Dyserth () is a village,

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, Wales. Its population at the

2011 United Kingdom census A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...

was 2,269 and was estimated by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

as 2,271 in 2019. It lies within the historic county boundaries of

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

. Features include quarrying remains, waterfalls and the mountain Moel Hiraddug. Its

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

, once part of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

, finally closed in 1973 and is now a footpath. The village lies on the A5151 road, which links

Rhuddlan Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in Denbighshire, Wales. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. It gave its name to the Welsh district of Rhuddlan ...

and

Holywell Holywell may refer to: England * Holywell, Bedfordshire * Holywell, Cambridgeshire * Holywell, Cornwall * Holywell, Dorset * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Sussex * Holywell, Gloucestershire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Ho-Hoo#Hol, location in ...

. The nearest major settlements are the coastal towns of

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

and

Prestatyn Prestatyn (; ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085. Origin of name The name Prestatyn d ...

Overview

Dyserth is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, listed in the Hundred of Ati's Cross and within

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

: In the Middle Ages, Dyserth was the centre of the

commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

of Prestatyn, in the

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divid ...

Tegeingl Tegeingl, known as Englefield in English, was a cantref in north-east Wales during the mediaeval period. It was incorporated into Flintshire following Edward I of England's conquest of northern Wales in the 13th century. Etymology The region's ...

. Here, 1 km west of the present village, was Bodrhyddan Hall, occupied by the Conwy family, one of the most powerful noble families of North Wales. According to the antiquary Edward Lhuyd, the poet, scholar and priest Dafydd Ddu o Hiraddug (died around 1370) was buried in Dyserth church. Dyserth is the location of Dyserth Castle, which suffered at the hands of

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ( – 11 December 1282), also known as Llywelyn II and Llywelyn the Last (), was List of rulers of Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales (; ) from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 128 ...

; destroyed after a six-week siege in 1263. The remains of the castle were quarried away during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The oldest industry in the village and surrounding area is mining, with

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

just some of the minerals being extracted locally in the past. These quarries are still visible and form a major part of the village's geography, though mining ceased when Dyserth Quarry closed in 1981. Traditionally there has been a strong

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

speaking community in the village; and until recent times many families and village folk knew, or knew of, each other. This is typical of a rural community whose life often centred on its many churches and chapels. Many of the village's families have their roots in agriculture, with many notable farms in or around Dyserth, including Hottia, Bryn Cnewyllyn and Ty Newydd.

Places of worship

The parish church of St Bridget and St Cwyfan, of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

(the Wales-based churches of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

), is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. The church is dedicated to St

Brigid of Kildare Saint Brigid of Kildare or Saint Brigid of Ireland (; Classical Irish: ''Brighid''; ; ) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish ...

, and includes the name of the Celtic monk St Cwyfan, believed to have founded the original place of worship near the Dyserth Waterfall during the 6th century. The church is notable for a Jesse Window dating from the 16th century. Dyserth Chapel, in Dyserth High Street, built in 1927, also has stained glass. It houses the English-speaking Horeb United Reformed Church.

Railway

The

Dyserth branch line The Dyserth branch line was a short standard-gauge mineral railway between the northern end of the Clwydian Range at Dyserth and the North Wales Coast Line at Prestatyn. The line was constructed by the London and North Western Railway in 1869; i ...

was opened by the

in 1869 to tap limestone quarries and a lead mine. A passenger, parcels and goods service was introduced in 1905 to serve local needs and an expanding holiday industry. The company designed and built a single-carriage, steam-powered motor train for such lines, with the Dyserth branch using the first example. The passenger service was a success before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Services were doubled and an additional unit provided for the motor trains. After the war the motor trains were replaced by locomotive-propelled push-pull trains. Road competition and the

1926 General Strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

ate into profits, leading the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

to withdraw the passenger service in 1930. The line remained open for minerals, parcels and general goods until the end of November 1951, when parcels and general goods traffic ended, leaving just coal to and limestone products from a quarry in that village. Coal traffic ended in May 1964, with lime and limestone traffic continuing until the line officially closed completely on 7 September 1973, although at least two special trains took stone away in 1974. The tracks were lifted in 1980, with the former trackbed now converted into a mixed-use footpath and bridleway.

People of note

* Layton Maxwell (b. 1979), footballer * Mike Peters (1959–2025), musician and songwriter *

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...

(1853–1949), missionary

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

http://www.dyserth.comJournal newspaper covering DyserthGeograph (photos of Dyserth and surrounding area)
{{authority control Villages in Denbighshire Wards of Denbighshire