapacity of the earl had
excited, secured to the tenants by charter, in the nineteenth year of her reign, the quiet possession of their property
within the borough, and conferred upon the burgesses several new and valuable privileges; and the earl, with a view to
make some satisfaction for the evils he had inflicted, and to conciliate the minds of the inhabitants, commenced at his
own cost the erection of an elegant chapel in the castle, of which he laid the first stone on the 1st of March, 1579, as
appears from a foundation stone now in the south-east corner of the building. This edifice, which was intended as a
parochial church for the inhabitants, was from some circumstance not completed, and the walls, which had been raised to a
considerable height, were left to moulder into ruin. On the subsequent attainder of the Earl of Leicester, the castle and
lordship again reverted to the crown; and from this time till the commencement of the civil war of the seventeenth
century, very few circumstances of historical interest are recorded. In 1643, the castle was garrisoned for the king, at
the sole expense of the inhabitants of Denbigh and the gentry resident in the vicinity, and the custody of it was given to
William Sainsbury, a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who repaired it at his own expense, and raised and maintained an
armed force sufficient to resist every effort made by General Mytton to reduce it for the parliament. The royalists
retained possession of the castle, which after the disastrous battle of Rowton Moor, in September 1645, afforded an asylum
to the vanquished monarch, who occupied for two nights the tower, now in ruins, which from that circumstance was called
Siambr y Brenin, or " the royal apartment." On the first of October, in that year, the parliamentarians obtained an
important advantage over the royalists, within sight of the castle, on which they afterwards made an unsuccessful attack,
that fortress having resisted all their efforts to obtain possession of it, and after the battle afforded an asylum to the
wounded royalists who were left upon the field. In 1646, the parliamentarians obtained a victory over the king's forces at
Llanrhaiadr, about two miles from Denbigh; but they made no impression on the castle, which the garrison continued to
defend with unabated intrepidity, till September 1646, when, in obedience to a special order from the king, dated at
Newcastle, the governor capitulated on honourable terms, and, after the treaty was signed, delivered the keys to General
Mytton, on the 26th of October; this being the last fortress which held out for the.king. Soon after the Restoration, the
fortifications were dismantled by order of Charles II. William III. granted the castle and lordship of Denbigh, together
with several large possessions in Wales, to the Earl of Portland, which excited a considerable ferment among the
inhabitants, who having sent a petition to parliament, which gave rise to some animated debates in the House of Commons,
the grant was rescinded, and the castle and lordship are still under the superintendence of a steward appointed by patent
from the crown. The town is picturesquely situated nearly in the centre of the rich and beautiful Vale of Clwyd, partly at
the base, and partly on the acclivity, of a steep, isolated, rocky eminence, the summit of which is crowned by the
venerable remains of the castle. At a distance it presents an interesting appearance, which, however, is not entirely
sustained on entering the town. It consists of three principal and several smaller streets and lanes, and is well paved
and lighted, but only scantily supplied with water, which is brought from several springs, each at some distance from the
more respectable portions of the town. Leland informs us that there were formerly several streets within the walls, but
that, at the period at which he wrote, namely, in the reign of Henry VIII., most of the houses were in a dilapidated
condition, or wholly removed. The environs abound with beautiful and richly varied scenery; the air is remarkably
salubrious; the land in the vicinity is rich and in a high state of cultivation; and in the immediate neighbourhood are
numerous splendid seats and elegant villas, inhabited by opulent families, whom the advantages of its situation have
induced to select Denbigh for their residence. Considerable improvements are now in progress, by widening the narrower
streets and excavating the rock, by which some good levels have been obtained, and various other advantages gained. The
great Eisteddvod, or congress of bards, was held here on the 16th and two following days of September, 1828, and was
honoured by the presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, and most of the nobility and gentry of the surrounding
country. The proceedings were opened by reading the old proclamation, usual on such occasions; after which the prize
compositions were read, and the medals were distributed by some of the ladies to the successful candidates. The Duke of
Sussex, on his arrival on the second day, was met by the corporation at the confines of the borough, where an address
was read and the freedom of the borough presented to His Royal Highness, who, having returned a suitable reply, proceeded
to the area beneath the castle, where the competitors recited their engignion, and displayed their trials of skill in
performing on the harp: some of the most eminent vocalists from the metropolis were engaged at the festival, which was
also enlivened by the Denbighshire band, during the intervals of the public performances. A Welsh literary society was
formed here a few: years ago, which now languishes for want of sufficient support: a news-room and reading-room have been
for some time established, to which the terms of subscription are £2.2. per annum. The trade is principally confined to
the supply of the inhabitants, for whose use commodities of every kind are brought by land carriage from the port of
Rhuddlan, eight miles distant. Some tanneries are carried on to a considerable extent; and on the banks of a stream, at a
small distance from the town, are two small cotton-mills, principally employed in spinning for the manufacturers at
Manchester. The manufacture of gloves and shoes, from skins made at DOlgelley and other places, was formerly carried on
here to some extent: about seven thousand dozen pair of gloves were annually sent to London, Bristol, and other places ;
and the shoes were sent to Liverpool, and there shipped for the West Indies, &c. A most extensive bleaching establishment
was erected at Lleweni, in 1780, by the Rt. Hon. Thomas Fitzmaurice, who, in order to encourage his tenantry in Ireland,
and to promote the national manufacture, received his rents in brown linen cloth, which was sent to this place to be
bleached; and for this purpose he erected, at an expense exceeding £20,000, one of the most complete and elegant
structures of that kind in the kingdom, in which, under the immediate superintendence of the proprietor, more than four
thousand pieces of Irish linen were bleached annually. After his decease, the works were carried on by some persons from
Lancashire, for a few years; but this extensive concern has been discontinued, and the buildings have been taken down.
The markets are on Wednesday and Saturday (the former being the principal), and are plentifully supplied with provisions,
which are sold at a moderate price: fairs are held on the Saturday before Palm-Sunday, May 14th, June 28th, July 18th,
September 25th, and the second Wednesday in November. The first charter of incorporation obtained by the inhabitants was
granted by Henry Lacy, in the reign of Edward I., and was confirmed by Edward III., who conferred on the inhabitants
additional privileges, which were subsequently confirmed by Richard II., Henry IV., Henry VI., Richard III., Henry VII.,
Henry VIII., Elizabeth, and Charles II.: by the two last of these charters the government is vested in two aldermen, a
recorder, two bailiffs (who are also sheriffs), two coroners, and twenty-five common-councilmen, assisted by a town-clerk
and other officers. The aldermen are annually chosen, at Michaelmas, from among the common-councilmen, by whom the
recorder is elected; the common-councilmen, as vacancies occur, are chosen by the burgesses at large, and the town-clerk
by the council, though the charter contains a reservation in favour of the king. The aldermen are justices of the peace,
exercising exclusive jurisdiction within the borough, the limits of which, as defined by the charter, extend to the
distance of one mile and a half in every direction from the centre of the town, including the parish of Denbigh, formerly
called Whitchurch parish, and parts of the parishes of Malian and Llanrhaiadr: in the following year they succeed to the
coronership. This borough first received the elective franchise in the 27th of Henry VIII., and in the year following
Ruthin and Holt were made contributory boroughs, since which time they have continued jointly to return one member to
parliament: by the late act for amending the representation of the people, Wrexham has been added to this district of
boroughs. The right of election is vested in the resident burgesses, if duly qualified according to the provisions of the
act, amounting at present to three hundred and forty-eight, and in every male person of full age occupying, either as
owner or as tenant under the same landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of not less than ten pounds,
provided he be capable of registering as the act directs: the number of tenements of this value within the limits of the
borough, which were not altered by the late Boundary Act, is two hundred and sixty: the bailiffs are the returning
officers. The freedom is obtained only by gift of the corporation, who acknowledge no inchoate right in sons of freemen,
apprentices, or others. The corporation hold quarterly courts of session, for determining on all offences, except such as
are capital, arising within the borough; and a court of record is held every alternate Friday, in which the bailiffs
preside, for the recovery of debts and the determination of pleas to any amount: the process in this latter court is by
attachment against goods for debts of £2 and upwards. A court baron for the lordship is held by prescription, every three
weeks, under the steward, who also appoints a recorder, in which debts to the amount of forty shillings and upwards are
recoverable: this court has also the power of attaching goods, and, in default of special bail, of issuing a writ of
fieri facial, for levying on them for the debt and costs. The Easter and Michaelmas quarter sessions for the county are
held here. The town-hall, which is situated in the centre of the market-place, was erected in 1572, by Robert Earl of
Leicester, and was considerably improved and enlarged in 1780: it is an extensive and commodious building, comprising in
the lower part a covered area for the use of the market, above which are the council-chamber, in which the business of the
corporation is transacted, and a court-room, in which are held the quarter sessions and court of record for the borough,
and the Easter and Michaelmas sessions for the county. The living consists of a discharged rectory and vicarage, united by
an act passed in the 29th and 30th of Charles II., in the archdeaconry and diocese of St. Asaph, rated in the king's books
at £23. 17.31., and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. Asaph. The ancient parochial church, dedicated to St. Marcellus,
and now in a very dilapidated condition, is situated at Whitchurch, about a mile from the town, from which place the
rectory was transferred by act of parliament to Denbigh, which was made the head of the parish. In the porch of this
church are two monumental effigies, in brass, and in a kneeling posture, of Richard Myddelton, of Gwaynynog, governor of
Denbigh castle, in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, and of his wife Jane, both of whom were here interred ;
the latter died in 1565, and the former ten years subsequently. In the body of the building there is an ill-executed mural
monument to the memory of the learned Welsh antiquary, Humphrey Llwyd, of Foxhall, near Denbigh, who is represented
kneeling beneath a range of small arches, and in Spanish costume. He was born in 1527, and, in addition to his great skill
in physic and music, is celebrated as an excellent rhetorician, a sound philosopher, and a profound antiquary: he was
representative in parliament for his native place, and, dying prematurely, was interred here in 1568. There is also a
large altar-tomb to the memory of Sir John Salusbury, and his lady, the former of whom died in 1578. A. neat mural
monument on the western wall has been erected, by the Gwyneddigion Society in London, to the memory of Thomas Edwards, of
N ant, commonly called Twin o' Nant, the celebrated Cambrian poet, who died on the 3rd of April, 1810, at the age of
seventy-one, and was interred in the churchyard. All parochial duties are now performed at the chapel of St. Hilary,
within the walls of the castle, with the exception of funerals, which still take place at Whitchurch, there being no
cemetery attached to the former. The chapel of St. Hilary is a spacious structure, in the later style of English
architecture, with various modern additions, by which its original character, especially in the northern part, has been
materially destroyed. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists:
that belonging to the Calvinistic Methodists is large and commodious. The free grammar school was founded in 1727, by
subscriptions from thirty-three individuals, amounting to 4340. 2., which was vested in the purchase of an estate in the
parish of Tremerchion, county of Flint, now under the management of three trustees: the representatives of the original
subscribers have the privilege of nominating one boy for every £5 so subscribed: the present income is £ 70 per annum,
and there are twenty boys on the foundation. The Blue-coat charity school was founded, pursuant to the will of Mrs.
Oldfield, dated in 1714, whereby she bequeathed lands in the parish of Llanrhaiadr, now producing £90 per annum, for its
endowment, which was subsequently augmented by a bequest of £200 by Mr. Morgan Evans, with which land, now producing £22
per annum, has been purchased: there are twenty-four boys upon the foundation, who are clothed and educated from these
funds. A National school in connexion with the parent institution, built by subscription in 1816, and in which eighty-six
boys and one hundred girls are instructed, has been incorporated with the Blue-coat charity school, and is principally
supported by subscription. Numerous charitable bequests have been made for distribution among the poor, amounting in the
aggregate to more than £1700; but nearly the whole has been lost by mismanagement or neglect. Contiguous to the town are
the remains of a priory of Carmelite, or White friars, founded before the year 1289, and dedicated to St. Mary, by John
Salusbury, of Lleweni, who, from an inscription on a mutilated brass plate, discovered some time since, appears to have
been buried in the conventual church of the priory, which was the mausoleum of the founder's family until the period of
the Reformation. The remains consist principally of the church, now converted into a malt-house, of which the eastern
window is a fine composi‘ tion, in the later style of English architecture, and in excellent preservation: the roof also,
which is a beau . tiful specimen of carved oak, is still entire. Various mutilated effigies, and fragments of tombs,
bearing inscriptions in some instances much defaced, have been discovered among the ruins of this once stately structure.
The castle is situated on the summit of the CaledVryn, an isolated limestone rock, rising abruptly to the height of two
hundred and forty feet from the western boundary of the Vale of Clwyd, and encloses an area of considerable extent: the
principal entrance is on the north, under a lofty and magnificent arch, which is nearly entire, and flanked by two large
towers, now in ruins; above it is a niche, in which is a robed figure of the founder, Henry Lacy, in a sitting posture:
the whole of the rooms and towers are in a state of the utmost dilapidation. The citadel is surrounded with walls, a mile
and a quarter in circumference, which enclose the whole of the ancient town: the principal entrance is on the north-west,
and is defended by two majestic towers, which are nearly entire: from these the walls extend round the brow of the hill,
on the most elevated and precipitous parts of which numerous lofty towers have been erected, forming together one of the
strongest bulwarks in the kingdom. There were two gates on the line of wall, called the Exchequer gate and the Burgesses'
gate, the former from having been the place where the court for the lordship was held, and the latter from having been
appropriated to the same use by the burgesses. Within these walls are the ruins of the church, or chapel, founded by the
Earl of Leicester, and the chapel of St. Hilary, formerly appropriated to the use of the garrison, and now the parochial
church. The former appears to have been of very large dimensions: the walls enclose a considerable area, now covered with
grass, in which horses and cattle are depastured: of the original building one lofty arched gateway alone remains, of
which, according to a vulgar prophecy, the key-stone will one day fall on the head of the most illustrious man in Denbigh.
Within the walls of the fortress are numerous cottages, which materially diminish the interest commonly excited by these
extensive ruins; and on the south-west front of the castle, and on the boundary wall on this side, are an extensive
terrace and bowling-green, commanding one of the richest and most interesting views of the fertile Vale of Clwyd,
embracing the whole of the eastern portion of this beautiful and finely varied tract, and terminated by the ocean at
Llandulas bay, and on the south by the whole range of the mountains of Clwyd, with their numerous camps and tumuli. On
this delightful spot, the grand congress of the Bards, called the Great Eisteddvod, was held in 18128. According to
Leland, a chapel of ease was built here by a person named Fleming, after whom it was called Capel Fleming; and near it
anciently stood an almshouse, founded by the same individual, and built of hewn stone, which, in Leland's time, had
already fallen into decay: no traces of either of these buildings are now visible. Among eminent men who have been
connected with this place, in addition to those already noticed, was Sir Hugh Myddelton, who was born at Gallt Hill,
within half a mile of the town: he was alderman of Denbigh in 1597, and in the following year presented the corporation
with two maces, and two elegant cups of silver. In 1608, Sir Hugh succeeded in bringing the New River to London, upon
which occasion he received the honour of knighthood, and in 1622 was raised to the baronet-age: he represented the
borough in many successive parliaments, and died in 1631. In the park of Gwaynynog, about two miles from the town, a
monument, consisting of a tall Grecian urn, resting on a square pedestal, has been erected to the memory of Dr. Samuel
Johnson: on one side is inscribed the time of his death, and on the other an inscription records that the spot was often
dignified by the presence of that great moralist, whose writings, "exactly conformative to the principles of Christianity,
gave ardour to virtue and confidence to truth." Denbigh gives the title of earl to the family of Fielding. The average
annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to 4917. 3.