Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for RUTHIN

RUTHIN, a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred, in Denbighshire. The town stands onris ing ground, on the right bank of the river Clwyd, adjacent to the Denbigh and Corwen railway, 6¾ miles S Wby S of Denbigh; took its name from a "rhudd-ddin, "or "red castle, " built in 1281 by Reginald Grey; datesfrom times long prior to the founding of that castle; was attacked and burnt, in 1400, by Owen Glendower; was given by Henry VIII. to his son Henry Fitzroy, and by Elizabeth to the Dudleys; suffered capture and dismantling of its castle, in 1646, by Gen. Mytton; gave the title of Baroness to Barbara Yelverton of Efford; had for natives Dean Goodman, and Bishops God frey, Goodman, and Parry; was made a borough by Henry VII.; is nowgoverned, under the new act, by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors; unites with Denbigh, Holt, and Wrexham in sending a member to parliament; is a seat of assizes, sessions, and county courts, and a polling-place; consists chiefly of one long street; and has a head post-office, ‡ designated Ruthin, Denbighshire, a r. station with telegraph, a banking office, three chief inns, a town hall, a county court-house, a county jail, a bridge, a church, five dissenting chapels, an endowed grammarschool, national schools, an hospital for a warden and 12poor persons with £519 a year from endowment, and other charities £340. The site of the castle is now occupied by a modern mansion, called Ruthin Castle, the seat of F. R. West, Esq. The town hall was built in 1663; and stands near a spot where King Arthur is said to havebeheaded Huail. The county court-house and the county jail are modern; and the latter has capacity for 46male and 20 female prisoners. The church was originally the church of a white friary; was made collegiate for7 priests, in 1310, by John de Grey; underwent restoration in 1855; has a lofty new spire in the style of the14th century; contains an effigies of Dean Goodman; and adjoins buildings which were formerly the residence of the canons, and are now the residence of the warden of Ruthin. A mill of the old white friary, of the time of Edward I., is on the bank of the river, underneath the walls of the castle; and has some lancet windows and agable cross. The grammar school was founded, in 1595, by Dean Goodman; has £258 a year from endowment, besides £156 for 4 exhibitions; and had for pupils Arch-bishop Williams, Bishop Wynne, Deans Tucker and Cotton, Lord Kenyon, and the Welsh lexicographer Davies. A weekly market is held on Monday; fairs areheld on the Monday after 12 Jan., the Friday before Whit-Sunday, 19 March, 8 Aug., 30 Sept., and 10 Nov.; and there is a barytes manufactory. The borough hasthe same limits municipally as parliamentarily; and includes all Ruthin parish, and parts of Llanfwrog, Llan-rhydd, Llanynys, and Llanfair-Dyffryn-Clwyd. Pop., 3, 372. Houses, 767.

The parish, together with Llanrhydd, comprises 1, 989acres. Real property of R. alone, £10, 610; of which £228 are in gas-works. Pop., 1, 299. Houses, 278. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Llan-rhydd, in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £450.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.—The sub-district contains also the parishes of Llanrhydd, Llanfwrog, Llanychan, Llanbedr, and Efenechtyd. Acres, 9, 740. Pop., 4, 438. Houses, 1,014. The district comprehends also the sub-district of Llanarmon, containing the parishes of Llanarmon, Llanferras, and Llandegla; the sub-d. of Llanelidan, containing the parishes of Llan-elidan, Derwen, and Llanfair-Dyffryn-Clwyd; the sub-d.of Gyffylliog, containing the parishes of Gyffylliog, Nant-glyn, and Clocaenog; and the sub-d. of Llanrhaiadr, containing the parishes of Llanrhaiadr-in-Kinmerch, Llany-nys, Llanganhafal, Llandyrnog, and Llangwyfan, and the township of Aberwheeler. Acres, 92, 853. Poor-rates in 1863, £9,072. Pop. in 1851, 16, 853; in 1861, 16,083. Houses, 3, 521. Marriages in 1863, 109; births, 451, of which 29 were illegitimate; deaths, 342, of which 88 were at ages under 5 years, and 10 at ages above85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 964; births, 4, 260; deaths, 3, 191. The places of worship, in 1851, were 21 of the Church of England, with 4, 479 sittings; 9of Independents, with 1, 583 s.; 4 of Baptists, with 671s.; 1 of Quakers, with 60 s.; 9 of Wesleyans, with 1, 625s.; 25 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 5,082 s.; and 1undefined, with 800 s. The schools were 17 public day schools, with 1, 189 scholars; 13 private day schools, with302 s.; and 59 Sunday schools, with 6,005 s. The work-house is in Llanrhydd; and, at the census of 1861, had103 inmates. The hundred contains 15 parishes and parts of 2 others. Acres, 46, 266. Pop. in 1851, 6, 674; in 1861, 7, 363. Houses, 1, 596.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Rhuthun CP/AP       Rhuthun Hundred/Cmt       Ruthin SubD       Ruthin RegD/PLU       Denbighshire AncC
Place: Rhuthun

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.