Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/89

 blast at Rhuubon and at Brymbo (where John Wilkinson was the first to introduce the industry) produced (together with one in Flintshire) in the same year 55,099 tons of pig iron, valued at 232,000. Lead ore is another and still more important item ; the most productive mine has been the Great Minera, which yields profits of about 30,000 a year. The seven mines in the county produced, in 1875, 2600 tons of lead ore, 1954 tons of lead, and 10,873 ounces of silver. One of the latest industries in troduced has been the manufacture of dynamite in the valley of the Ceiriog. At the village of Llansantffraid, and at Llangolleu, there are woollen factories.

The principal towns are Wrexham (population 8576), the centre of the mining district, noted for its beautiful church tower, and recently selected as the military centre for North Wales ; Denbigh, the nominal capital (4276), notable for its castle ruins and Howell s female orphan school ; Ruthin (3298), where the assizes are held, famous for its grammar school and its fine castle lately rebuilt ; Llangollen, with its beautiful scenery ; Llanrwst, with its church monuments and rood-loft, its bridge, and salmon fishing; and Holt, with its ancient ruined castle.

As regards the ownership of the land, the county (in 1873) was divided among 5708 separate proprietors, whose total rental was estimated at 450,421. Of the owners 3436. or 60 per cent., held less than 1 acre, about the same proportion as in the neighbouring county of Flint ; while the average of small proprietors in all England was 71 per cent. The average property amounted to 61 acres, while that of all England was 34, and the average value per acre was 1, 5s. 3d., as against 3, Os. 2d. for all England. The following proprietors held more than 5000 acres in the above year viz., Sir Watkin W. Wynn, 33,998 acres; J. L. Wynne, Coed Coch, 10,197; Lord Bagot, Pool Park, 9385 ; H. R. Hughes, Kimnel, 8561 ; C. W. Finch, Pentrefoelas, 8025 ; B. W. Wynne, Garthewin, 6435 ; C. S. Main waring, Galltfaenan, 6428 ; R. M. Biddulph, Chirk Castle, 5513; W. C. West, Ruthin Castle, 5457; and Sir Hugh Williams, Bodelwyddan, 5360. For civil purposes, the county is divided into 6 hundreds, 9 petty sessional divisions, 3 police districts, 5 highway districts, and 9 lieutenancy subdivisions ; and it furms a part of the North Wales circuit, with a winter assize. For parliamentary purposes the county is an un divided constituency, returning two representatives to Parlia ment, while the contributory boroughs of Denbigh, Ruthin, Wrexham, and Holt return one member. Ecclesiastically the county lies entirely within the diocese of St Asaph ; the number of parishes and ecclesiastical districts is 61, comprised under 6 deaneries within the archdeaconry of St Asaph. In educational matters, the Latin or second-grade schools comprise the endowed grammar schools of Holt, founded in 1661 ; Denbigh, in 1726 ; Wrexham, in 1603 ; Hhuabon, by Vicar Robinson, in 1703 ; and Llanrwst, by Sir John Wynne of Gwydir, in 1610. The Greek, or highest grade, is supplied by that of Ruthin, founded in 1574 by Dr Gabriel Goodman, dean of Westminster, a native of the town and the refounder of its Christ s Hospital. This school has been the nursery of many eminent Welshmen.

Antiquities.—Of prehistoric remains, the caves in the limestone escarpments of Cefn, that overhang the valley of the Elvvy, yield a noteworthy supply. They contain remains of the hippopotamus, elephant, rhinoceros, lion, hyena, bear, reindeer, &c. The glutton was found in the neighbouring cave of Plas Heaton, felstone implements in the adjoining Bout Newydd cave, and a polished stone-axe in a similar one at Rhosdigre, all in the same range. Near Cefn, too, was discovered in 1869, oa the opening of a carnedd in Tyddyn Bleiddya ; a chambered tomb containing skeletons, which, on compari son with a similar type found at Perthi Chwareu, gave rise to the title of the &quot; Platycnemic Men of Denbigh shire.&quot; A writer in the Archwologia Cambrensis, 1855, p. 270, has given a summary of the antiquities of the county, most of which may be put down as British or at least Celtic. Traces of the Romans exist at Clawdd Coch (Mediolanum 1), Penygaer, Bwlch, Peubarras ; and their roads passed from Deva (Chester) to Segcntium (Carnarvon) and to Mons Heriri (Tomen-y-Mur) respec tively. To the Romano-British period belong the inscribed stones at Gwytherin and Pentrevoelas. The Pillar of &quot; Eli- seg,&quot; near Valle Crucis, tells of Brochmael and the struggle against the invading Northumbrians under Ethelfrith, 613 A.D. ; whilst the Dyke of &quot; Offa &quot; hands down the memory of the Mercian advance. Adjoining this last, and running side by side with it, is the similar but shorter earthwork called &quot; Watt s Dyke,&quot; of debateable origin and purpose.

Of the earliest castles the ruins of &quot; Dinas Bran &quot; still crown the conical hill that overhangs Llangollen. Denbigh, which has been compared to Stirling for site and beauty built in the time of Edward I. and destroyed in the civil wars overlooks the Vale of Clwyd ; Holt, on the banks of the Dee, probably the Caerlegion of Beda, shared the same fate. Ruthin, overthrown at the same time, has been twice rebuilt within this century. Chirk alone has weathered the storms of time and war, and is still occupied as a family residence.

Among the early ecclesiastical buildings and remains we may name the Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis and the Carmelite chapel at Denbigh, both now in decay ; the cloisters at Ruthin, and the old house of Brynyffynnon, sometimes called the nunnery at Wrexham ; the collegiate churches of Wrexham and Ruthin ; the beautiful rood-lofts and screens of Llanrwst, Gresford, and Derwen ; the por trait brasses and monuments in the Gwydir Chapel, Llanrwst, and at Whitchurch, Denbigh ; the churchyard cross at Derweu ; and the stained glass at Gresford and Llanrhaiadr in Dyffryn Clwyd.

The principal gentlemen s seats of Tudor date comprise Gwydir (Lady Willoughby d Eresby), Brynkinallt (Lord A. E. Hill-Trevor), Trefalyn (B. T. Boscawen Griffith), Llwyn Ynn (Colonel Heygarth), Cadvvgan (in decay). Those of later erection include Llangedwyn and Wynnstay (Sir W. Williams Wynn, Bart.), Kinmel (H. R. Hughes), Pool Park (Lord Bagot), Havodunos (H. R. Sandbach), Voelas (Colonel Wynne Finch), Llanerch (Whitehall Do&amp;lt;l), Gwrych Castle (R. B. Hesketh), Plas Power (T. Fitzhngh), Llandy- silio Hall (C. F. Beyer), Acton Park (Sir E. H. Cunliffe, Bart.), Galltfaenan (T. Mainwnring),Eriviatt(J.J. Ffoulkes), Glanywern (P. S. Humberston), Gelligynan (J. Carstairs Jones).

Among the books bearing upon the history of the county are the following : the Archceologia Cambrensis, or Journal of the Cambrian Archaeological Association ; Pennant s Tours in Wales ; Lewis, Topographical Dictionary; Thomas, History of tlie Diocese of St Asaph ; Annals of Counties and County Families of Wales, by Dr. Nicholas ; Yorke s Royal Tribes of Wales ; Memoirs of the Gwydir Family, by Sir John Wynne ; Memoirs of the Goodmans, by R. Newcome ; Accounts of Denbigh and of Ruthin, by the same ; A ncient and Modern Denbigh, by John Williams ; Records of tJie Lord ship of Denbigh, by the same ; Handbook of the Vale of Clwyd, by Davies ; Wrcxliam and its Neighbourhood, by Jones. The village churches of the county have been well illustrated by Lloyd Williams and Underwood, architects, of Denbigh. (D. R. T.)

 DENDERAH, an Arab village in Upper Egypt, about 28 miles north of Thebes, marking the site and preserving the name of the ancient city of Tentyra, which was the capital of the Tentyrite nome and the seat of a famous temple dedicated to Athor, the Egyptian Venus. The temple, which is remarkable as the first well-preserved and 