LLANRHAIADR-IN-KINMERCH (LLANRHAIADR-YN-NGHYMMEIRCH), a parish, in the union of RUTHIN, partly within the limits of the borough of DENBIGH, and partly in the hundred of IsALED, county of DENBIGH, NORTH WALES, 3 miles (S. E.) from Denbigh; containing 2040 inhabitants. This very extensive parish is fourteen miles in length, and on an average three in breadth, and abounds with limestone, of which there are several quarries in various parts, great quantities being procured to be burnt for manure in several kilns here, and for building. In the rock immediately under Cader yr Arglwyddes, an eminence about a quarter of a mile to the west of the church, large masses of silex are discovered imbedded in the limestone, which, when broken, are found to contain agate, jasper, crystallized sulphate of lime, and chalcedony: the agate and the chalcedony are very pure, and exceedingly beautiful. From the summit of this eminence, the name of which signifies " the Peeress' Chair," a most extensive and richly varied prospect is obtained, comprehending the whole Vale of Clwyd, between Denbigh and Ruthin, diversified with woods, meadows, and corn-fields; and a fine view of Denbigh Castle, of which the walls and towers are seen to great advantage. Several attempts have been made to obtain copper-ore, but it has not been found in sufficient quantity to remunerate the adventurers. The rateable annual value of the parish has been returned at £10,880C The village is pleasantly situated on the turnpike-road from Ruthin to Denbigh; and courts leet and baron, with view of frankpledge, are held at Easter and Michaelmas by the steward of the Bishop of Bangor, for his lordship's manors of Llech and Llan, which are in the parish: a fair takes place on October 17th. The living is a vicarage, rated in the king's books at £28. 13. 4., and in the gift of the Bishop of Bangor; and there is also a sinecure rectory, rated at £30, which was annexed to the bishopric by act of parliament in the reign of James II: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £1530, equally divided between the bishop as rector, and the vicar, but subject to rates, averaging £37. 10. per annum; and the incumbent has in addition a glebe of 17 acres, and a glebe-house. The church, dedicated to St. Dyvnog, is chiefly remarkable for its lofty east window of five lights, a fine composition in the decorated style of English architecture, and embellished with a beautiful specimen of stained glass; the subject is the Root of Jesse, and occupies the three central compartments of the window, on each side of which are some of the most distinguished patriarchs of the Old Testament, and underneath is the date MCCCCCXXXIII. There are some neat monuments, among which is a handsome effigy of Maurice Jones, Esq., in white marble, in a kneeling posture, under a canopy supported by weeping figures. In the churchyard are the tombs of Captains Wynne and Sainsbury, who were both killed during the siege of Denbigh castle, in 1646. A day school, containing 50 children, is partly supported by a salary of £7. 2. per annum, secured on the turnpike trust, for the education of 14 children, the rest being paid for by their parents; and about 25 children are instructed in another day school at the expense of their parents. There are also five Sunday schools, one of which, attended by about 65 males and females, is maintained by the rector and vicar; three others, held in chapels, and consisting of about 650, are supported by their respective congregations; and the fifth, of 70, appertains to Independents, by whom it is managed. Jane, widow of Maurice Jones, Esq., and daughter of Sir Walter Begot, was a great benefactress to this parish, and her gifts to the poor were various, and of considerable amount. A memorial in the church, in the Welsh language, records her donations in her lifetime, in 1729, of a set of communion plate to the value of £60, a cloth for the communion table, three common prayer books, and a Bible in folio and further states these to be among numerous other donations, and refers to her erection of almshouses for the maintenance of eight poor persons of the parish for ever. These almshouses are now known as Llanrhaiadr Hospital, over the archway of which, on the west side, is an inscription to the effect that the erection and endowment took place in 1722: the present inmates are four men and four women, most of them upwards of eighty, and two of them ninety years of age; and each of whom is allowed £8 per annum, with an additional pound at Christmas, and at allotted periods is presented with articles of clothing, besides which £16 yearly are expended for the whole number in providing coal. The houses, which have all small gardens attached, were thoroughly repaired and greatly improved by William, Lord Begot, grand-nephew of the foundress, in 1829: the sum originally appropriated to the foundation was £2300, subsequently increased by smaller sums, and the management of the fund was vested in trustees, who were directed to pay large donations of Mrs. Jones to ten other parishes. Another benefactress of this place, was Mrs. Ann Jones, who, in 1823, bequeathed £200, now vested in the three per cent annuities, the interest to be distributed among the poor for ever; and various other charitable gifts, producing in the whole upwards of £70 per annum, are dispensed to the most necessitous parishioners, chiefly by the vicar and churchwardens at stated periods of the year. The annual stipend to the schoolmaster, already mentioned, is derived from donations amounting to £142, made, among others, by Robert Jones, the Rev. Robert Roberts, and Dr. Wynne. Near the church are the remains of an ancient bath, called Fynnon St. Dyvnog, which was formerly supposed to operate miraculous cures, and was much resorted to by patients, whose votive offerings were partly employed in decorating the east window of the church. The water, rising in Feat force from under the limestone rock, was Long thought to be a remarkably copious spring; but it has since been ascertained to be a stream, which rises in the hilly part of the parish, in the township of Prion: the two branches of the stream, after flowing for nearly half a mile, sink into the rock, and pursue a subterraneous course for two miles, emerging at this spot.