Wikipedia
Caerwys is a town in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated just under two miles from the A55 North Wales Expressway and one mile from the A541 Mold- Denbigh road. At the 2001 Census, the population of Caerwys community was 10,315, with a total ward population of 20,496. Following reorganisation the community population fell dramatically at the 2011 Census to 1,283 with the ward falling to 2,569.
Caerwys is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a small market town. The well-maintained church is dedicated to St. Michael. It has two parallel naves. The oldest part of the building is a stone tower whose base is said to have been part of a Roman observation tower. Contained within the church is the cover slab of a tomb reputed to have been that of Elizabeth Ferrers, the wife of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales (d. 1283). A short, informative booklet about the church was written in 1936 and updated in 1995. As well as being surrounded by areas of outstanding natural beauty and views across mountains and valleys, the centre of Caerwys has been designated a conservation area.
Caerwys and Philadelphia have important historical connections. Local doctor, Thomas Wynne, sailed to America on the ship Welcome in 1682 with William Penn. Wynne was one of the founding fathers of Philadelphia and became the first speaker of the Provisional Assembly, as well as a provincial judge. The original street plan of Philadelphia was designed on the street pattern of Caerwys. Many Welsh names crop up in the city, and several buildings built in Philadelphia resemble buildings in the Caerwys area, some of which still stand today.
Caerwys also hosted two of the most important eisteddfodau of the early modern era one in 1523, during in the reign of Henry VIII of England at which Tudur Aled was present and the other, sanctioned by Elizabeth I, in 1568.