(Welsh Sir Ddinbych), a county of North Wales, which, from its particular configuration, partakes of the characters both of a maritime and inland county. It is bounded N.W. by the estuary of the Dee, N. by Flintshire, N.E. by Cheshire, E. by Cheshire, part of Flint and Shropshire, S. by Montgomery and Merioneth shires, and W. by Caernarvonshire. Its greatest length from S.E. to N.W. is about 39 miles, and its greatest breadth from S.W. to N.E. about 29 miles. It possesses an area of 603 square miles, or 386,052 acres, and is the seventh largest of the Welsh counties. It was in the time of the Romans included in that part of Cambria occupied by the Ordovices, and formed a part of Venedotia, one of the minor partitions of Britannia Secunda.

This county possesses very varied geological features. The west and south are occupied by the lower, middle, and upper Silurian beds. The northern central portion, comprising the celebrated vale of Clwyd, lies upon the new red sandstone; and there is also a considerable extent of the same formation on the extreme east, the intermediate space being occupied by the carboniferous limestone, the millstone grit, and the coal measures; while on the borders of the new red in the vale of Clwyd, and separated from it by the mountain limestone, there exists a narrow strip of the old red sandstone, serving to illustrate the changes to which the earth's crust has been subjected.

Denbighshire occupies an important position as a mineral county, and possesses very valuable seams of coal and iron; which are extensively worked at Chirk, Ruabon, Minera, and Brymbo. It also exports annually immense quantities of limestone for the purpose of fluxing the ironstone in Staffordshire. Some idea of the extent of this trade may be formed, when it is mentioned that from one quarry alone, that of Col. Myddelton Biddulph, near Llangollen, sometimes as much as from 70,000 to 100,000 tons a-year are sent by canal into the great iron districts of the midland counties. It also possesses extensive slate and flagstone quarries, and some lead mines.

Denbighshire is very mountainous, and is traversed throughout its entire length by the Berwens—the principal mountain range in North Wales, which commences near the sea at Prestatyn, and following a south-east direction along the northern edge of the vale of Clwyd forms the county boundary, separating it from Flint. After approaching the town of Llangollen, the direction of the range is changed to south-west; and after crossing the county at its narrowest part, it again forms the county boundary, separating it from Merioneth. Some of the peaks are lofty and imposing, though far inferior to those of the neighbouring county of Caernarvon. The principal are Cader Fronwen 2563 feet, Cader Ferwyn 2107, and Moel Ferna 2108 feet in height above the level of the sea. These mountains are situated in the extreme south on the borders of Merioneth. In the vale of Clwyd, the Moel Fannau rises to the height of 1845 feet, and is crowned by a pillar commemorating the jubilee of George the Third.

The valleys of Denbighshire have long been famed for their beauty. The best known is the vale of Llangollen, which being embosomed among mountains, and watered throughout its entire length by the river Dee, presents an appearance of romantic beauty hardly to be surpassed. The smiling verdure of the vale is greatly enhanced by the savage grandeur of the surrounding mountains; while the interest is heightened by a conical hill which rises from the middle of the valley, bearing on its summit the grey ruins of a renowned stronghold of Gryffydd ap Maelor, one of the most famous of the Welsh chieftains. In the middle of the county, to the north, lies the vale of Clwyd, said to be the original of Johnson's "Happy Valley." Like the vale of Llangollen, it is surrounded on all sides except its mouth by fine mountains, and is watered by the placid stream from which it takes its name. In the extreme west there is the valley of the Conway in the immediate neighbourhood of the lofty Caernarvonshire mountains. Besides these, there are several other valleys of considerable extent, among which may be mentioned the vale of Mochnant, watered by the Tanat, and the vale of Llansaintfraidd Glyn Ceiriog, watered by the river Ceiriog, from which it takes its name.

The principal rivers in the county are the Conway, forming the western boundary of the county for a distance of nearly 30 miles. The Dee (Welsh Du), which rises in Merionethshire, enters the county near Llangollen, and first flowing west, crosses the country to the borders of Shropshire, near the village of Chirk, from which point it flows in a direction nearly due north, forming the county boundary, till it leaves it at a point near Chester. The Clwyd also rises in Merionethshire, and traverses the centre of the county in a direction nearly due north, watering the town of Ruthin in its course, and finally leaving the county at St Asaph. The Clwyd ranks among its tributaries the Aled and the Elwy, two considerable streams which traverse the western extremity of the county; while the Dee in the S. and E. has the Geirw, the Ceiriog and the Alyn. The Ceiriog is a stream of considerable historical interest, as being the scene of the struggles between Owen Glendower, the famous Welsh chieftain, and Henry II.; and it was down this stream that the English monarch retreated after his defeat by the Welsh. A curious confirmation of the correctness of the tradition as to the scene of one of the combats, was lately picked up by a ploughman in the shape of a gold piece of Henry's reign.

Denbighshire possesses few lakes. The most important is Llyn Aled in the S.W. In the S.E., near a village called Llanhaiddr yn Mochnant, is the finest of all the Welsh waterfalls. It is called in Welsh Pietyll Rhaider, two words signifying a spout of water and a cascade, as if to mark its importance by the double expression. It falls nearly 210 feet, and when the stream is full presents a grand appearance.

The climate of Denbighshire is mild and soft in the north and in the valleys; but in the southern and more elevated portions it is cold and bleak. In the valleys, and more especially in the vale of Clwyd, the soil is fertile, and bears excellent crops of corn and turnips; but a great part of the mountainous district is abandoned to the little hardy Welsh sheep, and the no less hardy Welsh ponies, which brave the blasts of winter on these savage wastes without shelter, subsisting on the scanty herbage and on the shoots of the heath, when the snow prevents their reaching the grass. The cereal crops consist of wheat, oats, barley, and here; turnips, peas, beans, potatoes, vetches, carrots, and mangold-wurtzel. The vale of Clwyd annually exports a large quantity of wheat to Liverpool. The other exports are cattle, sheep, and ponies; butter, cheese, and wool; oats and barley; timber and oak-bark; slates, paving flags, iron, coals, and limestone; also lead ore; paper and Welsh flannels, for the manufacture of which there are several mills in the county; also leather, shoes, and millstones. The farms are generally of considerable size, and great efforts are making to improve the farming. These have as yet been most successful at Chirk in the E., where the quality of the farming is rapidly approaching that of the best farmed districts; there, also, the best description of Cheshire cheese is made. It is calculated that about one-half of the county is in open sheep-walks or heaths.

There are two railways in the county,—one in the east from Chester to Shrewsbury, the other in the west passing along the shores of the estuary of the Dee from Chester to Holyhead,—two others have been projected to pass through the centre of the county from east to west. There is a very excellent canal, a branch of the Chester and Ellesmere, which traverses the vale of Llangollen from a point immediately beyond the town, and leaves the county at a point near the village of Chirk. This canal in its course passes over the valleys of the Ceiriog and the Dee on two aqueducts constructed by the celebrated Telford, and considered amongst the finest of his works; but although these are now dwarfed in comparison by the splendid viaducts of the Shrewsbury and Chester railway over the same valleys, still the Pont y Cysylte, the aqueduct over the Dee, remains an elegant monument of mathematical skill and genius when such great works were less common than they now are.

The principal towns are Denbigh, Ruthin, and Wrexham; but besides these there are Llanrwst, Abergel, Holt, and Ruabon. Denbigh, Ruthin, and Holt, are boroughs. The county has returned two members to parliament since the reform act period; from 1536 to which time it only sent one. The political influence is chiefly in the hands of Sir Watkyn Williams Wynn of Wynnstay, and Col. Myddelton Biddulph of Chirk Castle, who is also lord lieutenant. Constituency in 1852, 3901. The average gross rental of the county is estimated at fourteen shillings per acre. The annual value of real property paying income-tax is £1,431,504.

The population of the county by the last census was 92,583, giving an average of 153 persons to a square mile, or 4'2 persons to an acre. Of the total number, 46,708 were males, and 45,875 females. The number of inhabited houses was 18,352, uninhabited 994, building 168; giving an average of 32 inhabited houses to a square mile, and 4'8 persons to each house. The following table gives the census return for the last fifty years:

| Year | Population | |------|------------| | 1801 | 60,299 | | 1811 | 64,249 | | 1821 | 76,428 | | 1831 | 82,565 | | 1841 | 88,478 | | 1851 | 92,583 |

It is calculated that about one-fourth part of the whole population are in the condition of labourers, servants, &c.; about 9 per cent. live by trade, manufactures, &c., and nearly 13 per cent. by agriculture; while about two thousand persons possess independent means.

In 1847 the total number of children of the working-classes at day-schools within the county was 7405. The total number of schools was 127, of which 60 were church or national, with 3846 scholars; 2 Calvinistic Methodists, with 92 scholars; 2 Independents, with 84 scholars; 1 Wesleyan, with 85 scholars; 11 British and Foreign, with 1740 scholars; 11 without any precise distinction, with 626 scholars; 2 workhouse, with 123 scholars; 38 private adventure, with 809 scholars. In 119 of these schools, instruction was given in English only, and in 8 in Welsh and English. It appears that the average annual income of the teachers was £25, 18s., and that the average annual income of each school was £1,31, 3s. 6d. The total number of Sunday schools was 235, with 23,806 scholars, of which 32 were Church of England, with 3145 scholars; 19 Baptist, with 1343 scholars; 10+ Calvinistic Methodist, with 13,066 scholars; 40 Independent, with 3023 scholars; 38 Wesleyan, 2980 scholars. Other denominations, 2 with 249 scholars.

A very considerable number of the inhabitants use Welsh habitually, but the proportion who can speak English also is rapidly increasing.

This county contains some fine old castles and other structures and remains of interest and importance. Denbigh Castle, now in ruins, has been likened to Stirling, in respect of its situation. It is placed on the summit of a commanding eminence in the vale of Clwyd, and, even in ruins, presents a grand and imposing appearance. Ruthin Castle, also in the vale of Clwyd, the residence of Mr Frederick West, is a fine extensive structure of red sandstone, rising in the midst of and overlooking the town of Ruthin. It has lately been partly rebuilt by the present possessor. Chirk Castle, in the east of the county, is one of the finest specimens of the old Norman strongholds remaining in a perfect condition in the country. The present structure dates from a very remote antiquity, and is said to have been built on the site of a still older structure of the pre-historic period. It was a place of great importance during the revolutionary period, and was besieged and occupied by the royalists and republicans in succession; Charles himself having on one occasion occupied it for some days. The present possessor of this noble edifice has lately had it placed in the most perfect repair, in accordance with the style of the period to which it belongs. Wrexham Church is a fine structure of the time of Henry VII., and was long reckoned one of the wonders of Wales. The tower of this church is one of the most beautiful in existence. There is a most interesting ruin of an abbey of Cistercian friars near Llangollen, generally known by the name of Valle Crucis, so called from the pillar or cross of Eliseg, which stands in a ruined condition in the valley near the abbey.

The celebrated Sir Hugh Myddelton, who brought the New River to London, was a native of this county.

Denderah, the ancient Tentyris, now a mere village on the left bank of the Nile. It possessed a magnificent temple, of which extensive remains still exist. See Egypt.