they had also made a towre and drawbridge and strong gates upon the bridge soe as they and wee coceived it difficult if not altogether ympossible to make way for our passage." Despite this he, Thomas Myddelton and their forces took the bridge on 9 November 1643 when they cast 'some grenados amongst the Welshmen'. Thomas Pennant recorded ten arches in 1754 (and had been told a datestone of 1354 was there until recently, which contradicts the more likely date of 1338) but Hubbard in Buildings of Wales only saw eight. The third arch, viewed from the Holt river bank, shows the strengthened arch where the drawbridge once stood. Governance An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches west to Abenbury and has a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 3,587. People from Holt Leigh Richmond Roose, a Welsh footballer and international goalkeeper from Holt. H.G. Wells, the writer, was briefly teacher in a local private school, Holt Academy, in youth. References Further reading Edward Hubbard, The Buildings of Wales: Clwyd (1986) Gordon Emery, Curious Clwyd 2 (1996) External links Holt Bridge photos of Holt and surrounding area on geograph Towns in Wrexham County Borough Towns of the Welsh Marches