Rhyl, Flintshire
Historical Description
Rhyl, a town and an ecclesiastical parish in Rhuddlan parish, Flintshire. The town stands on the coast, at the mouth of the river Clwyd, 3 miles NNW of Rhuddlan, 11 N of Denbigh, and 30 WNW of Chester. Rhyl rose adjacent to the mansion of Ty-yn-Rhyl of the 16th century,. long the only house in the place, and was a mere fishing village so late as about 1830. It has become a large-and well-frequented watering-place. The town is built on a level tract adjoining the estuary of the Clwyd, and is a very favourite seaside resort, as it possesses the advantages of a dry atmosphere, immunity from fogs, pure air, and a wide expanse of firm sands. It commands fine views of the Clwydian Hills and Rhuddlan Castle, the Orme's Head, Penmaen Mawr, and Snowdon. It has a station at the junction of the Denbigh and Corwen branch with the Chester and Holyhead branch of the L. & N.W.R., and a head post office. The pier is over 700 yards long, and the esplanade, ornamentally laid out in 1894, is nearly a mile in length. At the west end of the esplanade an extensive area has been laid out as winter gardens. A pavilion for concerts, &c., was built in 1891; the building, in the form of a Maltese cross, is in the English Renaissance style, and consists of a large central hall and a circular gallery. The town contains numerous hotels, two hydropathic establishments, a town-hall and market-hall, a police station, and two banks. It is governed by an urban district council consisting of eighteen members. Oounty courts and petty sessions are held in the town-hall. Four weekly newspapers are published. Markets are held on Tuesdays. The ecclesiastical parish was constituted in 1849. Population, 6527. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St Asaph; gross value, £289 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of St Asaph. St Thomas' Church is a large handsome edifice, built in 1862 by Sir Gilbert Scott, and contains a beautiful alabaster pulpit. Holy Trinity is a smaller cruciform structure, built in 1835, and used for Welsh services. St John's Church was built in 1886, and St Ann's in 1894. There are Roman Catholic, Baptist, Calvinistic Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Wesleyan chapels. There are several convalescent hospitals and a cemetery. Foryd Bridge, 1 mile W of the pier, is a bridge over the estuary of the Clwyd; close to which a marine lake with nearly 40 acres of water and an island of 3 acres, was formed in 1895, at great expense, for pleasure boating, &c.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Registration district | St. Asaph | 1894 - 1974 |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Flintshire is available to browse.
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online: