Flint or "Fflint" in the Welsh is a small town, population circa 11,500, in the north-east of Wales. It lies within the county of Flintshire and was formerly within the administrative county of Clwyd for a short time.
It owes it origins to the construction of a castle by Edward I there in 1278. There was a ford across the river Dee, a day's march from Chester and built a fortress on a low promontory of sandstone rock overlooking the estuary - the rock known as "The Flint" gave the castle and town its name. In 1284, Edward I granted the town of Flint its first charter and appointed the constable of the castle, Reginald de Grey as the first mayor of the new borough.
Flint itself was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War and Parliament responded in 1646 by voting for the dismantling of Flint Castle - the castle walls were blown up and only ruins have survived.
Table of References
- http://www.gazetteer-wales.co.uk/
- http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/
- http://www.flintshire.org/
- http://www.fflint.co.uk/