Rural Walks in Flintshire (pdf) - Flintshire County Council

Flintshire’s HeritageAn Industrial PastLower Cotton Mill, GreenfieldY Felin Gotwm Isaf, MaesglasThe underlying rocks and the navigableDee Estuary brought industry andwealth to rural Flintshire.Rich veins of lead, silver and zinc withinHalkyn's limestone were minedintensively, leaving the scars of shafts,spoil and old roads on its landscape.Long-disused limekilns once turned therock itself into a useful fertilizer.Copper, brought mainly from Anglesey,combined with power from a faststream and access to the coast, providedthe impetus for Greenfield Valley.It quickly became the cradle of theIndustrial Revolution in North Wales,with mills producing metal wire, cotton,brass pots and pans.Valuable coal and oil deposits at Pointof Ayr, Coed Talon and Llanfynydd gaverise to a local network of railways andfactories, including the magnificentviaducts at Ffrith and Cefn-y-bedd.Thick deposits of clay were found underKnowle Hill at Buckley, upon whichgrew a successful pottery and brickmakingindustry. Millions of Buckleybricks have been exported far andwide from the now quiet quaysidesof the Dee.Many of the mills, factories andbrickworks have long gone butreminders of this fascinating industrialpast can still be found in the heart ofour now largely rural county.24Treftadaeth Sir y Fflint