Halghton

Halghton is probably identifiable with the vill of "Hulhtune" noted in a 1043 charter of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, in which he bestowed a number of vills around Hanmer on his newly created monastery at Coventry.[1]

The placename was again recorded in 1295 as "Halcton", and as "Halghton" as early as 1334.[2] The name is of Old English origin, and means "farm (tun) in a corner of land (healh)".[3] From medieval times up until the 19th century Halghton was a township of the old parish of Hanmer, in the area of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg.[4] The settlement never gained a church or point of focus, remaining dispersed across several kilometres.[3] Despite this it shows a long settlement history, including four moated sites, the site of a fulling mill recorded in the 15th century, and tracts of medieval ridge and furrow.[3] Under the 1866 Poor Law Amendment Act, the township of Halghton became a civil parish, while subsequent to an 1894 Act the civil parish became part of the Overton Rural District. When the latter along with Flintshire was abolished in 1974 Halghton became a ward of the community of Hanmer.

The Grade I listed Halghton Hall is a small brick-built gentry house of 1662, with evidence of an earlier medieval core.[5][6]

Halghton Mill is a former corn mill, built in around 1802 and supplied with water through a leat from the Emral Brook.[7] Nearby are an early 18th century house and a former smithy, also of historic interest.

• John Hanmer, a patron of the poet Guto'r Glyn and one of the main Lancastrian supporters in North Wales during the Wars of the Roses: his house at Halghton was said to have been burned in 1463 by the Yorkist Duke of Norfolk and Lord Powis.
• Roger Brereton, Member of parliament for Flint Boroughs between 1604 and 1611.[8]
• Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Baronet, who lived for a time at Halghton in his mother's dower house