TREMERCHION, or DYMEIRCHYON (TRE-MEIRCHION), a parish, in the union of ST-ASAPH, Rhuddlan division of the hundred of
RHUDDLAN, county of FLINT, NORTH WALES, miles (E. S. E.) from St. Asaph; containing 613 inhabitants. The village of
Tremerchion is delightfully situated on the brow of a hill, under the Clwydian range of mountains, and commands a rich and
luxuriant prospect of the sublime features of that unrivalled vale, the mountains forming its western boundary, and the
lofty chain of Snowdon. Lead-ore has been found in the parish, but the works are now discontinued. A little below the
church stands the mansion of Bilnbella, once called Bichegraig, embosomed in woods, and some time since the property and
residence of Seignior and Mrs. Piozzi, formerly Mrs. Thrale, widow of Henry Thrale, Esq., and daughter and heiress of John
Salusbury, Esq., to an ancestor of whom, Roger Salusbury, the ancient house and certain tithes in Lleyn were given, as a
marriage portion with one of his daughters, by Sir Richard Clough, an eminent merchant in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by
whom it was erected in the year 1567. The old edifice inclosed a quadrangular area, and consisted of a curious brick
mansion, with three sides composed of different buildings, the former six stories high, including the cupola, and forming
from the second floor the figure of a pyramid, having probably been erected from the model of buildings in Flanders; the
bricks were of a very superior kind, and are supposed to have been made either in Holland, or by a Dutchman on the spot:
the edifice was taken down, and the present house erected, about the end of the last century, by Mrs. Thrale. The living
is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £5, and in the gift of the Bishop of St. Asaph: the tithes have
.been commuted for a rent-charge of £539. 14., equally divided between the prebendary of Vaenol and the vicar, and each
moiety subject to rates, averaging £19. 17. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a small neat edifice, and
contains an organ, which is an unusual appendage to country churches in Wales. Under a finely ornamented arch lies the
effigy of Davydd Ddii, or " the Black," of Hiraddug, in ecclesiastical robes: he was incumbent of the parish about the
middle of the fourteenth century, and is celebrated throughout Wales for his poetry and prophecies: he translated the
Psalms of David into Welsh metre, and assisted greatly in regulating the Welsh prosody: beneath the figure is inscribed
Hic jacit Dajid ap Roderic ap Madog. Here is also a mutilated effigy of Sir Robert Pounderling, once constable of Dyserth
Castle, represented as a Knight Templar, cross-legged; and the church anciently contained a cross (long since
demolished), once in great fame for the miracles reputed to have been performed at it, which are described in a poem
published about the year 1500, by Grufydd ab Ivan ab Llewelyn Vychan. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.
Margaret Vaughan, in 1707, gave the sum of £100, directing that part of the interest should be annually distribyted among
the poomind the remainder appropriated in apprenticing a child. A school was built contiguous to the churchyard, about the
year 1765, which consists of about 110 children, and is partly supported by an endowment in land by the same lady,
'producing £4 per annum, partly by the landed proprietors, and partly by payments from the children; and there are also
two Sunday schools, in one of which, on the National plan, about 80, and hi the other, appertaining to Wesleyans, about
16, males and females -are gratuitously taught. Dh'en small sums, also, have been given for the benefit of the poor; among
which area rent-charge of fl. 5., by Edward Mostyn, Esq., in 1738, and another of £1. 6., by Mrs. Grace Price, in 1741;
Mrs. Williams, in 1728, left a house and about two -acres of land, increased .by a small addition under the Skerring
Inclosure act, the whole now paying a rent of; and Robert Davies, in 1823, bequeathed £30, lodged in the Holywell
Savings' bank; the produce of all which benefactions is distributed annually. Sir Richard Clough, the founder of the
mansion of BAchegraig, was the son of poor parents at Denbigh, and became a chorister in Chester cathedral, whence he was
removed to London, and apprenticed to Sir Thomas Gresham, with whom he afterwards'became a partner, and is even said to
have contributed a few thousand pounds towards founding the Royal Exchange. He resided chiefly at Antwerp, and amassed so
much wealth in mercantile pursuits as to render his name proverbial, on the attainment of riches by any person. His
descendants ate stated to have been deprived of the bulk of his immense estate by virtue of an agreement between him and
Sir Thu. mas Gresham, to the effect that, on the decease of either, the survivor should -inherit the whole of his
property.