Flintshire () is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the
north-east of
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. It borders the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
to the north, the
Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of
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 ...
to the east,
Wrexham County Borough to the south, and
Denbighshire to the west.
Connah's Quay is the largest town, and
Flintshire County Council is based in
Ewloe
Ewloe (; , ) is a village and electoral ward in the community (Wales), community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. Flintshire County Council is based at St Davi ...
.
The county covers , with a population of 155,000 in 2021. After
Connah's Quay (16,771), the largest settlements are
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
(13,736),
Buckley (16,127) and
Mold
A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...
(10,123). The east of the county is industrialised and contains the
Deeside conurbation, which extends into Cheshire and has a population of 53,568. The adjacent coast is also home to industry, but further west has been developed for tourism, particularly at
Talacre. Inland, the west of the county is sparsely populated and characterised by gentle hills, including part of the
Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB. The county is part of the
preserved county of
Clwyd.
The county is named after the
historic county of the same name, which was established by the
Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 and has notably different borders. The county is considered part of the
Welsh Marches and formed part of the historic
Earldom of Chester and Flint.
History
Flintshire takes its name from the historic county of Flintshire, which also formed an administrative county between 1889 until 1974 when it was abolished under the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
. The principal area re-established in 1996 under the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 does not share the same boundaries and covers a smaller area.
'
Early history
At the time of the Roman invasion, the area of present-day Flintshire was inhabited by the
Deceangli, one of the Celtic tribes in ancient Britain, with the
Cornovii to the east and the
Ordovices to the west. Lead and silver mine workings are evident in the area, with several sows of lead found bearing the name 'DECEANGI' inscribed in Roman epigraphy. The Deceangli appear to have surrendered to Roman rule with little resistance. Following Roman Britain, and the emergence of various
petty kingdoms, the region had been divided into the Hundred of
Englefield (), derived from the Latin Deceangli.

It became part of the Kingdom of
Mercia
Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
by the 8th century AD, with much of the western boundary reinforced under
Offa of Mercia after 752, but there is evidence that
Offa's Dyke is probably a much earlier construction. By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 it was under the control of
Edwin of Tegeingl, from whose Lordship the Flintshire coat of arms is derived.
Edwin's mother is believed to have been Ethelfleda or Aldgyth, daughter of Eadwine of Mercia. At the time of the establishment of the Earldom of Chester, which succeeded the Earl of Mercia, the region formed two of the then twelve
Hundreds of Cheshire of which it remained a part for several hundred years.
Flintshire today approximately resembles the boundaries of the Hundred of
Atiscross as it existed at the time of 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 ...
. Atiscross, along with the Hundred of
Exestan, was transferred from the
Earldom of Chester to the expanding
Kingdom of Gwynedd from the west in the 13th century following numerous military campaigns. This region, as well as an exclave formed from part of the Hundred of Dudestan (known as
Maelor Saesneg), later formed the main areas of Flintshire, established by the
Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 under
Edward I. It was administered with the
Palatinate of Chester and Flint by the
Justiciar of Chester. The county was consolidated in 1536 by the
Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 under the Tudor King
Henry VIII, when it was incorporated into the
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...
; it included the detached exclave of
Welsh Maelor.
Flintshire as a separate local authority remained in existence until 1974 when it was merged with those of Denbighshire and
Edeyrnion Rural District to form the administrative county of
Clwyd. Clwyd was abolished 22 years later and Flintshire reorganised in its present form in 1996. However, some parts of the historic country are not included within the present administrative boundaries: significantly
English Maelor was incorporated into Wrexham County Borough, and
St Asaph,
Prestatyn and
Rhyl into
Denbighshire.
Modern history
The current administrative area of Flintshire (a
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
and
Principal area) came into existence
in 1996, when the former
administrative counties in Wales were split into smaller areas. The principal area was formed by the merger of the
Alyn and Deeside and
Delyn districts. In terms of pre-1974 divisions, the area comprises:
*the former borough of
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
*the urban districts of
Buckley,
Connah's Quay,
Holywell,
Mold
A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...
*the rural district of
Holywell Rural District
*all of
Hawarden Rural District except the parish of
Marford and Hosley
The district of
Rhuddlan, which was also formed entirely from the administrative county of Flintshire was included in the new
Denbighshire instead. Other parts of the pre-1974 administrative Flintshire to be excluded from the principal area are the
Maelor Rural District and the parish of
Marford and Hoseley, which became part of the
Wrexham Maelor district in 1974 and are now part of
Wrexham County Borough.
Geography
Flintshire is a maritime county bounded to the north by the
Dee estuary, to the east by
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 ...
, to the west by
Denbighshire and to the south by
Wrexham County Borough. The coast along the Dee estuary is heavily developed by industry and the north coast much developed for
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
. The
Clwydian Range occupies much of the west of the county. The highest point is
Moel Famau (1,820 feet/554 metres). Notable towns include
Buckley,
Connah's Quay,
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
,
Hawarden,
Holywell,
Mold
A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...
,
Queensferry, and
Shotton. The main rivers are the
Dee (the estuary of which forms much of the coast), and the
River Alyn.
Historic buildings and structures
File:Flint Castle 01.JPG,
File:The corner.jpg,
File:New Hawarden Castle.JPG,
File:Ewloe Castle.JPG,
File:Maen Achwyfan 655181.jpg,
File:Flintshire bridge.jpg,
File:Jubilee Bridge - Queensferry, Wales (2015).jpg,
File:Llyfrgell Sant Deiniol and Gladstone's Library Hawarden Penarlâg 07.JPG,
Railways
Located on the
North Wales Coast Line (
Holyhead to
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
) with services run by
Avanti West Coast and
Transport for Wales specifically calling at Flintshire stations such as
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
and
Shotton with an interchange at Shotton with the
Borderlands Line, which links it and other Flintshire stations with the
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
area and
Wrexham.
Industry
Parts of Flintshire have major manufacturing industries. Amongst these are an advanced
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
plant that manufactures engines,
Eren Paper, and
Airbus UK, making the wings for the
A320,
A330 and
A350 aircraft at
Broughton.
There are daily flights of the
Airbus BelugaXL transport aircraft of
Airbus
Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...
wings from
Broughton.
Flintshire is also known for its internet companies, the largest and most well known being
Moneysupermarket.com based in
Ewloe
Ewloe (; , ) is a village and electoral ward in the community (Wales), community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. Flintshire County Council is based at St Davi ...
.
Flintshire included much of the
North Wales Coalfield, with the last colliery at
Point of Ayr closing in 1996.
Flintshire is home to
Shotwick Solar Park, currently the largest
photovoltaic solar array in the UK. It was built in 2016 and covers 250 acres of the south western edge of the
Wirral Peninsula near the village of
Shotwick. It has a maximum generating capacity of 72.2 MW and is connected directly to the largest paper-mill in the UK,
UPM Shotton Paper.
Flintshire was home to a thriving
steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
industry with many of the local communities and homes being built around this sector. Steelmaking came to an end in 1980 with the loss of 6500 on one day. The Shotton Steelworks site, now owned by Tata Steel, continues to produce coated steel products, mainly for the construction industry.
Fairtrade
On 19 November 2004, Flintshire was granted
Fairtrade County status.
Education
Flintshire County Council is the
Local Education Authority of Flintshire. It runs 72
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
s, 2
special schools and 11
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
s. Six of the primary schools and one comprehensive are Welsh medium schools.
Four of the secondary schools have come together with
Coleg Cambria to form the
Deeside Consortium.
In December 2022, the
Climate Change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
Committee met and
Buckley Bistre West councillor Carolyn Preece recommended weekly
vegan school meals in the local schools to combat climate change.
Media
Flintshire's local newspapers include two daily titles,
North Wales Daily Post and ''
The Leader''.
There are two radio stations broadcast in the area –
Communicorp station
Heart North and Mid Wales and
Global Radio
Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysal ...
station
Capital North West and Wales broadcast from ''the studios'' based in Wrexham. Whilst
BBC Cymru Wales runs a studio and newsroom for their radio, television and online services located at
Glyndŵr University but does not base their broadcasting there.
Local TV coverage is mainly served by
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...
and
ITV Cymru Wales with
BBC North West and
ITV Granada can be also received. Television signals in the county are received from the
Moel-y-Parc transmitter which is situated close to
Caerwys,
Winter Hill transmitter can also be received as well as the
Storeton relay transmitter which is transmitted from both transmitters.
An online news website covering the Flintshire area
Deeside.com operates from Deeside.
Politics and government
Flintshire is represented by six members of the
Senedd (Welsh Parliament).
Hannah Blythyn of
Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...
has served as the member for the
Delyn constituency since the 2016 election, and
Jack Sargeant, also of Welsh Labour has served as the member for the
Alyn and Deeside constituency since the
2018 by-election.
Both constituencies have continuously elected Welsh Labour MSs at every election since 1999.
A further four members representing the wider region are elected to the Welsh Parliament by proportional representation via a
Closed list system, 2 from the
Welsh Conservatives, 1 from
Plaid Cymru, and 1 from
Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...
.

Flintshire has been traditionally a
Labour Party stronghold, but in the
2019 general election, the
Welsh Conservatives won the
Delyn constituency.
The
Alyn and Deeside constituency is a historically and still is a
Welsh Labour Party constituency, which is represented by
Mark Tami.
From 2024, Flintshire is covered by two UK parliament constituencies,
Alyn and Deeside and
Clwyd East, with
Delyn being abolished. Both parliamentary seats are held by the Labour Party.
The Senedd uses the old set of Alyn and Deeside, and Delyn.
Notable people
See
''People from Flintshire''
*
Gareth Allen (born 1988 in Mynydd Isa, near Buckley), former professional snooker player.
*
Saint Asaph, 6th century Christian saint, the first
Bishop of St Asaph
*
Claire Fox (born 1960), writer, journalist, lecturer and politician; grew up in Buckley
*
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
(1809–1898), 12 years as
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
; retired to
Hawarden Castle.
*
Jade Jones (born 1993 Bodelwyddan), taekwondo athlete; 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist
*
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...
(born 1979), footballer with 362 club caps and 89 for
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
went to school in Hawarden
*
Ian Rush (born 1961 in St Asaph), footballer with 602 club caps and 73 for
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
*
Gary Speed (1969 in Mancot – 2011), footballer and manager with 677 club caps and 85 for
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
*
Frances Williams (–1801), first Welsh woman to settle in Australia
* Sir
Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947, Holywell)
International relations
Flintshire has one formal
twinning arrangement with:
*
Menden, Germany
See also
*
List of Lord Lieutenants of Flintshire
*
List of High Sheriffs of Flintshire
*
List of Scheduled Monuments in Flintshire
*
List of churches in Flintshire
References
Sources
*
External links
Flintshire archaeological informationChester Recognizance Rollscalendar surname-indexed with scans
Things to do in Flintshire
{{Authority control
Counties of Wales
Principal areas of Wales
History of Flintshire