This week I've been completing research into the First Welsh Parliament which was (and still is) situated not far from here in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire but formerly Flintshire.
It is believed that the Parliament House in Rhuddlan is where the Statute of Rhuddlan, as discussed yesterday, was first drafted. Thomas Pennant (1726–1798), an esteemed antiquarian and part of the Flintshire landed gentry remarks in 1778 about this building,
'A piece of antient building called the Parlement is still to be seen in Rhuddlan: probably where the king sat in council.’
Thomas Pennant commissioned renowned local artist John Ingleby to provide a watercolour of the building, which is depicted above. To this day, the building still stands in Parliament Street, Rhuddlan, although altered somewhat. Yet the building can still be seen with a late 13th-century doorway and a 14th-century cusped ogee door head.
John Ingleby (1749–1808)
Born in Halkyn, Flintshire, to Hugh Ingleby and Ann Davies who originally came from Derbyshire, John Ingleby spent the majority of his life in the same village which sits on the mountain about two miles away from my home in Northop village. Halkyn and surrounds is an area known over many centuries for lead-mining. I mentioned the other day about the Romans mining lead and silver from Halkyn to the River Dee at Pentre Ffwrndan, for onward transportation across their empire, and mining (now open cast) still goes on in the area to this day, as we can attest from the regular blasts we can hear from the current quarries on Halkyn Mountain.
John Ingleby was employed as a 'limner,' a respected craftsman - someone with the skill to illuminate manuscripts, or someone who painted ornamental decoration. Ingleby excelled in topographical art and creating exquisite miniature watercolours many commissioned for Thomas Pennant himself.
A collection of his paintings is held in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
More on the Rhuddlan Parliament tomorrow.
#parliament #Wales #Cymru #Pennant #Halkyn #Rhuddlan #writerscommunity #localhistory
The Blenheim Boys
‘The devotion and gallantry… are beyond all praise. The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava is eclipsed in brightness by these almost daily deeds of fame.’
Winston Churchill on the Blenheim Crews - Prime Minister’s Personal Minute, M.852/1, 30 August 1941
