Llanfynydd, Flintshire

The community, which includes the villages of Llanfynydd, Cymau, Cefn-y-Bedd and Ffrith along with a number of smaller hamlets, had a population of 1,752 at the 2001 census,^[1] increasing to 1,850 at the 2011 census.^[2]

The village is situated in the valley of the River Cegidog beneath Hope Mountain.

The area has been inhabited since early times. A cairn near Cymau, known in the past as Arffedogaid y Wrach but now destroyed, probably represented a prehistoric burial site.^[3] Offa's Dyke runs through the valley, and evidence of earlier Roman settlement has been found at the nearby Ffrith site, suggesting a substantial civilian community with a connection to the XX Legion. The Roman presence was first noted by the antiquarian William Camden in the 16th century.^[4]

Llanfynydd's administrative history is actually fairly modern, as the parish was first created on 7 February 1845 out of the old townships of Uwchmynydd Ucha and Uwchmynydd Isa and part of the township of Cymau. These townships had previously been in the parish of Hope.^[5] The church, now dedicated to St. Michael, was designed by John Lloyd and originally consecrated in 1843: it was badly damaged by fire in 1892. Many of the parish registers were destroyed in the fire.^[5]

The modern village of Llanfynydd developed in the 19th century, when there was quarrying and mining in the area. In common with most Welsh villages of the era, a Nonconformist chapel (Penuel, Welsh Congregationalist) was built. A railway, the Wrexham and Minera Joint Railway, was opened from Brymbo through Llanfynydd to Coed Talon near Mold in the 1870s. With the introduction of passenger services, a station was provided at Llanfynydd in 1898.^[6] The station was eventually closed in 1950, and the line closed completely in 1952.

Llanfynydd village has a small primary school and a pub, the Cross Keys.