The seat of Mrs. Lloyd, widow of the late William Lloyd, Esq. It is situated on the right of the turnpike-road from Oswestry to Shrewsbury, about two miles distant from the former. The highly-respected family who have for so many years occupied this beautiful estate are of great antiquity, having descended from Einion, Prince of part of Powys, who distinguished himself in the wars against Henry I. Yorke, in his “Royal Tribes of Wales,” writing in 1799, has furnished a copious notice of the house of Aston.
“The Lloyds,” he says, “are descended from Einion. The heiress of the house, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lloyd, married Foulke Lloyd, of Fox Hall, or the hall of Foulke, and was great grandmother to the Rev. John Robert Lloyd, Rector of Whittington and Selattyn, both in his advowson, the present possessor of Aston. The name of the Fox Hall family was Rosindale, when they came first from the north. To a younger branch, settled at Denbigh, we owe our learned countryman, Humphrey Llwyd. He was of Brazen-nose, Oxford, studied physic, and lived as family physician in the house of the last Earl of Arundel, of the name of Fitz-Alan, the Chancellor of the University. He sat in Parliament for his native town of Denbigh, and died there in the forty-first year of his age, and was buried in the Parish Church with a coarse monument, a dry epitaph, and a psalm-tune under it. He collected many curious books for Lord Lumley (whose sister he married), which form at this time a valuable part of the Library in the British Museum. One of his sons was settled at Cheam, in Surrey, whose great grandson, Robert Lloyd, was Rector of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, and contended, but without effect, for the Barony of Lumley.”
Aston Chapel was built in 1594, at the expense of Richard Lloyd, Esq., of Aston, and then called Christ’s Chapel. It was endowed by its founder with £15 per annum, and Anne, his wife, left by will £5 per annum in land to the Chapel, and 40s. for four Welsh sermons to be preached in the year, with 15s. to be distributed to the poor of Oswestry parish at each sermon. The chapel was consecrated by Bishop Parry.
BRYNKINALT,
The seat of the Right Hon. Viscount Dungannon, is situated about a mile from Chirk, and one of the most picturesque mansions in the Principality. The house was built during the reign of James I., from a design by Inigo Jones, and is situated on the brow of a hill, at the foot of which flows the Ceiriog. The park is fine, and is divided by the river. On the site of this house formerly stood the residence of Tudor Trevor, a British nobleman who lived A.D. 924, the head of the tribe of March or Maelor, and who bore the title of Earl of Hereford in right of his mother, the daughter and heiress of Lluddocca, ab Caradog Vreichvras, Earl of Hereford. Trevor had large possessions between the Wye and Severn, and was Lord of both Maelors, Chirk, Whittington, Oswestry, &c. His chief residence was Whittington Castle; he was contemporary of Hywel Dda, the Welsh law-giver; and Angharad, daughter of Hywel, became the chieftain’s wife, and had by him three sons and one daughter. The arms of this distinguished man, which are still borne by the Trevor family, are—“Parted per bend sinister ermine and ermines, over all a lion rampant, or.” Debrett informs us that “Arthur Hill, first Viscount, was only brother of Trevor, Viscount Hillsborough, ancestor of the Marquess of Downshire, and grandson of William Hill, who married secondly Mary, eldest daughter of Sir Marcus Trevor, Viscount Dungannon; so created, 1662, for his signal gallantry in wounding Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Marston moor. Arthur, succeeding, 1762, to the estates of his maternal grandfather, Sir John Trevor, of Brynkinalt, Speaker of the House of Commons in England, and first Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal, assumed the name and arms of Trevor, and was created, April 27th, 1765, Viscount Dungannon.” An interesting fact connected with this noble family is, that the mother of the Duke of Wellington, the “Hero of a hundred fights,” was Anne, Countess of Mornington, daughter of Arthur Hill, the first Viscount Dungannon. This illustrious lady was closely allied with two greatly-distinguished men: her husband, the Earl of Mornington, ranked high as a musical composer, and “the Duke,” her son, placed himself high on the roll of fame with conquerors of ancient and modern renown.
The present Viscount Dungannon takes much interest in archæological pursuits, and is author of an ably-written work, in two volumes, 8vo., entitled “The Life and Times of William the Third, King of England, and Stadtholder of Holland.” His Lordship has acquired the literary distinctions of M.A., F.A.S., and M.R.S.L., and is an active magistrate for the district in which he resides. He has large possessions in the north of Ireland, in which he takes much interest.
CHIRK CASTLE,
The noble residence of Colonel Myddelton Biddulph, is situated near to Chirk, on elevated ground on the Berwyn range of hills, commanding delightful views of the surrounding scenery. It is a bold castellated mansion, built of grey stone, partly mantled with ivy, and is supposed to have been erected on the site of an ancient fortress called by the Welsh Castell Crogen, near which, as is recorded, the celebrated Battle of Crogen took place in 1164, when the Welsh fought with more than their usual bravery against Henry II., for the recovery of their independence. The present castle was built in the reign of Edward I. by Roger Mortimer, son of Roger, Baron of Wigmore, to whom the king had granted the united lordship of Chirk and Nanheudwy.
