St. Martin

is a parish, and small but pleasantly situated village, five miles N.E. from Oswestry, and about the same distance W. from Ellesmere. The parish comprises the townships of Bronygarth, Ifton Rhyn, and Weston Rhyn, containing together 5,314a. 2r. 25p. of land, and had in 1801, 1,476 inhabitants; in 1831, 2,099; and in 1841, 2,200. The village of St. Martin is included in Ifton Rhyn township, which contains 2,813a. 2r. 33p. of land; and at the census of 1841 had 217 houses and 1,620 souls. Rateable value, £4,570. The principal land owners are the Right Hon. Arthur Trevor Viscount Dungannon, of Bryn-Kinalt Castle, the Hon. W. M. B. Nugent, Dean and Chapter of Winchester, R. G. Jebb, Esq., J. Haslam, Esq., Joshua Jones, Esq., Mrs. Fallows, and Edward H. Dymock, Esq. This township lies on the N.W. confines of the county, and has some fine grazing land. It is separated from Denbighshire by the Ceiriog river. The Morlass brook here turns several corn mills, and has its confluence with the Ceiriog about a mile from the Erewescob corn mill.

The Church, dedicated to St. Martin, stands on an eminence, and is a conspicuous object for many miles around. It consists of nave, north aisle, chancel, and a massive square tower at the west end. The side aisle is separated from the nave by five pointed arches rising from octagonal pillars. The east end of the church and the east window have recently been rebuilt; the lower part of the window is divided into three compartments, and the upper part is foliated, and ornamented with stained glass. The windows on the south side of the church are also richly adorned with stained glass. The one near the pulpit has beautiful representations of St. Peter and St. Paul; another has the armorial bearings of the bishop of the diocese, the rural dean, and the vicar. There are also the armorial bearings of Viscount Dungannon, by whose munificence the church has been renovated; and these beautiful decorations have been added within these last twenty years. The old font, which is of stone, has been re-hewn and modernized. A beautiful mural marble monument remembers Richard Phillips, Esq., of Thyn-y-rhos, who died in 1824, and his second son, Richard, ensign of the 17th regiment of the Hon. East India Company’s service, who died at sea, off the Cape of Good Hope, on his return from India in 1832. There are also several other neat tablets in the church. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £5. 2s. 3½d., now returned at £320, in the patronage of the Bishop of St. Asaph, and enjoyed by the Rev. William Hurst, M.A. The Vicarage is a neat residence, a little W. by S. from the church. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £261, and the rectorial for £862. On the west side of the churchyard is a lofty and finely proportioned elm tree, which is seen at a great distance; and about a quarter of a mile west from the church, near the toll-gate, stands a magnificent oak tree of considerable magnitude. Ifton Heath is a scattered district, chiefly of detached cottages, half a mile N.W. from the church. Here the Primitive Methodists and the Wesleyan Association have each a small chapel. The Primitive Methodists have also a chapel on St. Martin’s Moor, a scattered district of houses near a mile, W. by S. from the church.

Charities.—Bryngwyla School, situated about a mile W.W. by S. from the church, was founded in 1705 by Edward Phillips, for the instruction of twelve poor boys of the parish of St. Martin to read and write. Mr. Phillips also endowed the school with the sum of £100, and directed £3. 12s. yearly to be paid to the schoolmaster, who was to occupy the school-house rent free, on condition of his keeping the premises in repair. The donor also directed 4d. to be given to each boy every Ascension day for his encouragement; and 5s. to be expended by the vicar, trustees, and schoolmaster, in remembrance of the benefactor. The master now receives £4. 13s. 6d. per annum, from which 5s. is paid to the trustees, but nothing is paid to the children. The master receives 25s. yearly in respect of John Price’s charity hereafter mentioned.

Almshouses.—The almshouses are situated near the west side of the churchyard. They consist of six tenements, mantled with ivy, and are supported by Lord Dungannon. The inmates are clothed, receive 15s. a quarter, a loaf of bread on Fridays, and two tons of coal yearly. There is also a school, where twelve children are clothed and educated.

Arthur Trevor, of Kay Mark, left £2 a-year; one half to be given to the poor on St. Thomas’s day, and the other half on Good Friday. The amount is paid by the agent of Lord Dungannon.

Thomas Abellis left 21s. per annum, payable out of a piece of land called Cae-Rhoes. In 1812, Edward Birch, a mortgagee, and Edward Jones, in consideration of £220. 10s., conveyed to the Ellesmere Canal Company a parcel of land called Cae Rhoes, and the said Edward Jones covenanted that he would indemnify the said company from a rent-charge of 20s., payable out of the said premises. The property is still in the possession of the Ellesmere Canal Company, but nothing had been paid thereout to the poor for a period of twelve years when the Charity Commissioners published their report. Application had been made to Mr. Price, of Felton Butler, who married the heiress of Mr. Jones, and he promised to continue the payment of this rent-charge.

Edward Phillips charged a piece of land with the payment of 4s. yearly for the benefit of the poor.

John Price bequeathed £100, and directed the interest of £25 to be applied in the education of youth, and the interest of £75 to be bestowed in clothing for some of the poorest parishioners. The amount is secured on a piece of land in Weston Rhynn, from which £5 are paid yearly.

There are two cottages in the township of Soutley, in the parish of March Weil, Denbighshire, adjoining premises purchased by the governors of Queen Ann’s Bounty, for the augmentation of the vicarage of St. Martin’s. These cottages have for a length of time been let for the benefit of the poor; but it is not known when or how the rents became thus appropriated. They were repaired some time ago at an expense of £30, which was borrowed for this purpose, and they are now let for £6 a-year. Of the rent, £3 is applied in paying off the debt, and the remaining £3 is given among the poor on St. Thomas’s day.

Hugh Lloyd left a rent-charge of 16s. per annum, issuing out of certain lands, called Cae Dickin, in Weston Rhynn, and directed the amount to be expended in sixteen dozen of bread, to be distributed on St. Thomas’s day. It is stated on the table of benefactions, that “Richard Berkley, for Hugh Lloyd, pays for ten dozen of bread on St. Thomas’s day for ever.” The gift of Edward Edwards, of 20s. per annum to the poor of St. Martin’s, is void under the statute of 9 George II. It is stated in the parliamentary returns of 1786, that David Hughes left £10 for the benefit of the poor; and among the parish documents there is a bond, dated in 1746, from Thomas Phillips, of Trehowell, for the payment of this money. Nothing, however, has been paid on this account for many years.

Post Office—At Esther Edwards. Letters despatched at 2.30 P.M.

Beckitt Godfrey, butcher

Beckitt John, victualler, Cross Keys

Beckitt Roger, farmer, and land and timber valuer, Cadwagans Palace

Boodle William, shopkeeper

Dodd Richard, farmer, Pennybank

Dodd William, farmer and corn miller

Edwards David, tailor

Edwards Esther, farmer and shopkeeper

Edwards Mary, farmer, Peny-bryn

Edwards William, farmer

Griffiths Richard, schoolmaster

Harrison Francis, tailor

Hughes, Mrs. Jane

Hughes John, farmer, Erewescob

Hughes Robert, shopkeeper

Hughes Sarah, farmer and corn miller, Erewescob Mill

Hurst Rev. William, M.A., vicar

Isaac Jane, farmer, Rhosyllan

Jones Edward, wheelwright

Jones Elizabeth, farmer

Jones George, shoemaker

Jones Jane, shopkeeper

Jones Joshua, Esq., Wigginton Hall

Jones Richard, bricklayer, Glynmorlass

Jones Thomas, farmer, Wigginton

Jones William, provision dealer, St. Martin’s Moor

Jones William, shoemaker

Kynaston William, farmer, Wigginton

Lee Richard, farmer, Ifton Hall

Lee William, parish clerk

Lewis Thomas, grazier, Brook House

Matthews George, schoolmaster

Newnes Peter, shoemaker

Owen Richard, farmer, Glanywern

Parry Joseph, cooper

Powell Frances, schoolmistress

Powell Thomas, wheelwright

Powell William, wheelwright

Poynton John, farmer, Glenrid

Price John, farmer

Prynallt William, farmer

Randles Elizabeth, farmer

Roberts Edward, farmer, Wigginton

Roberts Joseph, tailor

Roberts Mary, farmer

Roberts Samuel, victualler, Crown Inn

Rogers Jane, schoolmistress

Rogers John, farmer and maltster, Ifton

Rogers Joseph, registrar & assistant overseer

Rogers Richard, shoemaker

Rogers Robert, stonemason

Rowland Elizabeth, farmer

Williams Daniel, farmer

Williams Jane, farmer

Williams John, farmer, Wigginton

Woodvill Thomas, farmer and maltster, Pine Bryn

Woollam Charles, farmer

Woollam John, farmer