Transcribed from the 1890 Phillipson & Golder edition by David Price,
ccx074@pglaf.org





The Hawarden Visitors' Hand-Book.


_REVISED EDITION_.
1890.

Chester:
PRINTED FOR THE COMPILER BY
PHILLIPSON & GOLDER, EASTGATE ROW.

{W. Gladstone.  Photographed by John Moffat, Edinburgh.  1884: p0.jpg}

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.




Note as to the Illustrations.


The Views of the Castle Gate and of Broughton Lodge are taken from Blocks
kindly lent for the purpose of this publication by the Proprietor of the
_Leisure Hour_.  And for the View of the House and Flower-garden I am
indebted to the courtesy of the Proprietors of _Harpers Magazine_.

W. H. G.




Regulations as to Hawarden Park and Old Castle.


Visitors are allowed to use the Gravel Drives through the Park and Wood
between Noon and Sunset.

Persons exceeding this permission and not keeping to the Carriage Road
will be deemed Trespassers.

The Park is closed on Good Friday and Whit-Monday.

Dogs not admitted.

_Excursion parties can only be received by special permission_, _and not
later in the year than the first Monday in August_.

_The House is in no case shown_.




Hawarden Village and Manor.


Hawarden, in Flintshire, lies 6 miles West of Chester, at a height of 250
feet, overlooking a large tract of Cheshire and the Estuary of the Dee.
It is now in direct communication with the Railway world by the opening
of the Hawarden and Wirral lines.  It is also easily reached from
Sandycroft Station, or from Queen's Ferry, (1.5 m.)--whence the Church is
plainly seen--or again from Broughton Hall Station (2.25m.).  The Glynne
Arms offers plain but comfortable accommodation.  There are also some
smaller hostelries, and a Coffee House called "The Welcome."

The Village consists of a single street, about half a mile in length.  Two
Crosses formerly stood in it; the Upper and the Lower, destroyed in 1641.
The site of the Lower Cross, at the eastern end, is marked by a Lime tree
planted in 1742.  Here stood the Parish Stocks, long since perished.  More
durable, but grotesque in its affectation of Grecian architecture, may be
seen close by, the old House of Correction.  This spot is still called
the Cross Tree.

The Fountain opposite the Glynne Arms is designed as a Memorial of the
Golden Wedding of the Right Hon. W. E. and Mrs. Gladstone.  A little
lower down is the new Police Office; and further on is the Institute,
containing mineralogical and other specimens, together with a good
popular library.

In Doomsday Book, Hawarden appears as a Lordship, with a church, two
ploughlands--half of one belonging to the church--half an acre of meadow,
a wood two leagues long and half a league broad.  The whole was valued at
40 shillings; yet on all this were but four villeyns, six boors, and four
slaves: so low was the state of population.  It was a chief manor, and
the capital one of the Hundred of Atiscross, extending from the Dee to
the Vale of Clwyd, and forming part of Cheshire.

The name is variously spelt in the old records.  In Doomsday Book it is
Haordine; elsewhere it is Weorden or Haweorden, Harden, HaWordin,
Hauwerthyn, Hawardin and Hawardine.  It is pretty clearly derived from
the Welsh _Din_ or _Dinas_, castle on a hill (although some attribute to
it a Saxon derivation), and was no doubt, like the mound called Truman's
Hill, west of the church, in the earliest times a British fortification.

No Welsh is spoken in Hawarden.  By the construction of Offa's Dyke about
A.D. 790, stretching from the Dee to the Wye and passing westwards of
Hawarden, the place came into the Kingdom of Mercia, and at the time of
the Invasion from Normandy is found in the possession of the gallant
Edwin.  It would appear, however, from the following story, derived,
according to Willett's History of Hawarden, from a Saxon MS., that in the
tenth century the Welsh were in possession.

"In the sixth year of the reign of Conan, King of North Wales, there was
in the Christian Temple at a place called Harden, in the Kingdom of North
Wales, a Roodloft, in which was placed an image of the Virgin Mary, with
a very large cross, which was in the hands of the image, called Holy
Rood.  About this time there happened a very hot and dry summer; so dry
that there was not grass for the cattle; upon which most of the
inhabitants went and prayed to the image or Holy Rood, that it would
cause it to rain, but to no purpose.  Among the rest, the Lady Trawst
(whose husband's name was Sytsylht, a nobleman and governor of Harden
Castle) went to pray to the said Holy Rood, and she praying earnestly and
long, the image or Holy Rood fell down upon her head and killed her; upon
which a great uproar was raised, and it was concluded and resolved upon
to try the said image for the murder of the said Lady Trawst, and a jury
was summoned for this purpose, whose names were as follows:--

   Hincot of Hancot, Span of Mancot,
   Leech and Leach, and Cumberbeach.
   Peet and Pate, with Corbin of the gate,
   Milling and Hughet, with Gill and Pughet."

The Jury--so continues the story--found the Holy Rood guilty of wilful
murder, and the sentence was proposed that she should be hanged.  This
was opposed by Span, who suggested that, as they wanted rain, it would be
best to drown her.  This, again, was objected to by Corbin, who advised
to lay her on the sands of the river and see what became of her.  This
was done, with the result that the image was carried by the tide to some
low land near the wall of Caerleon--(supposed to be Chester)--where it
was found by the Cestrians drowned and dead, and by them buried at the
gate where found, with this inscription:--

   The Jews their God did crucify,
   The Hardeners theirs did drown,
   'Cos, with their wants she'd not comply,
   And lies under this cold stone.

Hence the said low land, or island, as it may have been, is supposed to
have got the name of the Rood-Eye, or Roodee as at present.

After the Conquest, Hawarden was included in the vast grant made by
William to his kinsman, Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, which included
Cheshire and all the seaboard as far as Conway.  The Earl had his
residence at Chester, and there held his Courts and Parliament.  His
sword of dignity, referred to in the heading of Common Law Indictments,
is preserved in the British Museum.  Among the earliest residents at
Hawarden occurs the name of Roger Fitzvalence, son of one of the
Conqueror's followers; subsequently it continued in the possession of the
Earls of Chester till the death of Ranulf de Blundeville, the last earl,
in 1231, when, with Castle Rising and the 'Earl's Half' in Coventry, it
passed, through his sister Mabel, to her descendants, the Montalts.

The Barons de Monte Alto, sometimes styled de Moaldis or Mohaut (now
Mold, 6 miles from Hawarden, where the mound of the castle remains), were
hereditary seneschals of Chester and lords of Mold.  Roger de Montalt
inherited Hawarden, Coventry, and Castle Rising, and married Julian,
daughter of Roger de Clifford, Justiciary of Chester and North Wales, who
was captured at the storming of the Castle by Llewelyn, in 1281.  Robert
de Montalt the last lord, died childless {8} in 1329, when the barony
became extinct.  He it was who signed the celebrated letter to the Pope
in 1300 as Dominus de Hawardyn.

Robert de Montalt bequeathed his estates to Isabella, Queen of Edward
II., and Hawarden afterwards passed by exchange, in 1337, to Sir William
de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury.  From that family it reverted in 1406,
by attainder, to the Crown, and in 1411 was granted by Henry IV. to his
second son, Thomas, Duke of Clarence.  Clarence dying without issue in
1420, it reverted once more to the Crown, but finally, in 1454, passed to
Sir Thomas Stanley, Comptroller of the Household and afterwards Lord
Stanley, whose son became the first Earl of Derby.  In 1495, Henry VII.
honoured Hawarden with a visit, and made some residence here for the
amusement of stag-hunting, but his primary motive was to soothe the Earl
(husband to Margaret, the King's mother) after the ungrateful execution
of his brother, Sir William Stanley. {9a}

Hawarden remained in the possession of the Stanleys for nearly 200 years.
William, the sixth Earl, when advanced in years, surrendered the property
to his son James, reserving to himself 1000 pounds a year, and retiring
to a convenient house {9b} near the Dee, spent there the remainder of his
life, and died in 1642.  James, distinguished for his learning and
gallantry, warmly espoused the cause first of Charles I. and afterwards
that of his son.  Under his roof Charles, when a fugitive, halted on his
way from Chester to Denbigh, on Sept. 25, 1645.  After the battle of
Worcester, in 1657, James was taken prisoner, tried by Court Martial, and
executed at Bolton in the same year.

In 1653, the Lordship of Hawarden was purchased from the agents of
sequestration by Serjeant (afterwards Chief Justice) Glynne; and in 1661
the sale was confirmed by Charles, Earl of Derby.

The Glynnes are first heard of at Glyn Llivon, in Carnarvonshire, in
1567.  They trace their descent, however, much further back, to Cilmin
Droed Dhu (Cilmin of the Black Foot), who came into Wales from the North
of Britain with his uncle Mervyn, King of the Isle of Man, who married
Esyllt, heiress of Conan, King of North Wales, about A.D. 830.  The
territory allotted to him extended from Carnarvon to beyond Clynnog.
Edward Llwyd was the first to assume the name of Glynne, which his
descendants continued till the male succession ended in John Glynne,
whose daughter and heiress, Frances, married Thomas Wynne of Bodnau,
created a baronet in 1742.  His son, Sir John, is said to have pulled
down the old strong mansion of Cilmin, and erected the present one.  His
son again, Sir Thomas, was created a Peer of Ireland for his services in
the American war, whose descendant is the present Lord Newborough.  The
father of the Serjeant was Sir William Glynne, Knight, 21st in descent
from Cilmin Droed Dhu.  The Serjeant early espoused the cause of the
popular party, perhaps rather from ambition than from principle.  His
abilities were soon recognized, and while still young he became High
Steward of Westminster and Recorder of London.  In 1640 he was elected
Member for Westminster as a strong Presbyterian.  He was actively
concerned in conducting the charge against Lord Strafford.  In 1646 he
opposed in Parliament Cromwell's Self-denying Ordinance, and was thrown
into prison.  He found means, however, to get reconciled to Cromwell in
1648, and became one of his Council and Serjeant-at-law.  In 1654 he
became Chamberlain of Chester, and in the following year succeeded Rolle
as Lord Chief Justice--which office he discharged with credit. {10}  In
1656 he was returned for Carnarvonshire, and in the Rump Parliament he
sat again for Westminster.  Meanwhile he contrived to ingratiate himself
with the opposite side, and in 1660 we find him assisting on horseback at
the coronation of Charles II.  He now resigned the Chief Justiceship,
made himself very useful in settling legal difficulties consequent upon
the usurpation, and became as loyal as any cavalier: the King, as a mark
of his favour, {11a} bestowing a baronetcy upon his son in 1661.  He
possessed Henley Park, {11b} in Surrey, and an estate at Bicester, in
Oxfordshire, (of which church, as well as Ambrosden, he was patron) where
the family resided.  He died at his house in Westminster in 1666, and was
buried in a vault beneath the altar of S. Margaret's Church.

His son, Sir William Glynne, the first baronet, sat in Parliament for
Woodstock, and died in 1721.  It was not till 1723 that the Glynnes moved
to Hawarden, from Bicester.  An old stone records the building of a house
in Broadlane in 1727.  In 1732 Sir John Glynne, nephew of Sir William,
married Honora Conway, co-heiress with her sister Catherine of the
Ravenscrofts of Bretton and Broadlane, an old family connected with
Hawarden for many generations. {11c}  This lady was the great great grand-
daughter of Sir Kenelm Digby, and with her one-half of the Ravenscroft
lands came into possession of the Glynnes; the other half in Bretton
passing eventually to the Grosvenors.  She died in 1769.  In 1752 Sir
John built a new house at Broadlane, which has since been the residence
of the family.

Though not the founder of the _family_, Sir John Glynne may fairly be
considered the founder of the _place_, and of the estate in its modern
sense.  Though he sat for five Parliaments for the Borough of Flint, he
devoted himself largely to domestic concerns and to the improvement of
his property by inclosure, drainage, and otherwise.  The present beauty
of the Park is in a great measure due to his energy and foresight.  Upon
the acquisition of Broadlane Hall, he at once took in hand the
re-planting of the demesne, {12} first in Broadlane and about the Old
Castle, and in 1747 on the Bilberry Hill.  He also turned his attention
to the developement of the minerals on the estate, and attempted the
carriage of coals to Chester by water.  He died in 1777.

His Grandson, Sir S. R. Glynne, married in 1806 the Hon. Mary Neville,
daughter of Lord Braybrooke and of Catherine, sister to George, Marquess
of Buckingham, and by her had four children: Stephen, eighth and last
Baronet, born September 22, 1807; Henry, Rector of Hawarden born
September 9th, 1810; Catherine, now Mrs. Gladstone, born January 6, 1812;
and Mary, afterwards Lady Lyttelton, born July 22, 1813.  He died in 1815
at the age of 35 years, and of his children Mrs. Gladstone alone
survives.  Sir Stephen, the last Baronet, died unmarried in 1874,
surviving his brother the Rector only two years; and the Lordship of the
Manor, together, by a family arrangement, with the estates, then devolved
upon the present owner.

{Catherine Gladstone.  Photographed by G. Watmough Webster, Chester:
p12.jpg}




The Old Castle.


The Ruins of Hawarden Castle occupy a lofty eminence, guarded on the S.
by a steep ravine, and on the other sides by artificial banks and
ditches, partly favoured by the formation of the ground.  The space so
occupied measures about 150 yards in diameter.  Upon the summit stands
the Keep, towering some 50 feet above the main ward, and some 200 feet
above the bottom of the ravine.

"The place presents," says Mr. G. T. Clark, "in a remarkable degree the
features of a well-known class of earthworks found both in England and in
Normandy.  This kind of fortification by mound, bank and ditch was in use
in the ninth, tenth, and even in the eleventh centuries, before masonry
was general. {13}  The mound was crowned with a strong circular house of
timber, such as in the Bayeaux tapestry the soldiers are attempting to
set on fire.  The Court below and the banks beyond the ditches were
fenced with palisades and defences of that character."

It was usual after the Conquest to replace these old fortifications with
the thick and massive masonry characteristic of Norman Architecture.
Hawarden, however, bears no marks of the Norman style though the Keep is
unusually substantial.  It appears, according to the best authorities,
{14} to be the work of one period, and that, probably, the close of the
reign of Henry III. or the early part of that of Edward I.  Hence Roger
Fitzvalence, the first possessor after the Conquest, and the Montalts,
who held it by Seneschalship to Hugh Lupus, must have been content to
allow the old defences to remain, as any masonry constructed by them
could scarcely have been so entirely removed as to show no trace of the
style prevalent at the time.

The Keep is circular, 61 feet in diameter, and originally about 40 feet
high.  The wall is 15 feet thick at the base, and 13 feet at the level of
the rampart walk--dimensions of unusual solidity even at the Norman
period, and rare indeed in England under Henry III. or the Edwards.  The
battlements have been replaced by a modern wall, but the junction with
the old work may be readily detected.  In the Keep were two floors--the
lower, no doubt, a store room without fire-place or seat--the upper a
state room lighted from three recesses and entered from the portcullis
chamber.

Next to this last is the Chapel, or rather _Sacrarium_, with a cinquefoil-
headed doorway, and a small recess for a piscina, with a projecting
bracket and fluted foot.  Against the West wall is a stone bench, and
above it a rude squint through which the elevation of the Host could be
seen from the adjoining window recess.  Of the two windows, one is
square, the other lancet-headed.  The altar is modern.  There is a mural
gallery in the thickness of the wall running round nearly the whole
circle of the Keep, and with remarkably strong vaulting.

Descending from the Keep and inclosing the space below, were two walls or
curtains, as they are technically called.  That on the N. side, 7 feet
thick and 25 feet high, is still tolerably perfect, and within it lay the
way between the Keep and the main ward.  Of the South curtain only a
fragment remains attached to the Keep.

The entrance to the court-yard--now the so-called bowling-green--was on
the N. side.  On the South side, on the first floor (the basement being
probably a cellar), was the Hall, 30 feet high from its timber floor to
the wall plate.  Two lofty windows remain and traces of a third, and
between them are the plain chamfered corbel whence sprung the open roof.
Below the hall is seen a small _ambry_ or cupboard in the wall.

Outside the curtain on the East side, where the visitor ascends to the
Courtyard, are remains of a kitchen and other offices with apartments
over, resting upon the scarp of the ditch.

From the N.E. angle of the curtain projects a spur work protected by two
curtains, one of which, 4 feet thick and 24 feet high, only remains, with
a shouldered postern door opening on the scarp of the ditch at its
junction with the main curtain.  This spur work was the entrance to the
Castle, and contains a deep pit, now called the Dungeon, and a Barbican
or Sally-port beyond.  The pit is 12 feet deep and measures 27 feet x 10
feet across.  It may possibly have served the double purpose of defence
and of water supply--there being no other apparent source.  In the
footbridge across the pit may have been a trap-door, or other means for
suddenly breaking communication in case of need.  Overhead probably lay
the roadway for horsemen with a proper drawbridge.  The thickness of the
walls indicates their having been built to a considerable height,
sufficient probably to form parapets masking the passage of the bridge.

In the mound beyond, or counterscarp, was the gate-house and Barbican,
containing a curious fan-shaped chamber up a flight of steps.  While the
earth-works surrounding the Castle are the oldest part of the
fortifications--possibly, thinks Mr. Clark, of the tenth century--the
dressed masonry and the different material of the Barbican and Dungeon-
pit, together with some of the exterior offices, show them to be of
somewhat later date than the main building.  They have, in fact, as Mr.
Clark remarks, more of an unfinished than a partially destroyed
appearance.  The squared and jointed stones, so easily removable and
ready to hand, {16} proved no doubt a tempting quarry to subsequent
owners of Hawarden, who perhaps shared the faults of a period when
neither the architectural nor historical value of ancient remains was
generally appreciated.

It now remains to trace the history of the Castle, so far as it is known
to us.

In 1264 a memorable conference took place within its walls between Simon
de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, at
which each promised to aid the other in promoting the execution of their
respective plans.  The King, who, with the Prince of Wales, was the
Earl's prisoner, was compelled to renounce his rights, and the Castle was
given up to Llewelyn.  On the suppression of de Montfort's rebellion the
Castle reverted to the Crown, and Llewelyn was called upon by the Papal
Legate, Ottoboni, to surrender it.  This he at first declined, but being
deserted by the Earl, who at the same time, in order to put an end to the
conflict, offered to him his daughter Eleanor in marriage agreed
afterwards to a treaty by which the Castle was to be destroyed, and
Robert de Montalt to be reinstated in the possession of his lands in
Hawarden, but to be restrained from restoring the fortification for
thirty years.

This stipulation appears to have been violated, for in 1281 the Welsh
rebelled, and under David and Llewelyn (who then made up their quarrel),
an attack was made by night upon the Castle, then styled Castrum Regis,
which was successful.  Roger de Clifford, Justiciary of Chester, was
taken prisoner, and the Castle with much bloodshed and cruelty stormed
and partly burnt on Palm Sunday.  The outrage was repeated in the next
year (Nov. 6th, 1282), when the Justice's elder son, also Roger Clifford,
was slain.  Soon after this Llewelyn died, Wales was entirely subjugated,
and David executed as a traitor.

To this period may most probably be assigned the present structure.  A
Keep, such as that now standing is not likely to have been successfully
assaulted in two successive years; nor does internal evidence favour the
idea that it was the actual work taken by the Welsh.  Robert, the last of
the Montalts, was a wealthy man, and in all probability it was during his
Lordship, between 1297 and 1329, that the Castle, as we now see it, was
built.  Though the unusual thickness of the walls of the Keep might be
thought more in keeping with the Norman period, the general details, as
already stated, the polygonal mural gallery and interior, and the
entrance, evidently parts of the original work, are very decidedly
Edwardian.

Of the subsequent history of the Castle, we have unfortunately nothing to
record until we come to the Civil War between Charles the First and the
Parliament.  On Nov. 11th, 1643, Sir William Brereton, who had declared
for the Parliament, appeared with his adherents at Hawarden Castle, where
he was welcomed by Robert Ravenscroft and John Aldersey, who had charge
of it in the name of the King.  Sir William established himself in the
Castle, and harassed the garrison of Chester, which was for the King, by
cutting off the supplies of coals, corn and other provisions, which they
had formerly drawn from the neighbourhood.  Meanwhile the Archbishop of
York, writing from Conway to the Duke of Ormond announced the betrayal of
the Castle and appealed for assistance.  In response to this a force from
Ireland was landed at Mostyn in the same month, and employed to reduce
the fortress, garrisoned by 120 men of Sir Thomas Middleton's Regiment.
The garrison received by a trumpet a verbal summons to surrender, which
gave occasion to a correspondence, followed by a further and more
peremptory summons from Captain Thomas Sandford, which ran as follows:--

   Gentlemen: I presume you very well know or have heard of my condition
   and disposition; and that I neither give nor take quarter.  I am now
   with my Firelocks (who never yet neglected opportunity to correct
   rebels) ready to use you as I have done the Irish; but loth I am to
   spill my countrymen's blood: wherefore by these I advise you to your
   fealty and obedience towards his Majesty; and show yourselves faithful
   subjects, by delivering the Castle into my hands for His Majesty's
   use--otherwise if you put me to the least trouble or loss of blood to
   force you, expect no quarter for man woman or child.  I hear you have
   some of our late Irish army in your company: they very well know me
   and that my Firelocks use not to parley.  Be not unadvised, but think
   of your liberty, for I vow all hopes of relief are taken from you; and
   our intents are not to starve you but to batter and storm you and then
   hang you all, and follow the rest of that rebellious crewe.  I am no
   bread-and-cheese rogue, but as ever a Loyalist, and will ever be while
   I can write or name

   THOMAS SANDFORD,
   Nov, 28, 1643.  Captain of Firelocks.

   I expect your speedy answer this Tuesday night at Broadlane Hall,
   where I am now, your near neighbour.

Reinforcements having arrived from Chester, this was followed by a brisk
attack on the 3rd December, whereupon the garrison being short of
provisions, a white flag was hung out from the walls, and the Castle
surrendered on the following day to Sir Michael Emley.  It was held by
the Royalists for two years, but after the surrender of Chester, in Feb.
1646, Sir William Neal, the governor, capitulated (after receiving the
King's sanction--then at Oxford--) to Major-General Mytton after a
month's siege.  It was probably during these operations that the
specimens of stone and iron cannon balls still remaining were used.

An entry in the Commons' Journals refers to this last event, dated 16th
March, 1645.

Ordered: That Mr. Fogge the Minister shall have the sum of 50 pounds
bestowed upon him for his pains in bringing the good news of the taking
of the Castle of Hawarden; and that the Committee of Lords and Commons
for advance of Moneys at Haberdashers' Hall do pay the same accordingly.

The Lords' concurrence to be desired herein.

In the following year there is an Order "That the Castles of Hawarden,
Flint, and Ruthland be disgarrisoned and demolished, all but a tower in
Flint Castle, to be reserved for a gaol for the County"; and a
confirmation of it follows in the next year, dated 19th July, 1647.

These orders were no doubt forthwith executed, and of Flint and Rhuddlan
little now remains.  At Hawarden gunpowder has been used to blow up
portions of the Keep.  Sir William Glynne, son of the Chief Justice,
twenty or thirty years later, carried further the work of destruction.
Sir John Glynne, too, is said to have made free with the materials of the
Castle, and certain it is that a vast amount has been carted away and
used up in walls and for other purposes.  His successors, however, have
done their utmost to make amends for these ravages, and to preserve the
ruins from further injury.  The entrance and the winding stair by which
the visitor mounts to the top of the Keep are a restoration skilfully
effected not long ago under the direction of Mr. Shaw of Saddleworth.  The
view embraces a wide range of country, North, East, and South, extending
from Liverpool to the Wrekin: on the West it is bounded by Moel Fammau or
Queen Mountain, on the summit of which is seen the remnant of the fallen
obelisk raised to commemorate the 50th year of the reign of George III.
Round about lie the Woods and the Park, presenting a happy mixture of
wild and pastoral beauty; while close beneath the Old stands the New
Castle, affecting in its turreted outline some degree of congruity with
its prototype, but much more contrasting with it in its home-like air,
and the luxury of its lawns and flower-beds.

Not less striking is the view of the Ruins from below.  Here judgment and
taste have combined with great natural advantages of position to produce
an exceedingly picturesque effect.  From the flower garden a wide sweep
of lawn, flanked by majestic oaks and beeches, carries the eye up to the
foot-bridge crossing the moat, thence to the ivy-mantled walls which
overhang it, and upward again to the flag-topt tower that crowns the
height.  Clusters of ivy, and foliage here and there intervening, serve
to soften and beautify the mouldering remains.  The scene brings to our
minds the words of the poet--

   "The old order changeth, yielding place to new";

and, conscious as we may be that society in our day has its dangers and
disorders of a different and more insidious kind, we are thankful that
our lot is not cast in the harsh and troublous times of our history.  All
around us the former scenes of rapine and violence are changed to
fertility and peace.  The Old Castle serves well to illustrate the
contrast.  Its hugely solid walls, reared 600 years ago with so much
pains and skill to repel the invader and to overawe the lawless, have
played their part, and are themselves abandoned to solitude and decay.
Within the arches which once echoed to the clang of arms the owls have
their home; while the rooks from the tree-tops around seem to chant the
_requiem_ of the past.

{Ruins of Old Castle: p21.jpg}




The Church.


{The Church: p22.jpg}

Hawarden Church, with its large graveyard attached, finely situated
overlooking the estuary of the Dee, is supposed to have been built about
A.D. 1275, and has much solidity and dignity of structure.  The patron
saint is S. Deiniol, founder of the Collegiate monastery at Bangor, and
about A.D. 550 made first Bishop of that See.  In the old records he is
styled one of the three "Gwynvebydd" or holy men of the Isle of Britain.
He was buried in Bardsey Island.  A place still called "Daniel's
Ash"--perhaps a corruption of Deiniol--may be the very spot where he
gathered his disciples round him.  Two Dedication festivals are observed,
the one on S. Deiniol's Day, December 10th, the other on the Sunday after
Holy Cross Day, September 14th.  The Church has a central tower
containing six bells, {23a} a chancel with a south aisle called the
Whitley Chancel (after the Whitleys of Aston), and a nave with blind
clerestory and two aisles.  There is a division in the roof between the
chancel and the nave which has the appearance of a transept, but not
extended beyond the line of the aisles.  The axis of the chancel deviates
from that of the nave.

In 1764 the nave and aisles were newly pewed in place of the old benches,
and the floor flagged instead of being strewn with rushes.  In 1810 a
gallery was erected at the west end and an organ placed in it; the
gallery was enlarged and a new organ purchased in 1836. {23b}

Great improvements were made about the year 1855 by the Rev. Henry
Glynne, Rector: the organ and singers were removed from the west to the
east end, the pews converted into open seats, and the cumbrous "three
decker" pulpit and reading desk {24a} exchanged for simpler furniture.
Unfortunately on the 29th October, 1857, a disastrous fire occurred,
almost entirely destroying the roof and fittings of the Church.  Its
restoration was at once placed in the hands of Sir Gilbert Scott,
architect, who improved the occasion by adding the small spire which now
with excellent effect crowns the otherwise somewhat stunted tower.  An
organ chamber was now added on the N. side of the chancel, and on the
14th July, 1859, with Sermons from the late Bishop Wilberforce, Dean Hook
and others, the Church was re-opened.  The whole expenditure was about
8000 pounds.

The Reredos is a representation of the Last Supper in alabaster, and was
erected as a memorial to the Rev. Henry Glynne, Rector of the Parish for
38 years.  In the side chancel {24b} under the 'Vine' window, is a
recumbent figure of his brother, Sir Stephen Glynne, who died two years
later in 1874--a beautiful work by Noble.  To his memory also were given
by the parishioners the wrought-iron gates at the main entrance to the
Churchyard.

Upon the altar table stands a handsome brass cross mounted on _rosso
antico_ the gift of the parishioners to the present Rector.  The old
Communion plate was twice stolen, viz., on April 13th, 1821, when it was
recovered, being found beaten flat and buried near the Higher Ferry; and
finally in 1859.  The Churchyard was enlarged in 1859, by gift of the
late Rector.  The old Cross which stood in the Churchyard in 1663, has
disappeared: possibly the Sun-dial now occupies its place.

The Parish Register dates from the year 1585; and the list of Rectors
goes back to 1180.

The Living is what is termed 'a Peculiar,' and was formerly exempt from
Episcopal jurisdiction.  The Rectors granted marriage licenses, proved
wills, and had their own consistorial Courts and Proctors.  The Court was
held in the Eastern Bay of the Chancel Aisle: the seal, still used,
represents Daniel in the Lion's Den, with the legend 'Sigillum peculiaris
et exemptae jurisdictionis de Hawarden'.  These privileges, originally
granted by the Pope, were continued at the Reformation; but in 1849 the
Parish was definitely attached to the Diocese of S. Asaph, and the power
of granting marriage licenses now alone remains.

The Tithes were in 1093, granted by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, to the
Monks of S. Werburgh.  In 1288 Pope Nicholas the 3rd, granted them to
King Edward the 1st, for six years.  They were then valued at 13 pounds
6s. 8d.  At the Reformation they were estimated at 66 pounds 6s. 5.5d.

The Rectory was greatly enlarged by the Hon. George Neville Grenville,
Rector from 1814 to 1834, and afterwards Dean of Windsor.  The garden
comprises nearly six acres and is charmingly laid out.

A list of Rectors of Hawarden is appended.  Up to the middle of the 15th
century exchanges were very frequent.

1180.  William de Montalt

1209.  Ralph de Montalt

1216.  Hugh
William

1272.  Roger
Richard de Osgodly

1315.  William de Melton

1317.  John Walewayn

1331.  Thomas de Boynton

1333.  Roger de Gildesburgh

1344.  John de Baddeley

1350.  James de Audlegh

1353.  John Bexsyn

1357.  Robert de Coningham

1368.  William Pectoo

1391.  Roger de Davenport
Henry Merston

1423.  Marmaduke Lumley

1425.  John Millyngton

1466.  James Stanley

1478.  Matthew Fowler

1487.  James Stanley

1505.  Randolph Pool

1557.  Arthur Swift

1561.  Thomas Jackson

1605.  John Phillips D.D.

1633.  Thomas Draycott

1636.  Robert Browne

1638.  Christopher Pasley D.D.

1640.  Edward Bold

1655.  Lawrence Fogge D.D.

1664.  Orlando Fogge

1666.  John Price D.D.

1685.  Beaumont Percival D.D.

1714.  B. Gardiner

1726.  Francis Glynne

1728.  John Fletcher

1742.  Richard Williams

1770.  Stephen Glynne

1780.  Randolph Crewe

1814.  George Neville-Grenville

1834.  Henry Glynne

1872.  Stephen E. Gladstone

{Interior of Church: p26.jpg}




The Modern Residence and Park.


The modern Residence was built in 1752 upon the site of Broadlane Hall,
the seat of the Ravenscrofts, an old house of wood and plaster, which
came into Sir John Glynne's possession by his marriage with Honora
Conway, daughter of Henry Conway and Honora Ravenscroft.  Originally a
square brick house, it was afterwards in 1809 extended by the addition of
the Library on the West side and of the Kitchen and other offices on the
East; the whole being cased in stone {27} and castellated.  The entrance
was now turned from the S. to the N. front--the turnpike road, which
passed in front of the house and along the Moat to the Village, having
been diverted in 1804--and the present Flower-garden constructed with the
old Thorn-tree in the centre.  Quite recently has been added the block at
the N.W. angle of the house, containing Mr. Gladstone's Study, or, as he
calls it, the 'Temple of Peace.'

{House and Flower Garden: p27.jpg}

The most striking feature about this room is that (to use the phrase of a
writer in Harper's Magazine) it is built about with bookcases.  Instead
of being ranged along the wall in the usual way, they stand out into the
room at right angles, each wide enough to hold a double row facing either
way.  Intervals are left sufficient to give access to the books, and Mr.
Gladstone prides himself upon the economy of space obtained by this
arrangement.  His Library numbers near 20,000 volumes, many of which have
overflowed into adjoining rooms, where they are similarly stored.  Of
this number Theology claims a large proportion; Homer, Dante, {28a} and
Shakespeare also have their respective departments, and any resident
visitor is at liberty, on entering his or her name in a book kept for the
purpose, to borrow any volume at pleasure.  Three writing-tables are
seen.  At one Mr. Gladstone sits when busy in political work and
correspondence; the second is reserved for literary and especially,
Homeric studies; the third is Mrs. Gladstone's.  "It is," remarked Mr.
Gladstone to the writer above mentioned, with a wistful glance at the
table where 'Vaticanism' and 'Juventus Mundi' were written, "A long time
since I sat there."  About the room are to be seen busts and photographs
of old friends and colleagues--Sidney Herbert, the Duke of Newcastle,
Canning, Tennyson, Lord Richard Cavendish, and others, while in the
corners lurk numerous walking sticks and axes.

Adjoining Mr. Gladstone's room is the Library of the house--a
well-proportioned and comfortable room, well stored with books, prominent
among which topography and ecclesiology testify to the predelictions of
the late owner, Sir Stephen Glynne. {28b}  There are some good family
portraits and other pictures, among which are specimens of Sir Peter
Lely, Snyders, and a very fine likeness of Sir Kenelm Digby by Vandyke.
There is a fine picture by Millais of Mr. Gladstone and his grandson,
{29a} painted in 1889, and another good portrait of him by the late F.
Holl; also a much-admired likeness of Mrs. Gladstone by Herkomer.

Shading the windows of Mr. Gladstone's Study is a singular circle of
limes of some 20 feet in diameter, which goes by the name of Sir John
Glynne's Dressing-Room.  Mounting the slope towards the old castle is the
Broad Walk, terminating in an artificial amphitheatre at the top, made by
Sir John Glynne to give employment in a time of distress.  The grounds
abound in fine trees, {29b} and in rhododendrons which in spring form
masses of bloom.

In 1819, Prince Leopold, the late King of the Belgians, visited the
Castle; and the small wooden door on the south side of the Ruins is still
called after him.  The Visitors' Book at the Lodge also records, in
autograph, the names of Her Gracious Majesty, as Princess Victoria, and
her mother, the Duchess of Kent, in or about the year 1833.

In the palmy days of the Royal British Bowmen the Castle was the frequent
scene of bow-meetings; the peculiar green costumes and feathers worn by
both the ladies and gentlemen competitors contributing to the picturesque
effect of these gatherings.  Simultaneously with one of these Archery
Meetings, in the year, we believe, 1835, was held a Fancy Bazaar,
commemorated in some admirable lines by Mr. R. E. Warburton of Arley
Hall, which will be read with pleasure in connection with more recent
bazaars held in the same place.

   While tents are pitched in Hawarden's peaceful vale,
   And harmless shafts the platted targe assail;
   While now the bow (the archers more intent
   On making love than making war) is bent;
   Beneath those towers, where erst their fathers drew
   In deadly conflict bows of tougher yew;
   Lo!  Charity, a native of the skies,
   Whose smile betrays her through a vain disguise,
   Mounts the steep hill, and 'neath th' o'erhanging wall,
   The canvass stretch'd in triumph, plants her stall;
   In gay profusion o'er the counter pours
   Her glittering wares and ranges all her stores.

   Beneath the magic of her touch behold
   Transformed at once the warlike aims of old!
   The mighty falchion to a penknife shrinks,
   The mailed meshes from the purse's links;
   The sturdy lance a bodkin now appears,
   A bunch of tooth-picks once a hundred spears;
   A painted toy behold the keen-edged axe!
   See men of iron turned to dolls of wax!

   The once broad shield contracted now in span
   Raised as a screen or fluttered as a fan;
   The gleaming helm a hollow thimble proves,
   And weighty gauntlets dwindle into gloves.
   The plumes that winged the arrow through the sky,
   Waft to and fro the shuttlecock on high;
   Two trusty swords are into scissors cross'd,
   And dinted breastplates are in corsets lost;
   While dungeon chains to gentler use consigned,
   Now silken laces, tighten stays behind.

   Approach! nor weapons more destructive fear,
   Where'er ye turn, than pins and needles here.
   While hobbling Age along the pathway crawls,
   By aid of crutch to scale the Castle's walls:
   With eager steps advance, ye generous youths,
   Draw purses all, and strip the loaded booths.
   Bear each away some trophy from the steep,
   Take each a keepsake ere ye quit the keep!
   Come, every stranger, every guest draw nigh!
   No peril waits you save from beauty's eye.

Hard by the Castle and across the yard will be found Mrs. Gladstone's
Orphanage, containing from 20 to 30 boys.  Close by is a little Home of
Rest established by Mrs. Gladstone, for old and infirm women.  The house
in which the orphans are lodged is called Diglane, and was formerly the
residence of the Crachley family.  It was sold to Sir John Glynne in
1749.

{Gateway--Castle, shewing Orphanage: p31.jpg}

The Park is about 250 acres in extent, to which have to be added the
Bilberry Wood and Warren Plantations.  It is divided into two parts by a
ravine passing immediately under the old Castle and traversing its entire
length.  The further side is called the Deer Park, inclosed and stocked
by Sir John Glynne in 1739.  Its banks and glades, richly timbered, and
overgrown with bracken, afford from various points beautiful views over
the plain of Chester, with the bold projections of the Frodsham and
Peckforton hills.  Along the bottom of the hollow flows Broughton brook.
Two Waterfalls occur in its course through the Park: the lower is called
the Ladies' Fall: near the upper one stood a Mill, now removed, the
erection of which is commemorated by a large stone, bearing the following
inscription:

   "Trust in God for Bread, and to the King for Justice, Protection and
   Peace.
   This Mill was built A.D. 1767
   By Sir John Glynne, Bart.,
   Lord of this Manor:
   Charles Howard Millwright.
   Wheat was at this year 9s. and Barley at 5s. 6d. a Bushel.  Luxury was
   at a great height, and Charity extensive, but the pool were starving,
   riotous, and hanged."

Between this spot and the "Old Lane," a sandy gully, lined with old
beeches, and once the road to Wrexham--now tenanted by rabbits--are two
large oaks, 17 and 18 feet in circumference respectively.  Another tree,
a beautiful specimen of the _fagus pendula_, or feathering beech, a great
favourite with Mr. Gladstone, deserves attention.  It stands a few yards
from the iron railing near the moat of the old Castle, and measures 17ft.
11 in. round.  The sycamores at Hawarden are particularly fine.  Nor
should the visitor omit seeing the noble grove of beeches at the Ladies'
Fall.

The road which descends the steep hill under the Old Castle and crosses
the brook, leads up through the Park to the Bilberry Wood.  Twenty
minutes' walk through the wood brings one to the "Top Lodge" (1.75 miles
from the Castle).  From this point either the walk may be continued
through the further plantations to the pretty Church of St. John's at
Penymynydd, {32a} or, if necessary Broughton Hall Station, 2.5 miles
distant, may be gained direct.  The inclosures and the plantations on
this portion of the estate, called the Warren, were made in 1798, and
command some very fine views.  The high road through Pentrobin and
Tinkersdale offers a pleasant return route to Hawarden.

Everyone has heard of Mr. Gladstone's prowess as a woodcutter, and to
some it may even have been matter of surprise to see no scantiness of
trees in the Park at Hawarden.  It is true that he attacks trees with the
same vigour as he attacks abuses in the body politic, {32b} but he
attacks them on the same principle--they are blemishes and not ornaments.
No one more scrupulously respects a sound and shapely tree than Mr.
Gladstone; and if he is prone to condemn those that show signs of decay,
he is always ready to listen to any plea that may be advanced on their
behalf by other members of the family.  In this, as in other matters,
doubtful points will of course arise; but there can be no question that a
policy of inert conservatism is an entire mistake.  Besides the natural
growth and decay of trees, a hundred other causes are ever at work to
affect their structure and appearance; and the facts of the landscape,
thus continually altering, afford sufficient occupation for the eye and
hand of the woodman.  It was late in life that Mr. Gladstone took to
woodcutting.  Tried first as an experiment, it answered so admirably the
object of getting the most complete exercise in a short time that, though
somewhat slackened of late, it has never been abandoned.  His procedure
is characteristic.  No exercise is taken in the morning, save the daily
walk to morning service but between 3 and 4 in the afternoon he sallies
forth, axe on shoulder, accompanied by one or more of his sons.  The
scene of action reached, there is no pottering; the work begins at once,
and is carried on with unflagging energy.  Blow follows blow, delivered
with that skill which his favourite author {33a} reminds us is of more
value to the woodman than strength, together with a force and energy that
soon tells its tale on the tree

   * * * * Illa usque minatur
   Et tremefacta comam concusso vertice nutat,
   Vulneribus donec paulatim evicta supremum
   Congemuit, traxitque jugis avulsa ruinam.

   _Virgil OEn II._ 626

   "It still keeps nodding to its doom,
   Still bows its head and shakes its plume,
   Till, by degrees o'ercome, one groan
   It heaves, and on the hill lies prone."

   _Conington's Translation_.

At the advanced age he has now attained, it can hardly be expected that
Mr. Gladstone can very frequently indulge in what has been his favourite
recreation for the past twenty-five years.  The present winter {34}
however saw the fall of at least one large tree, in which he took a full
share--a Spanish chestnut, measuring 10ft. at the top of the face, and
those who were present can testify to the undiminished vigour with which
the axe was wielded on that occasion.




Parish and District of Hawarden.


The Parish of Hawarden is a very extensive one, containing upwards of
17,000 acres, with a population, according to the census of 1871, of
7088.  Sixteen townships are included in it; Hawarden, Broadlane, Mancot
Aston, Shotton, Pentrobin, Moor, Rake, Manor, Bannel, Bretton, Broughton,
Ewloe Wood, Ewloe Town, Saltney and Sealand.  To provide for the
spiritual wants of so large a district, four daughter churches have been
built--viz.: S. Matthew's, Buckley, {35a} in 1822, S. Mary's, Broughton,
{35b} in 1824, S. Johns, Penymynydd, {35c} in 1843, and S. Bartholomew's,
Sealand, in 1867.  The work of the Parish Church is now further
supplemented by three new School-chapels at Shotton, Sandycroft and
Ewloe.  The chief portion of Saltney, and the district of Buckley, have
been recently separated from Hawarden for ecclesiastical purposes.

{Lodge Gate--Broughton Approach: p35.jpg}

The Rector of Hawarden has also to provide for the management and support
of eight National Schools, involving an annual expenditure of 1460
pounds.  The requirements of the Education Act of 1870 involved an outlay
of 4300 pounds raised entirely from local sources.

The patronage of the living is vested in the Lord of the Manor. {36}  The
Rev. S. E. Gladstone, the present Rector, was appointed by the late Sir
Stephen Glynne in 1872.

The Grammar School is finely situated, near the Church, and has
accommodation for 50 scholars, inclusive of 20 boarders.  The income from
endowment is 24 pounds.

The temporary building adjoining contains a portion of the Library of the
Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone.

The land about Hawarden varies much in quality.  The best lies towards
the river and on Saltney, where are large and well cultivated farms.  On
the higher ground in Pentrobin the soil is poorer; here however are found
holdings that have remained in the same family for generations.  The land
is mainly arable; but little cheese being now made.

About one mile and a half from Hawarden on the road to Northop, lie
ensconced in a wood the scant remains of the old Castle of Ewloe--the
scene of a battle between the English and Welsh in 1157, in which the
former were defeated by David and Conan, sons of Owen Gwynedd.

The district is rich in beds of coal and clay.  The former have been
worked from an early period when the coal was mostly sent to Chester; but
the difficulties of carriage before the turnpike road was made, and
especially of draining the mines, which before steam-engines came into
use was attempted to be done by means of levels, {37} were a serious
impediment to that development which under more favourable conditions has
since taken place.

Formerly the only means of getting the minerals of the district away, was
a horse tramway from Buckley to Queensferry.  In 1862 however was opened
the Wrexham and Connah's Quay Railway,--Mrs. Gladstone cutting the first
sod, and an address from the Corporation of Wrexham being at the same
time presented to Mr. Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer.  This
line is now carried through Hawarden, and, when connected with Birkenhead
and Liverpool by the Mersey Tunnel, now happily completed, is destined in
all probability to become one of importance beyond the limits of the
immediate district.

Clay has been extensively worked in Buckley, where the Messrs. Hancock's
famous fire-brick is made.  Mention may also be made of the white bricks
made by the Aston Hall Coal and Brick Company, which are in great favour
with builders on account of their powers of resisting the weather and of
retaining their colour.  A clay, resembling _terra cotta_ when burnt, has
also been found on Saltney.

At Sandycroft, on the river bank, are the Ironworks belonging to Messrs.
Taylor, where mining and other machinery is made.

The present course of the River below Chester, is called the New Cut, and
was completed under Act of Parliament, in 1737, by the River Dee Company,
who have lately handed over their interest in the River to a newly formed
Conservancy Board.  The River, which before wandered over a large tract,
was thus confined to the present channel, and a large reclamation of land
effected.  In compensation for the loss of rights of pasturage, 200
pounds is paid yearly by the Company to Trustees for the benefit of the
Freeholders of the Manor of Hawarden; 50 pounds is also paid yearly for
the repair of the south bank.  This was followed by the inclosure of
Saltney Marsh, in 1778.

Possessing as it does a greater depth of water over the bar than the
Mersey, and provided with ample railway communication with the great
industrial centres, it is probable that the Dee may ere long become a far
more important river as a vehicle of commerce than heretofore.  Of still
more importance to Hawarden is the establishment of direct communication
with Liverpool already referred to, in place of the present circuitous
route by Chester and Runcorn.  By the new Swing Railway Bridge across the
Dee, direct access will be given to Birkenhead and Liverpool by the
Mersey Tunnel across the Wirral; such communication will not only
stimulate and develop to the utmost the natural resources of the
district, but will offer residential facilities, beneficial, as it may be
hoped, alike to town and country.

{Map of Hawarden: p38.jpg}

PHILLIPSON AND GOLDER, PRINTERS, CHESTER.




Footnotes:


{8}  He was buried at Shuldham, in Norfolk.

{9a}  Pennant.  Sir W. Stanley had rendered the most valuable service to
the King at the battle of Bosworth; yet, upon suspicion of his favouring
the cause of Perkin Warbeck, the King had him seized at his castle at
Holt and beheaded.

{9b}  This may have been the house known as "The Manor," now occupied by
Mr. Bakewell Bower of the Manor Farm.

{10}  See Campbell's Lives of the Chief Justices.

{11a}  The Letters Patent recite also the service rendered to the King by
the furnishing a sum of money sufficient for the maintenance of thirty
soldiers for three years in the Plantation of Ulster.

{11b}  Henley Park was left to John Glynne, (son of the Chief Justice by
his second wife,) through whom it passed by marriage to Francis Tilney,
Esq.

{11c}  We find Hugh Ravenscroft mentioned as Steward of the Lordships of
Hawarden and Mold, about the year 1440.  Thomas Ravenscroft, father of
Honora, afterwards Lady Glynne, by his wife Honora Sneyd of Keel Hall,
Staffordshire, was a Member of Parliament, and died in 1698, aged 28.
There is a monument to him in Hawarden Church.

{12}  Pennant learnt that the timber had been valued in 1665 at 5000
pounds and subsequently sold.

{13}  Between 1830 and 1840 the Norman Archaeological Society visited the
sites of all the Castles of the Barons who had gone over to England with
William the Conqueror, and in none of them found any masonry older than
the second half of the eleventh century.

{14}  _e.g._ Mr. G. T. Clark and Mr. J. H. Parker, from whom this account
is chiefly derived.

{16}  The uncommon strength and tenacity of the ancient mortar used in
the Castle was especially conspicuous in the Keep prior to the recent
restorations.  In one place an enormous mass of masonry remained
suspended without other support than its own coherence and adhesion.  For
security this has now been underpinned.

{23a}  In 1563 there were five bells.  In 1740 they were sold and six new
ones purchased from Abel Rudhall of Gloucester, at a cost of 628 pounds.
They bear the following inscriptions, with the initials of the maker and
the date 1745 in each case:

No. 1.  Peace and good neighbourhood.

,, 2.  Prosperity to all our benefactors.

,, 3.  Prosperity to this Parish.

,, 4.  I to the Church the living call,
And to the grave do summon all.

,, 5.  Geo Hope, Churchwarden.
Thos Fox, Sidesman.

,, 6.  Abel Rudhall of Gloucester cast us all.

{23b}  There is a curious carved oaken slab, 4ft high, surmounted by a
cross, which forms part of the present Reading Desk.  On the cross is an
eagle, with a vine branch and grapes above, and with a scroll in his beak
inscribed, In Domino confido.  The pillar was probably in commemoration
of a maiden daughter of Randolph Pool, Rector in 1537.

{24a}  Its peculiarity consisted in its accommodating two officiating
clergymen simultaneously.  The Clerk's Desk was, as usual, below.

{24b}  This Chancel, called the Whitley Chancel, was restored and
decorated in 1885, by the munificence of H. Hurlbutt, Esq., of Dee
Cottage, from the designs of Mr. Frampton, and under the superintendence
of Mr. Douglas, Architect, Chester.  The same gentleman erected the Lych
Gate at the North entrance to the Churchyard.

{27}  From Tinkersdale Quarry.

{28a}  Dante is one of the four authors to whom Mr. Gladstone attributes
the greatest _formative_ influence on his own mind; the other three being
Aristotle, Bishop Butler, and S. Augustine.

{28b}  Sir S. Glynne was one of the highest authorities on English
Ecclesiology.  He visited and described in a series of Note Books, which
are carefully preserved, nearly the whole of the old parish churches in
the country.  His Notes of the Churches of Kent are published by Murray.
He died in 1874, at the age of 66.  There is a good portrait of him by
Roden.

{29a}  Eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Gladstone.

{29b}  Sir John Glynne has recorded that only one tree was standing about
the place in 1730.  This is supposed to be the large spreading oak
adjoining the Flower Garden.

{32a}  This Church contains some noteworthy frescoes and other mural
decorations, the work of the Rev. John Troughton, sometime curate in
charge.

{32b}  A wag is said to have scratched on the stump of a tree at Hawarden
the following couplet:

"No matter whether oak or birch--
They all go like the Irish Church."

{33a}
_Homer_.  _Iliad_ xxili. 315

   "By skill far more than strength the woodman fells
   The sturdy oak."
   _Ld. Derby's Translation_

{34}  1889-1890.

{35a}  Buckley Church, towards which a grant of 4000 pounds was made by
the Commissioners for Church building, was designed by Mr. John Gates of
Halifax, and holds 740 persons.  The first stone was laid by the youthful
hands of Sir S. R. Glynne and his Brother Henry, afterwards Rector, and
the Consecration was performed nine months afterwards, by the Bishop of
Chester, Dr. Gardiner, Prebendary of Lichfield, preaching the Sermon.  The
Schools and Parsonage had been previously erected by the exertions of the
Hon. and Rev. George Neville Grenville (afterwards Dean of Windsor), at a
cost of about 2000 pounds.

{35b}  Much improved by the recent addition of a Chancel, the gift of W.
Johnson, Esq., of Broughton Hall.

{35c}  Built by Sir S. R. Glynne: Vicarage and Schools by Lady Glynne.

{36}  In the Journals of the House of Commons occurs the following entry,
dated 23rd February, 1646:--"An Ordinance from the Lords for Mr. Bold, a
Minister, to be instituted into the Church of Hawarden, in Flintshire."

{37}  On the 1st October, 1770, assembled a grand Procession, with
coloured cockades, to start the opening of a Level, designed to be driven
one mile and three quarters in length and eighty yards deep "in order"
(so the notice ran) "to lay dry a body of coal for future ages."  The
wages were to be, for boys and lads employed about the horses, and
windlasses--26 in number, 6d. a day, smiths, carpenters and labourers,
above ground generally--42 in number, 1/4 a day,
underground laboures 42, Cutters 68 in number, 1/6 a day, underground
stewards 10 in number, 1/6 a day.

At this date the price of coal at the pit's mouth was not less than 16/-
a ton, or fully double what it is at present.  The course of this notable
work which effectually drained the Hollin seam of coal may still be
traced for a long distance by its succession of ventilating shafts,
finally issuing in the ravine called Kearsley, and discharging its waters
into the brook.