Wrexham and Chester Gold

The River Alyn (Welsh: Afon Alun) is a tributary of the River Dee in north-east Wales. It rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The main town on the river is Mold, the county town of Flintshire. It lends its name to the constitutencies of Alyn and Deeside in the UK Parliament and the Senedd. The River Alyn crosses the carboniferous limestone from Halkyn Mountain and north through the Loggerheads area before heading southeast, passing through Mold before reaching its confluence with the River Dee northeast of Wrexham. Between Loggerheads and Rhydymwyn it runs through the Alyn Gorge, which is the site of the caves Ogof Hesp Alyn, Ogof Hen Ffynhonnau and Ogof Nadolig. It mainly runs across a limestone surface, creating potholes and underwater caves, into which the river flows through some of the summer, when water levels have decreased significantly. For parts of this stretch the river bed is dry for most of the year. Flows in the River Alyn are significantly affected by mining, particularly the Milwr mine drainage tunnel which diverts a sizeable amount (23 million gallons of water per day.) of the River Alyn out of its catchment and into the Dee estuary at Bagillt.

The Barnston Memorial is an obelisk in Churton Road, Farndon, Cheshire, England. It commemorates Roger Barnston, a military officer who died in 1857 from wounds sustained at the Siege of Lucknow. His memorial consists of an obelisk standing on a plinth, surrounded by four lions. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Farndon Bridge, also known as Holt Bridge (Welsh: Pont Rhedynfre or Pont Holt), crosses the River Dee and the England-Wales border between the villages of Farndon, Cheshire, England and Holt, Wrexham, Wales (grid reference SJ412544). The bridge, which was built in the mid-14th century, is recorded in the National Heritage List for England and by Cadw as a designated Grade I listed building and scheduled monument. It is built from locally quarried red sandstone and had eight arches, of which five are over the river. On the Farndon side there is one flood arch and two flood arches are on the Holt side. Documentary evidence states the bridge was built in 1339 by St Werburgh's Abbey in Chester. Originally it had ten arches, with a large gate tower on the fifth arch from the English side. The tower was demolished to road level in 1770 and at some time two of the arches on the Welsh side were lost. The area is reputedly haunted by two sons of a Welsh prince who were drowned in the river at this point by their English guardians, John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Roger Mortimer de Chirk.During the English Civil war, a brief skirmish occurred near the bridge in 1643 when Parliamentarian forces advanced towards the Royalists holding Holt on the western side of the river.John Warwick Smith (26 July 1749 – 22 March 1831), a British watercolour landscape painter and illustrator, produced a painting of the bridge and the landscape around, which has been reproduced since for use on postcards. The bridge was refurbished in 1870/1871 at a total cost of £1100. During the summer of 1870, two pillars were made safe as they had been reported as dangerous, and the lower rings of two arches were cut out and replaced with Minera stone cemented in place. Some work on the parapet walls was also required. Work was suspended during the winter and continued in 1871. The planned work included the removal of the toll-house and gate on the Denbighshire side, widening of the approach, and paving the road surface throughout. The final removal of the toll-house was delayed until 1879, when the bricks and other materials forming the toll house, and the gate posts and some adjoining land, were sold by auction with removal required within 14 days. At the time of the refurbishment there were some people who wanted the bridge replaced with a new one, but this was opposed by others such as the well respected builder George Clark, who wrote in defence of 'this beautiful structure' describing it as 'one of the few remaining links connecting the past with the present' dating back some 600 years. In June 1871 it was announced that the Farndon side of the bridge would receive similar improvements to those on the Holt side, i.e. widening the approach, paving, and making some repairs to the parapet walls.Access is controlled by traffic lights, permitting road traffic to cross using the single-lane carriageway. Two narrow footpaths on either side of the road are provided for pedestrians. However, due to the bridge's age, it is closed intermittently for surveys to be conducted on its structure. In the early 1990s the bridge was restored and renovated and at the same time an archaeological survey was carried out. In the summer of 2018, the bridge was closed for significant structural repairs.

Farndon is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Dee, south of Chester, which here forms the England–Wales border. The Welsh village of Holt lies just over the River Dee from Farndon. In the 2001 census, the village had a population of 1,517, increasing to 1,653 by the 2011 census.

St Chad's Church is in the village of Farndon, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Malpas. Its benefice is combined with that of St Mary, Coddington. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

St Chad's Church, Holt, is in the village of Holt, Wrexham County Borough, Wales overlooking the River Dee and the Wales–England border. It is an active Anglican church in the deanery of Alyn, the archdeaconry of Wrexham and the diocese of St Asaph. The church is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.

Holt is a medieval village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is situated on the border with England and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Holt Castle was begun by Edward I shortly after the English conquest of Wales in 1277. Farndon lies just over the River Dee.

Holt Castle (Welsh: Castell Holt) was a medieval castle in the village of Holt, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Work began in the 13th century during the Welsh Wars, the castle was sited on the Welsh–English border by the banks of the River Dee. In the medieval period, the five-towered fortress was actually known as Castrum Leonis or Castle Lyons because it had a lion motif carved into the stonework above its main gate. In the 17th century, almost all the stonework was removed from the site; only the sandstone foundation and a small amount of masonry survives.

Churton by Aldford is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Churton, in the borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 it had a population of 136. The parish included the northern part of the village of Churton (the southern part was in the neighbouring parish of Churton by Farndon). It is associated with the nearby Church of England parish of St John the Baptist, Aldford, the nearest place of public worship. Church House Farm (now a collection of private residences called Churchmead) was built in 1682. Land to the north of the village forms part of the Duke of Westminster's Eaton Estate and is largely farmed by Grosvenor Farms. There is one village pub – The White Horse.

Churton is a village and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester district, in the county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish was formed from the parishes of Churton by Aldford, Churton by Farndon and Edgerley in 2015.

Churton by Farndon is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Churton, in the borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 it had a population of 146, increasing to 153 at the 2011 Census. The parish included the southern part of the village of Churton (the northern part was in the adjacent parish of Churton by Aldford).

not to be confused with Chirton Hall, NorthumberlandChurton Hall is a country house in the parish of Churton, Cheshire, England. The date of building is uncertain. There is a loose board carrying the date 1569 that, according to the authors of the Buildings of England series, may or may not date the house. Dendrochronological analysis suggests that the timbers within the cruck structure of the house were felled in or around 1461, suggesting a 15th-century construction, and the 1569 date is thought to refer to the hall's gifting as a wedding present to William Barnston and his wife Elizabeth.It is a half-timbered house built for the Barnston family, and was "heavily restored" in 1978–80. Much of the timber framing has been replaced by brick at the rear of the house. The house is roofed in slate. It has two storeys, and its plan is E-shaped. At each end of the building are gables with different designs. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.The buildings were leased for three generations to a dairy-farming family following the Second World War, but the lease reverted to the Barnston Estate in February 2023. The estate has restored the original house and a 19th-century extension with the intention of leasing them as two homes.