EXCURSION I. TUESDAY, 29th AUGUST. The Members, starting punctually from the Bee Hotel, drove across Morfa Rhuddlan to Dyserth Castle, which was reached shortly after 9.45. Dyserth, a name derived from desertum, occurring in Ireland as Dysart, is mentioned in Domesday as Dissaren, one of the berewicks of Rhuddlan.1 Later it is called Dissard, and mention is made of a church, a mill, and a wood one league long and half as broad, and a hawk's aerie. The Church was given in 1093 by Earl William Meschines to S. Werburgh's Abbey. Here, on a rock, Carreg Faelan, forti rupe juxta disserth, in 1241 a Castle was built, by the order of Henry III, to take the place of Rhuddlan.2 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, aided by Gruffydd ap Madog, laid siege to the Castle about July 1, 1263; took it by storm August 4, and utterly destroyed it. This he did, according to Annales Cestr. de mandato baronum, by an understanding with Simon de Montfort. Deganwy Castle fell on the 28th of the following month. The rock, still crowned with the ruins of Henry's fortress, bore also the name of Dincolin, and E. Lhwyd (44 W. Davies' MSS.) mentions" Bryn Colyn, a field in the parish of Disserth, Flintshire, where Dincolyn, the ruins of an old fort are." The destruction was so complete that no traces of any internal arrangements were left. The entrance, with a narrow path on the E. side of the mountain, is the only part clearly determined. There are no traces of the keep. The defences on the E. side were more strongly defended, by a deep fosse cut through the solid rock, than on the opposite side. Mr. Thomas Edwards, of Chester (whose article on Dyserth Castle, with detailed description and plans, will appear in a later number of Arch. Camb.), stated that the present was not the site of the original Castle, that undoubtedly being further up the hill ou the opposite side of the present highway, and considerable progress had been made with the building on this older site when a mandate issued3 Sept. 3, 1241, to John L'Estrange, Justiciary of Chester, in the following terms: "It is the King's pleasure that he fortify that place which he has provided as a gift near Rothelan, and therefore the King commands that giving up the first place which he began to fortify by his order he cause the new place to be fortified." It should be noted that the Justiciary was commanded Ad hoc manerium Roelent jacent hæ berewicha. Dissaren. Bodugan. Chilven. et Maineval. 2 An. Cestr. 1241. "Also Henry 3, King of England, came first to Chester about the Feast of the Assumption [Aug. 15] and having entered Wales at Rhuddlan, he remained for days. The lord of the land, David, son of Llewelin, came to him there, restoring the land to him, and placing himself at the King's mercy, and he gave up to him Griffin, his brother. Also the King built a Castle at Disserth, and caused the foundation of Mold to be laid." 3 Cal. Pat. Roll, i, 258. 6TH SER.. VOL. XII. 8 ten years later, 1251,1 to assign ten acres of land to Gronow and his brothers in recompense for their land taken in the construction of Dissard Castle. Mr. Edwards pointed out that, though the present Castle had but a brief existence of twenty-two years, its share in the record of the Welsh wars was considerable. Canon Morris quoted from the Report of the Royal Commission on Welsh Monuments, and referred to the distress felt by the Cambrian Archæological Association at the destructive results of the quarrying. It was feared that in a very short time the Castle with such an interesting record would be entirely swept away. Archdeacon Thomas observed that he noticed how rapidly in the space of a very few months the work of destruction had advanced. He felt that no time should be lost in making a plan of the ruins, with the contour of the hills, so that should the Castle itself disappear, they would have some record preserved. That was the only thing which, in his opinion, could be done under the cir cumstances. From the Castle the Vicar of Dyserth led the party down the hill to a ruined building known as Siamber Wen. This ruin stands on property belonging to the Earl of Plymouth, who very kindly allowed excavations to be made with the object of ascertaining its original purpose. Mr. Longueville Jones submitted, Arch. Camb., 1847, a conjecture that it was a building erected over a holy well, as at Holywell and Wigfair. In Arch. Camb., 1858, it was declared that there were no traces of a domestic edifice. Against this stands the clear statement of Edward Lhwyd, Parochialia, 1699. "Siamber Wen is the name of an old ruin where Sir Robert Pounderling lived." Pennant, sixty years later, adds that "Sir Robert Pounderling [was] once Constable of the adjacent Castle." An effigy in Tremeirchion Church is traditionally said to be Pounderling's, representing a Knight in armour, legs crossed, on shield a griffin rampant within a bordure. This effigy Baron de Cosson assigns to 12701280.3 The students of St. Beuno's College had for some time been making excavations, and the Rev. Kenelm Digby Beste, S.J., gave a short report of the work done. When the work originally commenced the whole place was covered with thicket, and a very large quantity of rubbish had to be cleared away. The building ran from east to west, and on the western side there appeared to have been a doorway. To the left of the opening there was a stone which slanted at an angle of 45 degrees which seemed to have been the beginning of an archway. In the ground outside the building there was a large gap, but they did not know how far it extended. On the other side of the opening there was a socket hole which extended to a depth of about 5 ft., and it seemed as if some bolt or bar entered there, for there was a similar hole on 1 Close Roll, 35 Hen. III. 2 'Enw hên vyrdhyn lhe by S Robert Pounderling yn byw." 3 Pennant II, 118, 131; Arch. Camb., 1890, p. 180. the opposite side. There was also a well in the building. From the formation of the clay it appeared that one portion of the floor was much higher than the other. The west wall was twice as thick as the other walls, and outside the original wall there was another type of wall with buttresses. Dr. Cochrane, President of the Royal Irish Society of Antiquaries, said that if the building was in Ireland they could easily decide what it had been used for. They found near Wexford a building which was almost identical as to measurements, and a number of Welshmen had settled there. From comparison he was inclined to say that Siamber Wen was used for the same purpose as that in Ireland, namely, as a house for the seneschal or steward of the estate, who, in the days in which it was built, was a very important personage. He thought it was a domestic rather than an ecclesiastical building.1 Archdeacon Thomas said that with all due deference to the opinion of Dr. Cochrane he thought it was an ecclesiastical building, because he did not think any chieftain would select such a place as a residence. Comparisons were useful however, and he thanked Dr. Cochrane for his remarks. There was great similarity between the well and that of St. Mary's at Cefn, and he was of the opinion that it was the well of St. Cwyfan. Subsequently it was stated that reports were circulated, during the time the students of St. Beuno's were excavating, that many houses in the district had been erected from stones taken from both the Castle and Siamber Wen, and that one end of the building was actually demolished by means of gunpowder. As the stone was ready prepared for building it saved those who were erecting houses the trouble of quarrying them. Dyserth Church. Archdeacon Thomas gave a brief account of the Church, celebrated for its beautiful East Window and Celtic Cross. At one time the parish of Dyserth included the whole of Newmarket parish. The Church has two dedications-1. S. Cwyfan, and 2. S. Ffraid, who is also the saint of another Dyserth, Llansantffraid Glan Conwy. The Cross, which has been brought from the Churchyard into the Church, has the same Celtic ornamentation as Maen Chwyfan. It once bore, according to Gruffydd Hiraethog, an inscription not very correctly given (Peniarth MS., 134). "Hock si petatur lapis ysti[?] causa notatur Enion oxi'[occisus] Ririd Vlaidd filius hoc memoratur." It is traditionally said to have been brought from Bryn Einion, where Einion, son of Rhirid Flaidd, was slain by an arrow during the siege of Dyserth Castle, 1263. The ornamentation, however, shows the Cross itself to have been of much earlier date, probably the eighth century. The base of a cross with similar carving is placed near. In the south wall is a stoup for holy water, and in the wall 1 See Note by Dr. Cochrane, ante pp. 33 to 38. Mae hen groes mal karreg nodhva yn y vynwent,” E. Lhwyd, i, 53. near the pulpit is inserted a coffin lid, found under the chancel floor at the restoration in 1875, inscribed "Hic jacet Robert F. Ryn. F. Bled. F. Mad.," temp., Hen. IV. In the Perpendicular East Window, of five lights, are preserved considerable portions of the "Tree of Jesse," representing Our Lord's genealogy, with the apostles and their emblems in the headtracery. The glass is richly toned with a large admixture of the ancient white glass. It was renovated in 1875, in memory of Mr. Shipley-Conwy of Bodrhyddan and his sister, Mrs. Rowley. The lower portion is made up of scattered fragments. The window formerly bore inscriptions of the fifteenth century: Orate pro bono statu parochianorum ad faciend' istam fenestram MCCCCL, and Orate pro bono statu Johannis Tubney Archid'. In the Register is an interesting entry of the triple marriage on the same day of the widow, son, and daughter of Bishop Parry to Thomas Mostyn of Rhyd, and his son and daughter respectively. "Thomas Mostyn Esq' and Gwen Parry William Mostyn and Anne Parry wearr maried the 27th day of November, anno domini, 1624." A memorandum is also inserted at the end of the following year, "Here somme indiscrete personne, finding the Church coffer oppen, did with a knife cutt out all that was written from Anno Dom. 1625 until ann. 1635, all which wanteth in this book." In the Churchyard are some seventeenth century canopied tombs with a curious arrangement of pendants from a shield, in memory of the Hughes' of Llewellyd. Rhuddlan Castle was described by the Rev. W. Mac Mahon, S.J., who gave an admirable summary of the chronological points in its History. Twt Hill, about 200 yards to the S. of the present castle-ruins, probably marks the site of the stronghold of the Earls of Mercia, who, from the time of the building of Offa's Dyke, were masters of the country between the Dee and the Conway. Sir Edward Anwyl cites Dr. Murray as authority for connecting-the word Twt with "tout," and explaining Twt Hill to meet Look-out Hill. On this mound it is likely that Llywelyn ap Seisyllt, King of Gwynedd, built c. 1015 his castle. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn incurred the enmity of Harold for helping Alfgar of Mercia against the house of Godwine, and in revenge Harold burnt the fortress here while Gruffydd escaped down the Clwyd and out to sea (1063). Domesday tells us of a castle lately built at Rhuddlan, "the head of this region," held in equal shares by Hugh of Avranches, Earl of Chester, and his cousin, Robert of Rhuddlan. This would be a timbered fort, and was erected c. 1073. It is impossible to say whether the transference from Twt Hill to the present site was made at this time or later under Edward I. Domesday gives us the tale of the berewicks belonging to the castle, and divides the church, |