Excerpt from Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales, Vol. 2: Containing a Record of All Ranks of the Gentry, Their Lineage, Alliances, Appointments, Armorial Ensigns, and Residences, With Many Ancient Pedigrees and Memorials of Old and Extinct Families<br><br>The towns of Flintshire being of moderate size and equably distributed, the county cannot be said to have any one centre of population and influence of preponderating im portance. Although the smallest of the Welsh counties in area, its population is the densest of any in Wales except Glamorganshire, and the mental activity and intelligence of the people rank high. The intelligence of the peasantry and general industrial class in this and the neighbouring county of Denbigh is much superior to that of the same class across the border in Cheshire and Shropshire - a circumstance which can only be attributed to the natural Celtic quickness, and invigorating power of a more difi'used popular moral culture. Mold, Flint, Holywell, and St. Asaph, are the towns which exercise most influence on the life of the county; while Rhyl, Rhuddlan, Caerwys, Caergwrle, and Overton, are also places of more or less note, - the first-named town a recently created and thriving watering-place.<br><br>In ancient times, and with a much sparser population, the chief centres of political and social life in these districts were at Caerwys, Rhuddlan, Flint, and Caergwrle Holywell and Mold rose also into prominence. Rhuddlan had most distinction as a military post and meeting-place of contending armies; Holywell, with the well and abbey, as a place of resort for pilgrims and devotees; Caerwys as a royal domain and place of council; Hawarden, Caergwrle, Flint, and Mold, as military strongholds. The altered condition of society has given all these places a difierent character.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.