Stood close to the summit of Halkyn Mountain, Rhes-y-cae, literally translated as, ‘Row of Fields’, stands brooding and increasingly isolated, sited in a Bronze Age landscape of tumulus and cairn.  Its history is entwined with the lead found beneath its streets and hills, and its entirely possible that the Romans first exploited the resource – not a surprise, given their almost ubiquitous presence in Flintshire in order to mine the metal.  However, it was not until the modern era that mining began to have a discernible effect on the village itself.  Indeed, the site of a horse whimsey, a means of bringing up men and materials from mine shafts is still visible behind the now closed school.

 

With the expansion of mining activity in the village, the population inevitably grew, and with it, beer and religion.  The Black Lion, which had once been a farm and is now a home, and several places of worship, including the inevitably named Christ Church and several chapels were raised during the 18th and 19th centuries.

 

However, with the demise of the lead mining industry, Rhes-y-cae has slowly returned to the past – quiet and sedate.  However, every now and then, the past will reappear in the village, with the appearance of sink holes, linked to the caves and abandoned mines beneath the streets of the village.  A reminder then, of Rhes-y-cae’s industrial past.