LLANVWROG (LLAN-FWROG), a parish, in the union and hundred of RUTHIN, county of DENBIGH, NORTH WALES, mile (W.) from
Ruthin; containing in the whole 1554, but with the exception of that part returned with the borough of Ruthin, 333
inhabitants. This parish, of which the hamlet of Street extends into and forms part of the borough of Ruthin, is
intersected by the turnpike-road from Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Llangollen to Denbigh and St. Asaph, and by that from
Wrexham to the same places; and is bounded on the north by the parish of Llanynys, on the south by those of Evenechtyd
and Llanvair-Dyfryn-Clwyd, on the east by Llanrhildd and Ruthin, from which it is separated by the river Clwyd, and on the
west by that of Clocaenog. It comprises by admeasurement 3068 acres, of which about 2142 are arable, 446 meadow and
pasture, and the remainder woodland: the scenery is rich and beautiful, embracing great variety of surface, numerous
little streams emptying themselves into the river Clwyd, well cultivated fields, and tracts ornamented with oak, ash,
sycamore, elm, and larch, and several superior mansions, with views from the higher Founds in every direction of the most
picturesque kind. The parish is a part of the beautiful and fertile Vale of Clwyd, one extremity of which is terminated by
a sweep of high land, traversing the western boundary, and affording extensive and highly interesting prospects of the
Clwydian range of bills beyond its eastern limits, which runs from north to south, and forms the other boundary of the
intermediate valley. The soil is not naturally rich, partaking of the nature of the schistus upon which it rests to a
great extent, but it is well cultivated, and produces all kinds of grain, potatoes, turnips, hay, &c., of very good
quality; the eastern portion of the land that lies in the vale, and on a substratum of limestone, is richer and more
fertile. The rateable annual;slue of the whole parish has been returned at £3001. Poole Park was formerly the seat of the
ancient family of Salusbury, from whom it passed by marriage with the last heiress to Sir Walter Bagot, of Blythfield, in
the county of Stafford, and is now the property of the present Lord Bagot, who, in 1828, rebuilt the mansion in the
Elizabethan style of architecture; it is a handsome edifice, and the pleasure-grounds, which are extensive and finely laid
out, comprehend many pleasing views and much beautiful and varied scenery. An attempt has been made to obtain lead-ore,
for which purpose some works were erected at Coedmarchan, but they have not been attended with any success. There are a
few small limestone quarries, in which about twenty hands are occasionally engaged, and barytes is raised, which is ground
for paint in a mill in an adjoining parish: a few men are employed in three tan-yards; and a soda-water manufactory,
lately established, and in considerable repute, affords occupation to about eight or ten persons. The living is a rectory,
rated in the king's books at £16. 13. 4.; patron, Bishop of Bangor: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of
£455, subject to rates, averaging £7. 8. 11. per annum; and the glebe consists of nearly 41 acres, valued at £7 per
annum. The church, dedicated to St. Mwrog, and situated in the township of Street, close to the river Clwyd, is a very
ancient structure, containing some portions in the later style of English architecture in the eastern part, and having the
piers and arches, that divide the body of the church into two equal parts, of much older date: the edifice, which has a
tower and four bells, measures in the interior 60 feet by 36, and will accommodate about 330 persons. There is a place of
worship for Baptists. A National school, containing 90 boys and a similar number of girls, about half from this parish,
and half from Ruthin and Llanrhildd, is partly supported by a small endowment of XS per annum, and partly by a
subscription, amounting to about £72 per annum, of which a handsome sum is contributed by the rector. There are also two
other day schools, in which 35 children are taught at the expense of their parents; and two Sunday schools, each attended
by about 100 males and females, who are gratuitously instructed; one is held in the church, and books are provided by the
rector; the other appertains to Baptists. Children of the parish are also admissible into the National school of Ruthin.
An hospital, containing tenements for four poor men and six poor women, owes its foundation to Lady Jane Bagot, who, by
will, dated in 1695, bequeathed the sum of £1000 to be laid out in the purchase of land for its endowment, and conformably
with whose intentions certain lands in Merionethshire on the Begot estate were by deed, in 1697, assigned to this purpose.
The hospital was built in 1708, by Sir Edward Begot, son of the foundress, who also materially contributed to its
erection, and it was further endowedby her daughter, the Countess of Uxbridge, with the sum of £300. But it appears by
the Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry concerning Charities, lately presented to parliament, that the £1000, directed
by Lady Begot to be invested in land, had been treated, until recently, by the Begot family, as money lying out at
interest in their bands, in ignorance that the land in Merionethshire had ever been set apart for the hospital. The
discovery, which considerably augmented the resources of the hospital, owing to the increased value of the land, was made
by the present Lord Bagot, who lately found the deed of 1697 among his muniments at his seat Blythfield, Staffordshire,
and he has most liberally agreed to pay over to the uses of the hospital £1900, and to confirm to it the property in
question. The inmates of the almshouses have an allowance of El each per month, besides coal and clothing, and there is an
annual surplus fund for repairs and various other contingencies: the income of the charity, which has been more than
trebled by the restoration, now amounts to £164 per annum. The Rev. Hugh Pugh made a bequest of 40s. to this parish in
1681, and gifts of the same amount to Llanbedr and Ruthin; the land in which these sums were invested now produces £23.
17. 6. per annum, one-third whereof belongs to Llanvwrog, and is distributed among the poor on St. Thomas's-day. Griffith
Thomas ap Evan, about the same period, devised a small farm called Llidiart-vawr-lydan to the poor of this and three other
parishes, and from which this place derives £4 a year. The gifts of other benefactors are secured upon the Wrexham and
Denbigh, and Ruthin and Mold trusts, and increase the funds for the poor to £16. 15. 6. per annul, which is usually
distributed at Christmas.