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Mold, Flintshire
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Mold, Flintshire
Mold (Welsh: Yr Wyddgrug ⓘ) is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the historic county town and was the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council from 1996 to 2025, as it was of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996. According to the 2011 UK census, it had a population of 10,058. A 2019 estimate puts it at 10,123.
The original Welsh-language place name, Yr Wyddgrug, was recorded as Gythe Gruc in a document of 1280–1281, and means "The Mound of the Tomb/Sepulchre".
The name "Mold" originates from the Norman-French mont-hault ("high hill"). The name was originally applied to the site of Mold Castle in connection with its builder Robert de Montalt, an Anglo-Norman lord. It is recorded as Mohald in a document of 1254.
A mile west of the town is Maes Garmon ("The Field of Germanus"), the traditional site of the "Alleluia Victory" by a force of Romano-Britons led by Germanus of Auxerre against the invading Picts and Scots, which occurred shortly after Easter, AD 430.
Mold developed around Mold Castle. The motte and bailey were built by the Norman Robert de Montalt in around 1140 in conjunction with the military invasion of Wales by Anglo-Norman forces. The castle was besieged numerous times by the Princes of Gwynedd as they fought to retake control of the eastern cantrefi in the Perfeddwlad (English: Middle Country). In 1146, Owain Gwynedd captured the castle. By 1167, Henry II was in possession of the castle, although it was recaptured by the Welsh forces of Llywelyn the Great in 1201.
Anglo-Norman authority over the area began again in 1241 when Dafydd ap Llywelyn yielded possession of the castle to the de Montalt family. However, he recaptured it from the Plantagenet nobility in 1245. The next few decades were a period of peace; Llywelyn ap Gruffudd built the Welsh native castle of Ewloe further to the east, establishing the House of Gwynedd's military control over the area. Under Welsh rule, Mold Castle was deemed to be a "royal stronghold". It was recaptured by the forces of Edward I during the first months of the war of 1276–77. Mold Castle was still a substantial fortification at the outbreak of the rebellion by Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294. However, with the death of the last Lord Montalt in 1329, the castle's importance began to decline. The last mention of the fortification is in Patent Rolls from the early 15th century.
With the end of the Welsh Wars, English common law was introduced by the Statute of Rhuddlan. This led to an increase in commercial enterprise in the township which had been laid out around Mold Castle. Trade soon began between the Welsh community and English merchants in Chester and Whitchurch, Shropshire. During the medieval period, the town held two annual fairs and a weekly market, which brought in substantial revenues, as drovers brought their livestock to the English-Welsh border to be sold.
Nevertheless, tensions between the Welsh and the English remained. During the War of the Roses, Reinalt ab Grufydd ab Bleddyn, a Lancastrian captain who defended Harlech Castle for Henry VI against Yorkist forces, was constantly engaged in feuds with Chester. In 1465 a large number of armed men from Chester arrived at the Mold fair looking for trouble. A fight broke out which led to a pitched battle; eventually Reinalt triumphed and captured Robert Bryne, a former Mayor of Chester. The Welsh captain then took Bryne back to his tower house near Mold and hanged him. In retaliation, up to 200 men-at-arms were sent from Chester to seize Reinalt. However, the Welshman used his military experience to turn the tables on his attackers. He hid in the woods while many of the men entered his home; once they were inside, he rushed from concealment, blocked the door, and set fire to the building, trapping those inside. Reinalt then attacked the remainder, driving them back towards Chester.
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Mold, Flintshire
Mold (Welsh: Yr Wyddgrug ⓘ) is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the historic county town and was the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council from 1996 to 2025, as it was of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996. According to the 2011 UK census, it had a population of 10,058. A 2019 estimate puts it at 10,123.
The original Welsh-language place name, Yr Wyddgrug, was recorded as Gythe Gruc in a document of 1280–1281, and means "The Mound of the Tomb/Sepulchre".
The name "Mold" originates from the Norman-French mont-hault ("high hill"). The name was originally applied to the site of Mold Castle in connection with its builder Robert de Montalt, an Anglo-Norman lord. It is recorded as Mohald in a document of 1254.
A mile west of the town is Maes Garmon ("The Field of Germanus"), the traditional site of the "Alleluia Victory" by a force of Romano-Britons led by Germanus of Auxerre against the invading Picts and Scots, which occurred shortly after Easter, AD 430.
Mold developed around Mold Castle. The motte and bailey were built by the Norman Robert de Montalt in around 1140 in conjunction with the military invasion of Wales by Anglo-Norman forces. The castle was besieged numerous times by the Princes of Gwynedd as they fought to retake control of the eastern cantrefi in the Perfeddwlad (English: Middle Country). In 1146, Owain Gwynedd captured the castle. By 1167, Henry II was in possession of the castle, although it was recaptured by the Welsh forces of Llywelyn the Great in 1201.
Anglo-Norman authority over the area began again in 1241 when Dafydd ap Llywelyn yielded possession of the castle to the de Montalt family. However, he recaptured it from the Plantagenet nobility in 1245. The next few decades were a period of peace; Llywelyn ap Gruffudd built the Welsh native castle of Ewloe further to the east, establishing the House of Gwynedd's military control over the area. Under Welsh rule, Mold Castle was deemed to be a "royal stronghold". It was recaptured by the forces of Edward I during the first months of the war of 1276–77. Mold Castle was still a substantial fortification at the outbreak of the rebellion by Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294. However, with the death of the last Lord Montalt in 1329, the castle's importance began to decline. The last mention of the fortification is in Patent Rolls from the early 15th century.
With the end of the Welsh Wars, English common law was introduced by the Statute of Rhuddlan. This led to an increase in commercial enterprise in the township which had been laid out around Mold Castle. Trade soon began between the Welsh community and English merchants in Chester and Whitchurch, Shropshire. During the medieval period, the town held two annual fairs and a weekly market, which brought in substantial revenues, as drovers brought their livestock to the English-Welsh border to be sold.
Nevertheless, tensions between the Welsh and the English remained. During the War of the Roses, Reinalt ab Grufydd ab Bleddyn, a Lancastrian captain who defended Harlech Castle for Henry VI against Yorkist forces, was constantly engaged in feuds with Chester. In 1465 a large number of armed men from Chester arrived at the Mold fair looking for trouble. A fight broke out which led to a pitched battle; eventually Reinalt triumphed and captured Robert Bryne, a former Mayor of Chester. The Welsh captain then took Bryne back to his tower house near Mold and hanged him. In retaliation, up to 200 men-at-arms were sent from Chester to seize Reinalt. However, the Welshman used his military experience to turn the tables on his attackers. He hid in the woods while many of the men entered his home; once they were inside, he rushed from concealment, blocked the door, and set fire to the building, trapping those inside. Reinalt then attacked the remainder, driving them back towards Chester.
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