Flintshire Guide

The county of Flintshire is situated in North East Wales. Cheshire lies to the east, Denbighshire to the West and Wrexham to the south. Flint and Mold are the main town areas. It is an area rich in history and well worth visiting in its own right. However, the numerous attractions of North Wales in general coupled with Roman Chester make this an idea tourist base. In addition, Flintshire has just become a gateway to Ireland with POSL planning to operate out of Mostyn docks.

Flintshire, or Sir y Fflint in Welsh, is bordered by the Irish Sea and the Dee estuary in the north, Denbighshire to the south and west and Cheshire to the east. Edward 1 began work on Flint Castle in 1277 as the site had been a traditional battleground between the Celts and Romans, British and Saxons and Welsh and Normans. Edward was then responsible for dividing up north and west Wales into counties through the statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 and Flintshire was established at this time.

The historic county was distinctive in having a number of exclaves which were surrounded by Denbighshire. In 1831 the total area covered was 184,905 acres. Flintshire was abolished in 1974 and became part of Clwyd, emerging again in 1996 as a county in it's own right.

The Romans established a number of markets in Flintshire and settlements grew up around them. As a result, the county's main market towns are Connah's Quay, Flint, Holywell and Mold. Flintshire's industries include:

• Aircraft part manufacture at Broughton,
• Paper at Deeside,
• Steel processing at Shotton, agriculture and tourism.

The Dee estuary is predominantly industrial in nature while tourism is important for the rest of the coastal area and the Clwydian range of hills.


Here are just some of the places to visit in and around Flintshire: