Hanmer - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
HANMER, a parish, in the union of Ellesmere, hundred of Maelor, county of Flint, North Wales; comprising the townships of Bettesfield, Bronington, Halghston, Hanmer, Tybroughton, and Willington, each of which is separately assessed for the maintenance of its poor; and containing 2691 inhabitants, of whom 521 are in the township of Hanmer, 5 miles (N. E.) from Ellesmere, on the road from Wrexham to Whitchurch. The village of Hanmer is pleasantly situated near a large mere, belonging to Sir John Hanmer, Bart., M.P. This fine sheet of water covers a space of seventy-three acres, and derives a great degree of beauty from the rich woodlands in its immediate vicinity, interspersed with highly cultivated eminences; from the venerable embattled parochial church, with the circumjacent village, at the north end of the mere; from the principal seat of the Hanmer family, which ornaments its banks on the one side; and from the handsome mansion erected by Lord Kenyon, on the site of the old house of Gredington, which, with its extensive plantation and spacious pleasure-grounds, adorns its opposite shores. The situation of the village, and the appearance of the country around it, are strikingly beautiful: the inclosures are small, and the fences full of fine oak timber, which gives to the scenery a stately magnificence of character.
The living is a vicarage, rated in the king's books at �6. 13. 4., and endowed with �200 private benefaction, and �200 royal bounty; net income, �427; patron and impropriator, Sir John Hanmer. The impropriate tithes of the township of Hanmer have been commuted for a rent-charge of �210. 8. 3., and the vicarial for one of �69. 7., with a glebe of three acres, valued at �6 per annum, and a glebe-house. The church, dedicated to St. Chad, is a spacious and handsome edifice in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower; and numerous shields bearing the arms of Hanmer, which are ornamentally distributed through every part of the building, tend to prove that it was erected by that family in the reign of Henry VII., after an older structure had been reduced to ashes in the York and Lancaster wars. Exclusively of the tower, it consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with the two chapels of Fenns and Hanmer. The roof of the church is of carved oak, and those of the north aisle and the Fenns chapel are elegantly panelled in small compartments, and richly ornamented with wreaths of flowers, fruit, and foliage. The roof of the Hanmer chapel is of exquisitely carved oak, and the floor is laid with Saxon tiles. In this chapel are monuments to several of the family, among which are those of Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart., commonly called the Cavalier, who died in 1678, and his grandson Sir Thomas Hanmer, Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of Anne: this latter gentleman, who died in 1746, is also well known for his superb edition of Shakspeare's Plays, with annotations, in six volumes, published by the University of Oxford, to which he presented the manuscript. In the chancel of the church is a fine mural monument to the memory of Lloyd, Lord Kenyon, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, who died in 1802: it has a figure of his lordship in his robes, in a sitting posture, under a canopy supported by well-sculptured figures emblematic of Faith and Justice. In the north aisle is a monument to the memory of Mary, widow of the Lord Chief Justice, which presents a figure of Mary at the Saviour's feet, beautifully sculptured. Both these monuments are from the chisel of Bacon, Jun., and for beauty of design, delicacy in the draperies, and spirit in the execution, reflect great credit on the artist. In the churchyard, within an iron palisade, is the tomb of Luke and Catherine Lloyd, of the Bryn, who lived together in conjugal bonds for the long period of sixty-eight years. At New Fenns is a separate incumbency, a perpetual curacy, in the gift of Sir John Hanmer; income, �50.
Katherine Eddowes of Halghston, Luke Lloyd, and others, jointly contributed in the seventeenth century, to purchase an estate in Sesswick, in the county of Denbigh, for the support of a master, to instruct the children of this parish. The estate now produces a rental of �30, which sum, with �4. 10. the interest of �100 left by Mr. William Jennings of Iscoed, and 10s. rent-charge on an estate at Whixall, Salop, created by Benjamin Rodenhurst, a former possessor, is receivable by the master: the interest of Jennings' gift, however, has not been paid for the last few years. Five other parties left sums amounting to �26, the interest of which is expended in keeping the building in repair. This ancient school, in which are about twenty-five boys and girls, is in the township of Hanmer. A Sunday school in connexion with the Established Church was commenced in 1846, in the township of Bettesfield; and the Primitive Methodists hold a Sunday school in a dwellinghouse in Bronington.
Several donations were made to the poor more than a century ago, consisting of �200 from Dame Susannah Hanmer, �100 from Mrs. Catherine Dymock, �100 from John Beddow, �50 from William Lloyd, of Halghston, Esq., �40 from his daughter, Mrs. Beatrice Lloyd, and other smaller benefactions. To these was added a gift of �40 by Sir Thomas Hanmer in 1730, making the sum of �576, which was invested in the purchase of a farm of thirty-five acres, and conveyed to the vicar of the parish and others, in trust, to distribute the rental, which is now �40, in clothing, to the poor of the parish. In addition to this are numerous other charities, namely, a small parcel of land bequeathed by the Rev. Richard Hill, in 1706, and now paying a rent of �3 per annum; a moiety of a rent-charge of �6 granted by Dame Catherine Hanmer, in 1638, charged on an estate in the chapelry of Penley; a grant of �6 by Jane Higginson, payable every fifth year; another of �2. 5., by Thomas Matthews; another by Joseph Ellis of �2; a sum of �1. 16., being the interest of �45 from an unknown donor; a further sum of �2. 10., being the interest of three small bequests of �30 by the Rev. Richard Hilton, of �20 by Susannah Hilton, and of �10 by the Rev. Richard Edwards; a bequest of �50 by Joseph Phillips, secured upon the Bangor turnpike trust; and, lastly, a benefaction of �150 by Mrs. Anna Edgeworth, in 1825, the produce of which, �5, is distributed at the church door, in 200 sixpenny loaves of bread, at Christmas, among the poor of all the townships. A few other charities have been lost, among which were, a sum of �150 arising from the sale of timber on the charity lands, and other proceeds, left in the hands of a solicitor, who died without leaving any provision for its repayment; and a sum of �30, grants of three individuals to the poor, which was lent upon interest to parties that afterwards became insolvent.
At a short distance to the east of the village, formerly stood Hanmer Hall, a handsome modern mansion of brick, belonging to the Hanmer family, and which commanded from the grounds much finely varied scenery, and from a turret by which it was surmounted an extensive and almost boundless prospect of the surrounding country, extending into no fewer than nine different counties. About a mile and a half from Hanmer is Bettesfield Park, the residence of Sir John Hanmer, and the original seat of the family, an ancient structure with a lofty tower of Italian architecture lately erected. This mansion, which is situated in the midst of extensive woods, contains some fine apartments, with a celebrated collection of works of art, and family and other portraits by eminent artists. Among the portraits are, a head of Sir Thomas Hanmer, by Kneller; a portrait of Isabella, Duchess of Grafton and Countess of Arlington, married to Sir Thomas Hanmer, in 1698; a head of Sir Thomas Hanmer, the second baronet of this family, and another of his wife Susan, daughter of Sir William Hervey; a portrait, by Cornelius Jansen, of which the subject is unknown; a portrait by Kneller, of Sir Thomas Hanmer, robed as Speaker of the House of Commons; a highlyfinished head of Charles I.; a three-quarters' portrait of the same monarch, and of his queen, Henrietta Maria; a portrait of Lady Hanmer; and one of Lady Warner � la Magdalene. What however is principally attractive is the fine collection of fresco paintings by Paul Veronese and Zelotti, removed from the walls of the Soranza and Malcontenta villas, in the neighbourhood of Venice, by the curious process invented by Count Balbi. According to a manuscript preserved in the Wynnstay library, there was in 1643 "a skirmish at Hanmer, where many of the parlamenteers were slayne and taken;" and in 1644, whilst Prince Rupert "was at Newarke, ye L. Biron gathered his forces from Chester and Denbighshire, and took four of the parl. Garrisons, viz. Emral, Hanmer, Fens, and Beatchfield." Fens, or Fenns, was the residence of William Hanmer, Esq., a mansion-house not far distant from Hanmer and Bettesfield.
About a mile west-south-west from the church is Gredington, formerly belonging to Sir John Hanmer Bart., M.P., and a Major-General at the battle of the Boyne. It was purchased from the baronet, in the reign of Charles II., by the Rev. Richard Hilton, vicar of this parish, and passed by marriage with his daughter to Robert Eddowes, of Eagle Hall, Cheshire, whose daughter Jane conveyed it by marriage to Lloyd Kenyon, Esq., in 1729. Mr. Kenyon's second son Lloyd, Lord Kenyon, the Chief Justice, built part of the present mansion, especially a dining-room and drawing-room, also the stables, and laid out part of the gardens. The mansion has been almost rebuilt on the old site by the present Lord Kenyon, after a design by Mr. Harrison, of Chester, in a style of great elegance. It is surrounded by a considerable demesne, including many acres of woodland of the last and present century; the pleasure-grounds, including the gardens, which are tastefully laid out, occupy about two acres, and about a hundred acres more are laid down in pastures, meadows, and other farming-land. The house contains some fine paintings by eminent masters, among which are portraits, by Romney, of Lord Chief Justice Kenyon, and Lord Thurlow, High Chancellor; and two curious paintings, by a French artist, of the eldest son and daughter of James II., given by that monarch to Dr. Kenyon, who, as his physician, attended his Majesty to St. Germain's: in the bosom of the princess is a knot of flowers, painted by her own hand. |
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