CONNAH'S QUAY'S COAT OF ARMS

Granted confirmed and allowed by Letters Patent issued under the hands and seals of the Kings of Arms of England:  Sir George Rothe Bellew, K.C.V.O. (Garter), Sir John Dunamace Heaton-Armstrong, M.V.O. (Clarenceux), and Aubrey John Toppin, Esqre. M.V.O. (Norroy and Ulster).

Designer of the Arms:  H. Ellis Tomlinson, M.A., F.H.S.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ARMS

Arms:        Vert on Water Barry wavy in base charged with three      Salmon naiant proper a Lymphad Or the sail quarterly Gold and Gules a Bendlet Sable.

Crest:        Out of circlet of Steel Flames proper therein a demi Dragon Gules holding between the claws a Cross Fleuretty engrailed Sable.  Mantled Vert doubled Argent.

EXPLANATION OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE ARMS

Shield:       The Shield combines references to the three districts of Connah's Quay, Wepre and Golftyn.  The heraldic ship is of Connah's Quay, its sail bears the arms of William de Malbank or Malbedeng, Baron of Nantwich under the Earldom of Chester, who held Wepre in Mediaeval times.  The waves and salmon are for the River Dee and its fisheries, for which Golftyn was the local centre.   The whole is set against a background of green, a reminder of the hill, woods and natural amenities which form the background to the industrial scene, and also of the green shield with white stag attributed to Cynwrig Fychan, a descendent of the Old Welsh tribal chief Llywarch Holbrwch to whom these arms were assigned by the Tudor Heralds.  Cynwrig held "Wepra" and its environs.

Crest:      Above the shield is the closed helm proper to civic arms, with its decorative mantling in the Welsh National colours of green and white.  Upon the helm stands the crest, which refers to the town's modern industries and its situation in Flintshire.  The circlet of steel and the flames refer to the local steelworks and power station.  The dragon of Wales, in the same attitude and position as in the Country Coat of Arms, holds the distinctive black cross of Edwyn, Lord of Tegeingl, the district which covered the modern Deeside;  this cross is the basis of the County arms, and appears in the Device of the Flintshire Technical College at Connah's Quay.

Motto:  "LLWYDDIANT O DDIWYDIANT" SUCCESS THROUGH INDUSTRY" 

 This envisages success both by industrial activity and personal diligence.

The town’s name is thought to have been taken from the landlord of a public house on the quay (The Old Quay House).  The quay was still in use for shipping until relatively recent times and was the terminus of the railway line from Buckley.

Formerly the town was know as New Quay.  With the silting up of the River Dee following the construction of the “New Cut” in the 18^th century, Chester ceased to be a port and the business was transferred to what is now Connah’s Quay with its direct rail link to the coat mines and potteries of Buckley.  The dock area has been refurbished, largely by voluntary efforts, and the riverside marina was opened by the Princes of Wales in October 1981. 

There are moorings for a good number of boats and the Sea Cadets have their headquarters here.  Dominating features of the landscape at this point is the new Flintshire Bridge opened 6^th March, 1998 and the new Connah’s Quay Power Station opened in 1997 and, on the other side of the river Corus.

One of the most pleasant features of Connah’s Quay is Wepre Park with its woodland footpath which follows the Wepre Brook to Ewloe Castle.  Somewhere in these woods, Owain Gwynedd and his sons ambushed King Henry II and impeded his march into Wales in the 12^th Century.  Such were the dangers of this place that, subsequently, Ewloe Castle was built.

Nowadays a welcome is assured at the Visitor’s Centre in the Park which attracts many tourists, as well as local residents, wishing to gain a greater understanding of Nature and its conservation.

A gazetteer of the mid-19^th century describes the town thus:-

            “Connah’s Quay is a sea port and chapelry in Northop parish. 

            It stands on the estuary of the Dee at the terminus of the

            Buckley Railway and adjacent to the Chester and Holyhead

            Railway.  Its chapelry was constituted in 1844 and the living is

            a curacy in the diocese of St.Asaph.  It has a Post Office, a

            value of £301, 314 houses and a population (1861) of 1422.”