Pentre Halkyn

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Pentre Halkyn
Salem, Pentre Halkyn - geograph.org.uk - 627845.jpg
Salem, Pentre Halkyn
Flintshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Pentre Halkyn
Location within Flintshire
OS grid reference SJ200723
Principal area
Ceremonial county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town HOLYWELL
Postcode district CH8
Dialling code 01352
Police North Wales
Fire North Wales
Ambulance Welsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Flintshire
53°14′31″N3°11′53″W / 53.242°N 3.198°W / 53.242; -3.198 Coordinates: 53°14′31″N3°11′53″W / 53.242°N 3.198°W / 53.242; -3.198

Pentre Halkyn (Welsh : Pentre Helygain) is a small village in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated approximately two miles from Holywell, and is off Junction 32 of the A55 North Wales Expressway. It has a quarry, a small hotel, and a local shop. The village borders on the Halkyn Mountain Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. [1]

Contents

Village

Pentre Halkyn is small hillside village, with a population of approximately 1,100. The village features a shop, a Football Club Halkyn United F.C. and Halkyn Cricket Club, and a play area. It has one main road running through the middle that comes off the A55 and leads down to the town of Holywell. Pentre Halkyn also has a hotel close to the A55 called the Springfield Hotel and Health Club. Also a cafe known as Billie Jean's, named after the hit Michael Jackson song. The village sits on the side of a steep incline. Views of North East Wales and Merseyside are visible from the village, and on a clear day even Blackpool Tower can be seen.[ citation needed ] Local folk-lore speaks of a monster that haunts this village called "Sassy" by the villagers. It is described as a long haired woolly beast, that steals sheep from the mountainside and feasts on them within its cave.[ citation needed ]

Mining and quarrying

Lead ore was first mined in Roman times and was then smelted at Flint. The lead that was produced there was stamped with the inscription Deceangli (Welsh: Tegeingl [2] [3] ), which was the name of the Celtic British Iron Age tribe occupying the area.

In the 17th century an intensive period of lead mining begun, drawing the interest and the investment of the London Lead Company and various Derbyshire mining entrepreneurs. Shortly after, new rich veins were discovered and these were quickly exploited, bringing a large number of skilled miners especially from Derbyshire to live in Halkyn. A road, Buxton Lane, is named after one of the main towns of Derbyshire. The lane leads to the Billins mine, [4] which is immediately to the south of the Pentre Halkyn to Babell Road.

The existing villages of Pentre Halkyn, Halkyn and Rhosesmor grew rapidly in these times as more miners came to the area. New communities were developed as the villages grew, to house the newcomers. This resulted in the development of the villages and hamlets of Rhes-y-Cae, Moel-y-Crio, Wern-y-Gaer, Berthddu, Pant-y-go and Windmill. By the 19th century the lead mines were well developed and concerns arose necessitating mining techniques. This raised the problem of flooding due to the digging of deep drainage tunnels, with the most important being the Milwr tunnel that leads from Loggerheads to Bagillt.

Mining ended in the 1970s but quarrying is still an important local industry with two new large limestone quarries dominating the surrounding area. As a result of these quarries opening, new institutions were needed to support the community with new churches, chapels, a school and village halls being opened in the 19th century.

Trig point

The trig point at the pinnacle of Halkyn Mountain is 290 metres above sea level. On a clear day it is possible to see Blackpool Tower in Lancashire, about 50 miles away.

Notable people

Related Research Articles

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A55 road Major road in England and Wales

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Holywell, Flintshire Human settlement in Wales

Holywell is a market town and community in Flintshire, Wales. It lies to the west of the estuary of the River Dee. The community includes Greenfield.

Maerdy Human settlement in Wales

Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.

Crynant Human settlement in Wales

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Bagillt Human settlement in Wales

Bagillt is a market town and community in Flintshire, Wales. The town overlooks the Dee Estuary and is between the towns of Holywell and Flint. At the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 3,918, increasing to 4,165 at the 2011 census. The community also includes the villages of Walwen and Whelston.

Ton Pentre Human settlement in Wales

Ton Pentre is a village in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the community of Pentre. The old district of Ystradyfodwg was named after the church at Ton Pentre. Ton Pentre is, perhaps, best known for an event in 1924, when the Duke of York played a round of golf with Trade Unionist Frank Hodges.

Rhosesmor Human settlement in Wales

Rhosesmor is a small village near Mold, Flintshire, in north-east Wales. The village lies near the parishes of Halkyn and Rhes-y-cae. The hamlet of Wern-y-Gaer is encompassed by the boundaries of the village.

Halkyn Human settlement in Wales

Halkyn is a village and community in Flintshire, north-east Wales and situated between Pentre Halkyn, Northop and Rhosesmor. At the 2001 Census the population of the community was 2,876, increasing slightly to 2,879 at the 2011 Census. Pentre Halkyn is in the community.

Brynford Human settlement in Wales

Brynford is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales. It is located to the south west of the town of Holywell and near the A55 road. Brynford had a population of 1,059 at the 2011 census.

Halkyn United F.C. Association football club in Wales

Halkyn United Football Club were a Welsh football club representing the Flintshire villages of Halkyn, Pentre Halkyn and Rhosesmor, near Mold, in Wales. They played their home games at Pant Newydd, which is also home to Halkyn Cricket Ground. Previously, during the 2018–19 season, they had been named Halkyn Mountain Football Club.

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Pentre Berw is a small village located on the island of Anglesey in north Wales. It lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the county town of Llangefni, and next to Gaerwen.

The Milwr Tunnel is a mine drainage adit running some 10 miles from the hamlet of Cadole near Loggerheads, Denbighshire to Bagillt on the Dee Estuary in North Wales. It was originally built to drain the lead mines beneath Halkyn Mountain, which were plagued with flooding in their lower levels, but enabled the exploitation of new lodes and was variously used for the extraction of lead, zinc and limestone during its working history. It is part of a network of mines, lodes and natural cave systems – the Halkyn United Mines – that extends for up to 100 kilometres, the longest in the United Kingdom.

Rhes-y-cae Human settlement in Wales

Rhes-y-cae is a small parish and village in Flintshire, Wales. Literally translated from Welsh, Rhes-y-cae is 'Row of fields'. It is situated between Pentre Halkyn and Rhosesmor and is part of the local government community of Halkyn. Local facilities include a chapel, a church and a park, which is situated next to Ysgol Rhes-y-cae. The school closed in 2013, due to there being too few students to warrant its continued operation.

Moel y Gaer, Rhosesmor

Moel y Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort located on a summit at the southern end of Halkyn Mountain, overlooking the village of Rhosesmor, Flintshire, Wales. It is a well-preserved hillfort overlooking the Dee Estuary. Excavations in the early 1970s revealed a sequence of defensive structures made of timber and several phases of building work inside the ramparts.

Ynysboeth Human settlement in Wales

Ynysboeth is a local community within the Mountain Ash (Aberpennar) postal district of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South East Wales.

The natural resources of Wales have contributed substantially to the economic wealth of the United Kingdom from pre-Roman times to the present. Wales has a complex and varied geology with a wealth of natural minerals. Although Wales has been strongly associated with the coal industry, it has also been the world's leading supplier of slate and of copper at different times. The country lies along the western side of Great Britain and is buffeted by the prevailing South-Westerly trade winds which bring year round rain and wind but also maintain an equable temperate climate. The combination of climate and physical geography and geology have given rise to many different types of landscape and biomes rich in species variety

Halkyn & Flint Mountain Football Club is a Welsh football team based in Pentre Halkyn. The team currently play in the North East Wales Football League Premier Division, which is at the fourth tier of the Welsh football league system.

References

  1. The RSPB: Safeguarding sites: A brief guide to nature designations
  2. RBO – Deceangi
  3. Kingdoms of British Celts - Gangani & Deceangli (Decangi)
  4. "Billins Mine". Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2011.