Caerwys

File:St Michael's Church, Caerwys - geograph.org.uk - 1143474.jpg

File:Neuadd Dref Caersws - Caersws Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 5633559.jpg]]

Caerwys is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a small market town. The well-maintained church is dedicated to St. Michael. It has two parallel naves. Within the church is the cover slab of a tomb reputed to have been that of Elizabeth Ferrers, the wife of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales (d. 1283). A short, informative booklet about the church was written in 1936 and updated in 1995. As well as being surrounded by areas of outstanding natural beauty and views across mountains and valleys, the centre of Caerwys has been designated a conservation area.{{citation|url=http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/wps/portal/english/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3hDExNX50BXI0P30BAnAyNjYxM3I39TYwMDA_2CbEdFALBAdUA!/?WCM_PORTLET=PC_7_144ECQE21GUTB02334F2O53007_WCM&WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/web+content/flintshire/english/services/100006/200023/511 |title=Flintshire Conservation Areas|publisher=Flintshire County Council|access-date=3 August 2009}}

In 1377 income from the Farm of Cayrouse was listed as part of the Principality issued to the Earl of Chester under the County Palatine of Chester, Caerwys being part of the Aticross Unhidated hundred.{{Cite web|url=http://opendomesday.org/place/SJ1272/caerwys/|title=Caerwys {{!}} Domesday Book|last=Powell-Smith|first=Anna|website=opendomesday.org|language=en|access-date=2018-08-17}}{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/anhistoricalacc00blacgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/anhistoricalacc00blacgoog/page/n157 134]|title=An Historical Account of the Ancient and Modern State of the Principality of Wales, Dutchy of Cornwall, and Earldom of Chester|last=Doddridge|first=Sir John|date=1714|publisher=J. Roberts|language=en}}

In 1568 Queen Elizabeth I of England appointed a commission to control the activities of "minstrels, rhymers and bards", in Wales. Simwnt Fychan was summoned to meet at Caerwys and was appointed "pencerdd", i.e. the senior bard.Adam Fox & Daniel Woolf - The Spoken Word: Oral Culture in Britain, 1500-1850

Caerwys and Philadelphia have important historical connections. Local doctor, Thomas Wynne, sailed to America on the ship Welcome in 1682 with William Penn. Wynne was one of the founding fathers of Philadelphia and became the first speaker of the Provisional Assembly, as well as a provincial judge. The original street plan of Philadelphia was designed on the street pattern of Caerwys.{{citation|url=http://www.caerwys-town.com/thomaswynne.html|title=Caerwys: Thomas Wynne|publisher=Caerwys Town Council|access-date=13 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708111456/http://www.caerwys-town.com/thomaswynne.html|archive-date=8 July 2011}} Many Welsh names crop up in the city, and several buildings built in Philadelphia resemble buildings in the Caerwys area, some of which still stand today.{{citation|url=http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_objectid=17069011&method=full&siteid=50142&headline=following-footsteps--name_page.html|title=Following footsteps|publisher=Vale Advertiser / icNorthWales|date=12 May 2006|access-date=13 February 2009}}

Caerwys hosted two of the most important eisteddfodau of the early modern era{{snd}} one in 1523, during the reign of Henry VIII of England at which Tudur Aled was presentWilliams, D., 1961, A Short History of Modern Wales, London: John Murray, p.28 and the other, sanctioned by Elizabeth I, in 1567.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VoAOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA28 |title=The Origin and Progress of the Gwyneddigion Society of London, Instituted 1770|first=William Davies |last=Leathart |year= 1831|publisher= H. P. Hughes|page=28}} Caerwys Town Hall was completed in 1885.{{cite web|url= https://user2066952.sites.myregisteredsite.com/id70.html |title= Caerwys Town Hall|publisher= Caerwys Town Council|access-date=19 May 2024}}

Caerwys Town Council consists of eleven councillors, and is not divided into wards.{{cite web|url=http://www.caerwys-town.wales/councillors-clerk/|title=Councillors & Clerk|website=caerwys-town.wales|access-date=9 May 2023}}

The Caerwys and Ysceifiog communities make up the Caerwys electoral ward on Flintshire County Council,{{cite web|url=https://censusdata.uk/w05001581-caerwys|title=Caerwys|website=UK Census Data 2021|accessdate=9 May 2023}} which elects one councillor.{{cite web|url=https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Council-and-Democracy/Elections-and-Electoral-Registration/Electoral-Arrangements-for-Flintshire.aspx|title=Electoral Arrangements for Flintshire|website=Flintshire County Council|access-date=7 May 2023}}

Caerwys is part of the Delyn constituency and North Wales region for the Senedd, and of the Clwyd East constituency for Parliament.{{cite web|title= Location of Clwyd East |url= https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4509/location |website=parliament.uk|date=July 2024|access-date=5 May 2025}}

• Thomas Wynne (1627 in Ysceifiog – 1692), physician to William Penn, settler of Philadelphia
• John Wynne (ca.1666 in Maes-y-coed – 1743), Bishop of St Asaph and of Bath and Wells
• Thomas Jones of Denbigh (1756 at Penucha – 1820), writer and Methodist theologian.
• Angharad Llwyd (1780 at Caerwys – 1866), antiquary and prizewinner at the National Eisteddfod.[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-409434-rectory-caerwys-caerwys British Listed Buildings]
• Rowland Ellis (1841 in Caerwys – 1911), Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney
• Myfanwy Talog (1944 in Caerwys – 1995), actress and TV presenter with the BBC

The local football team Caerwys F.C. play in the Clwyd League. In the 2009/2010 season, they finished 3rd. They also have a Summer League team.

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{{Commons category|Caerwys}}

• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=6602642 Photos of Caerwys and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk]

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Category:Towns in Flintshire

Category:Communities in Flintshire