Flintshire, county in the northeastern corner of Wales, bounded on the east by the River Dee and England and bounded on the west by Denbighshire. The present county of Flintshire encompasses an area along the lower Dee and the Dee estuary and extends inland to the Clwydian Range. The historic county of Flintshire, which covers a larger area, includes all of the present county as well as the northern portion of the present county of Denbighshire and the eastern portion of the county borough of Wrexham, which is an outlying exclave of the historic county of Flintshire. Mold is the administrative centre of the county.
A Celtic tribe known as the Deceangli held the region before they were overrun by the Romans in the 1st century ce. Roman remains in the area are quite sparse, however. According to legend, the village of Bangor Is-coed, in the present county borough of Wrexham, was the site of the oldest monastery in Britain (c. 180). It was destroyed early in the 7th century by the king of Northumbria in the last great battle between the Britons of Wales and the Anglo-Saxons. Both Offa’s and Watt’s dykes traversed Flintshire and demarcated England on the east from Wales on the west. Flintshire was the scene of protracted fighting in the 12th and 13th centuries as its Welsh inhabitants resisted Anglo-Norman domination. Tightening their hold on the region, the English built great castles at Dyserth, Rhuddlan, and Flint, and King Edward I of England achieved a final conquest of the area in 1284. That same year he formed the county of Flintshire and gave the castle at Caergwrle to his queen, Eleanor of Castile. The original Hawarden Castle, an important English stronghold in the Welsh Marches (border country) during the years following the Edwardian conquest, underwent numerous Welsh attacks. Flintshire was the site of a Cistercian abbey at Basingwerk (1131), near Holywell, and a Dominican priory at Rhuddlan (1258). In addition to the remains of castles at Flint and Rhuddlan, there is a castle at Ewloe that was built by Welsh princes in imitation of Norman work.
Henry VIII increased the county’s territory in the mid-16th century. In the English Civil Wars of the mid-17th century, Flintshire was solidly royalist. The Greenfield valley at Holywell was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution, and rich coal deposits along the River Dee gave rise to an iron and steel industry and to shipbuilding during the 19th century.
Eastern Flintshire remains a heavily industrialized region, although it has lost most of its heavy industry, including the huge former steelworks at Shotton. Smaller and more diverse industries in engineering, chemicals, and synthetic textiles—particularly rayon—have developed in Flint, Connah’s Quay, and other towns. Mold is a market centre for the agricultural region to the west. Tourist attractions in Flintshire include St. Winifred’s Well at the parish church in Holywell and the extensive bird havens along the shore of the Dee estuary. Daniel Owen, widely considered the father of the Welsh novel, was born in Mold in 1836. Area 323 square miles (837 square km). Pop. (2001) 148,594; (2011) 152,506.
Flintshire ni kaunti ya Wales, iliyoko kaskazini mashariki mwa Wales, iliyopakana na Mto Dee na England upande wa mashariki na Denbighshire upande wa magharibi. Kaunti ya sasa ya Flintshire inajumuisha eneo kando ya chini ya Dee na mto wa Dee na inaenea ndani ya nchi hadi Clwydian Range. Kaunti ya Flintshire ni eneo kubwa, na inajumuisha wilaya yote ya sasa, pamoja na sehemu ya kaskazini ya kaunti ya Denbighshire na sehemu ya mashariki ya wilaya ya Wrexham, ambayo ni sehemu ya mbali ya kaunti ya Flintshire. Mold ni kituo cha utawala wa kaunti. Kabila la Waselti linaloitwa Deceangli liliishi katika eneo hilo kabla ya Waroma kuvamia eneo hilo katika karne ya kwanza KK. Hata hivyo, mabaki ya Waroma katika eneo hilo ni machache sana. Kulingana na hadithi, kijiji cha Bangor Is Coed, katika wilaya ya sasa ya Wrexham, kilikuwa eneo la makao ya watawa ya zamani zaidi nchini Uingereza (c. Jiji hilo liliharibiwa na mfalme wa Northumbria katika vita vya mwisho kati ya Waingereza wa Wales na Waanglosasoni. Mito ya Offa na Watt ilivuka Flintshire na kugawanya Uingereza upande wa mashariki na Wales upande wa magharibi. Flintshire ilikuwa eneo la mapigano ya muda mrefu katika karne ya 12 na 13, wakati wakazi wake wa Wales walipopinga utawala wa Anglo-Norman. Waingereza walianza kujenga ngome kubwa huko Dyserth, Rhuddlan, na Flint, na Mfalme Edward wa Kwanza wa Uingereza akafanikiwa kushinda eneo hilo kwa mara ya mwisho mwaka wa 1284. Mwaka huohuo aliunda kaunti ya Flintshire na akampa malkia wake, Eleanor wa Castile, ngome ya Caergwrle. Ngome ya Hawarden ya awali, ngome muhimu ya Kiingereza katika Marches ya Wales (nchi ya mpaka) wakati wa miaka iliyofuata ushindi wa Edward, ilipatwa na mashambulizi mengi ya Welsh. Flintshire ilikuwa na makao ya watawa wa Cistercian huko Basingwerk (1131), karibu na Holywell, na makao ya watawa wa Dominika huko Rhuddlan (1258). Mbali na mabaki ya majumba ya Flint na Rhuddlan, kuna jumba la kifalme huko Ewloe lililojengwa na wakuu wa Wales kwa kuiga kazi ya Norman. Henry wa nane aliongeza eneo la kaunti hiyo katikati ya karne ya 16. Wakati wa Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe vya Uingereza, Flintshire ilikuwa sehemu ya Uingereza. Bonde la Greenfield huko Holywell lilikuwa moja ya mahali pa kuzaliwa kwa Mapinduzi ya Viwanda, na amana tajiri za makaa ya mawe kando ya Mto Dee zilitoa chanzo cha viwanda vya chuma na chuma na ujenzi wa meli wakati wa karne ya 19. Mashariki ya Flintshire bado ni mkoa wenye viwanda vingi, ingawa imepoteza sehemu kubwa ya viwanda vyake vikubwa, ikiwa ni pamoja na kiwanda kikubwa cha chuma cha zamani huko Shotton. Viwanda vidogo na mbalimbali zaidi katika uhandisi, kemikali, na nguo za synthetic - hasa rayon - vimeendelezwa katika Flint, Connah's Quay, na miji mingine. Mold ni kituo cha soko kwa ajili ya mkoa wa kilimo magharibi. Vivutio vya utalii katika Flintshire ni pamoja na St. Winifred's Well katika kanisa parokia katika Holywell na ndege kubwa havens kando ya pwani ya mto Dee. Daniel Owen, ambaye kwa ujumla huonwa kuwa baba wa riwaya ya Wales, alizaliwa Mold mwaka wa 1836. Eneo lake ni kilomita za mraba 323. Baba yangu. (Mwanzo 14:59, 50; Mathayo 24:21, 22) Kwa nini?