FLINTSHIRE, a maritime co. of n. Wales, bounded on the e. by Cheshire and the river Dee, on the s. and w. by Denbighshire, and on the n. by the Irish sea. The main portion of the county is 25 m. long by 10 broad, and the larger of the two outly ing portions, which lies toward the s.e. of the main part, is 10 m. by 5. F. is the smallest of the Welsh counties, its area being only 169,162 acres, of which 4th is arable. The coast, 20 m. long, is low and sandy, but on the Dee estuary fertile. A hill-range, parallel to the Dee, runs through the length of the county, and rises in Garreg to 825 feet. Another range along the s.w. border of the county rises in Noel Famma, 1845 feet. The chief rivers arc the Dee, Alvn. and Clwyd. The chief strata are Permian, carboniferous, and Devonian. Coal, ana ores of iron, lead, silver, copper, and zinc are the chief mineral products and exports. In 1870, 3,281 tons of lead were raised from 24 mines. The soil is fertile in the plains and vales. In 1875, the total
acreage under all kinds of crops, bare fallow, and grass was 124,834, of which 13,381 acres were under wheat, 11,146 under oats, and 7,607 under barley. Cotton is the main manufacture. The London, Chester, and Holyhead railway skirts the c. and n. shores. Pop. '71, 76.312. F. sends two members to parliament. The chief towns are Flint, formerly the county- town; Mold, St. Holywell, Rhyddlan, and Hawarden. F. has traces of Roman lead-mines. is traversed by Wat and Offa's dykes, and has some ancient castle and ecclesiastical ruins. In F., in the 7th c., Saxon invaders massacred 1200 Christian monks of the monastery of Bangor. In 796, the Saxons defeated the Welsh here with dreadful slaughter, which event gave rise to the still popular plaintive air of iforfa Rhyddlan.