History

Hawarden Community Council covers the villages of Hawarden, Aston, Ewloe and Mancot.

Hawarden

Hawarden was originally a Saxon settlement and was referred to in the Domesday book of 1086 as Haordine (high enclosure).

'Long may Hawarden flourish and all that belongs to it'. These were the sentiments of the village's most famous resident, W E Gladstone, who brought Hawarden to national and international recognition.

Hawarden boasts two castles. The ruined 13th century castle was used by Edward I as a base for his invasion of Wales. It was captured by Dafydd, brother of the Welsh Prince, Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, in 1282. In the 17th century it suffered severe damage during the Civil War when it was defended by the Parliamentary side. The new castle was W E Gladstone's home after his marriage to Catherine Glynne, heiress to the Hawarden Estate.

The village was once a thriving market town, where in the 18th and 19th centuries the production of coal, iron and bricks flourished and where its famous children Emma Hamilton and John Boydell, Lord Mayor of London spent their early years.

Points of interest in Hawarden

Aston

Aston appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Estone (the eastern farm or estate). In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the economy of Aston was dominated by the Aston Hall Colliery and Brickworks which it was believed employed more than a thousand men and boys.

Ewloe

The name Ewloe is believed to date back 1200 years to the time when the Kingdom of Mercia extended almost to the River Clwyd near Rhyl.

In 1257 the Welsh Prince Llewellyn ap Gruffydd built Ewloe Castle. However in 1276 King Edward I began the greatest invasion of Wales ever undertaken and in December of that year the King's forces took Ewloe Castle and drove the Welsh out.

In 1277 the Castle was given back to Llewellyn but the Welsh Prince broke the peace and was finally deprived of Ewloe Castle.

In the mid nineteenth century Ewloe became home to Castle Hill Brewery which supplied many of the local public houses. The water used for brewing was extracted from natural springs in Wepre Wood.

Remains of Ewloe Castle

Mancot

The earliest known reference to Mancot was in the late thirteenth century. It is understood that the name means 'humble dwelling'.

Until the early twentieth century the village of Mancot was relatively small with a population in 1861 of just 276.

The growth in size and population of Mancot can be attributed to the building of the munitions factory in Queensferry during the First World War, which required key workers to live locally and resulted in the building of the Mancot Royal Estate complete with a Fire Station and Hospital.

St Deiniols Ash Farm