The Hawarden Visitors Hand-Book | Page 7

and foliage here and there

intervening, serve to soften and beautify the mouldering remains. The
scene brings to our minds the words of the poet--
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new";
and, conscious as we may be that society in our day has its dangers and
disorders of a different and more insidious kind, we are thankful that
our lot is not cast in the harsh and troublous times of our history. All
around us the former scenes of rapine and violence are changed to
fertility and peace. The Old Castle serves well to illustrate the contrast.
Its hugely solid walls, reared 600 years ago with so much pains and
skill to repel the invader and to overawe the lawless, have played their
part, and are themselves abandoned to solitude and decay. Within the
arches which once echoed to the clang of arms the owls have their
home; while the rooks from the tree-tops around seem to chant the
requiem of the past.
{Ruins of Old Castle: p21.jpg}

The Church.
{The Church: p22.jpg}
Hawarden Church, with its large graveyard attached, finely situated
overlooking the estuary of the Dee, is supposed to have been built
about A.D. 1275, and has much solidity and dignity of structure. The
patron saint is S. Deiniol, founder of the Collegiate monastery at
Bangor, and about A.D. 550 made first Bishop of that See. In the old
records he is styled one of the three "Gwynvebydd" or holy men of the
Isle of Britain. He was buried in Bardsey Island. A place still called
"Daniel's Ash"--perhaps a corruption of Deiniol--may be the very spot
where he gathered his disciples round him. Two Dedication festivals
are observed, the one on S. Deiniol's Day, December 10th, the other on
the Sunday after Holy Cross Day, September 14th. The Church has a
central tower containing six bells, {23a} a chancel with a south aisle
called the Whitley Chancel (after the Whitleys of Aston), and a nave

with blind clerestory and two aisles. There is a division in the roof
between the chancel and the nave which has the appearance of a
transept, but not extended beyond the line of the aisles. The axis of the
chancel deviates from that of the nave.
In 1764 the nave and aisles were newly pewed in place of the old
benches, and the floor flagged instead of being strewn with rushes. In
1810 a gallery was erected at the west end and an organ placed in it; the
gallery was enlarged and a new organ purchased in 1836. {23b}
Great improvements were made about the year 1855 by the Rev. Henry
Glynne, Rector: the organ and singers were removed from the west to
the east end, the pews converted into open seats, and the cumbrous
"three decker" pulpit and reading desk {24a} exchanged for simpler
furniture. Unfortunately on the 29th October, 1857, a disastrous fire
occurred, almost entirely destroying the roof and fittings of the Church.
Its restoration was at once placed in the hands of Sir Gilbert Scott,
architect, who improved the occasion by adding the small spire which
now with excellent effect crowns the otherwise somewhat stunted
tower. An organ chamber was now added on the N. side of the chancel,
and on the 14th July, 1859, with Sermons from the late Bishop
Wilberforce, Dean Hook and others, the Church was re-opened. The
whole expenditure was about 8000 pounds.
The Reredos is a representation of the Last Supper in alabaster, and was
erected as a memorial to the Rev. Henry Glynne, Rector of the Parish
for 38 years. In the side chancel {24b} under the 'Vine' window, is a
recumbent figure of his brother, Sir Stephen Glynne, who died two
years later in 1874--a beautiful work by Noble. To his memory also
were given by the parishioners the wrought-iron gates at the main
entrance to the Churchyard.
Upon the altar table stands a handsome brass cross mounted on rosso
antico the gift of the parishioners to the present Rector. The old
Communion plate was twice stolen, viz., on April 13th, 1821, when it
was recovered, being found beaten flat and buried near the Higher
Ferry; and finally in 1859. The Churchyard was enlarged in 1859, by
gift of the late Rector. The old Cross which stood in the Churchyard in

1663, has disappeared: possibly the Sun-dial now occupies its place.
The Parish Register dates from the year 1585; and the list of Rectors
goes back to 1180.
The Living is what is termed 'a Peculiar,' and was formerly exempt
from Episcopal jurisdiction. The Rectors granted marriage licenses,
proved wills, and had their own consistorial Courts and Proctors. The
Court was held in the Eastern Bay of the Chancel Aisle: the seal, still
used, represents Daniel in the Lion's Den, with the