is a place of considerable trade and bustle, with easy access to the sea. It is pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, possessing many good houses; but is chiefly famous for its well, which although only little better than a mile from the sea, furnishes a sufficiency of water to work eleven mills and factories, viz. one corn mill, four cotton mills, and six copper and brass mills and forges.
The quantity of water thrown up is, on an accurate calculation, proved to exceed eighty-four hogsheads in a minute. It is covered by a small Gothic building, the canopy of which is of most delicate workmanship. For its origin, miracles, &c. I must refer the reader to the Life of St. Winifred, or some of the numerous authorities that have particularized them: suffice it to say, that the devotees of this saint (whose head was cut off, and so effectually replaced on her shoulders, that she survived it fifteen years) were very numerous; and in the last age the well was so noted, that, according to Mr. Pennant, “The Prince, who lost three kingdoms for a mass, payed his respects on the 29th of August, 1686, to our saint, and received as a reward a present of the very shift in which his great grandmother, Mary Queen of Scots, lost her head.”
“The Church being situated below the town, the sound of the bell can be heard but a short distance; to summon the inhabitants to their devotions, therefore, a person parades the town with a large bell, suspended from his neck.” [237]
The supply of water from this well is scarcely ever perceived to vary; and it has never been known to be frozen, a circumstance of far greater importance than its miraculous qualities.
The stage from Holywell to Flint is only six miles, and, like Flint itself, affords little subject for observation or remark.
FLINT
is a small market town, created a free borough in the reign of Philip and Mary, and confirmed in the 12th of William III. It, in conjunction with Caerwys, Rhyddlan, Caergwrle, and Overton, sends a member to parliament, elected by such inhabitants as pay parochial taxes. The castle, begun by Henry II., and finished by Edward I., stands upon a rock, in a marsh upon the south bank of the Dee; the channel of which once ran in considerable depth under its walls, which, even at the present day, are washed at high tides. By whom, and when it was founded, is uncertain. It is chiefly famous for being the place where Edward II. received his obnoxious favourite, Piers Gaveston, on his return from banishment; and where Percy, Earl of Northumberland, surrendered Richard the Second into the hands of the Duke of Lancaster. “When Richard arrived at Flint,” says the author of the Beauties, Harmonies, and Sublimities of Nature, [238] “he said to the Duke of Lancaster, afterwards Henry the Fourth, ‘Cousin of Lancaster, you are welcome.’ ‘My Lord the King,’ returned the Duke, bowing three times to the ground, ‘I am arrived sooner, than you appointed me; because the common report of your people reached me, that you have, for one and twenty years, governed them rigorously, and with which they are by no means satisfied. It is my desire, if God be willing, to assist you to govern them better for the future.’ ‘Fair Cousin,’ returned the wounded monarch, assuming an air of cheerfulness, ‘Fair cousin, since it pleases you, it pleases me also.’ The King and the Duke soon after made their entry into London, which Shakspeare has described so beautifully. Richard resigned his crown; and, as a recompence was soon after murdered in Pontefract castle.” In the reign of Charles the First, the castle was repaired by Sir Roger Mostyn, and sustained a lengthened siege, till all the provisions were exhausted, when it made an honorable surrender in December 1646: it, with Hawarden and other castles, was dismantled by order of parliament. In proceeding to Chester, you regain the high road at Northop. Three miles and a half beyond which, to the left, about a quarter of a mile from the road, on the edge of a glen, and surrounded by a wood, are to be traced the remains of Euloe Castle, a small fortress: the proprietor of which, named Howell, was entitled by ancient custom to give the badge of a silver harp to the best harper in North Wales. But it is chiefly remarkable for the defeat which Henry the Second received in the wood in its vicinity, from David and Conan, the two sons of Owen Gwynedd. By stratagem, they drew the English army into a narrow pass betwixt the hills: when attacking its front, flanks, and rear, they routed it with the most dreadful slaughter. Regaining the road, you soon reach Hawarden, a small neat town, chiefly remarkable for the ruins of its ancient castle, so frequently mentioned in history: its remains are to be traced in the grounds of Lady Glynne, at the east end of the town; little now remains of them, but, from the eminence on which they stand, you command a fine view of the Dee, and the county of Chester.
CHESTER,
Carlisle, and Conway are the only three British towns or cities that have preserved their ancient walls anyways entire. Those of Chester are nearly two miles in circumference, and sufficiently broad to afford room for two persons to walk abreast; for this purpose they are now kept in repair, affording an agreeable lounge, fresh air, and, from the different sides, varied and extensive views.
The rows are another peculiarity belonging to Chester: the streets, which are much broader than those of old towns or cities generally, are considerably excavated: on this lower level are the warehouses, kitchens, &c. and on the first floor, with galleries, or rows as they are termed, in their front, are the shops. These galleries afford a covered walk for foot passengers: they are inconvenient, particularly for ladies, as at every crossing you have to descend and ascend the different steps: they give an air of great singularity to the city.