There are two modern churches in Denbigh. The old parish church, S. Marchell’s, is at Whitchurch, about a mile out of the town. S. Hilary’s, in Old Denbigh, was only the castle chapel. S. Marchell’s is a good fifteenth-century building, and is now used as a mortuary chapel. The roofs are specially fine. In it is the tomb of Sir John “of the double thumbs.” He was a man of enormous strength, and is reported to have killed a white lioness in the Tower by a blow of his fist. He died in 1578. In the porch are two brasses of Richard Myddelton, of Gwaenynog, Governor of Denbigh Castle in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, and of his wife Jane. Denbigh was the native place of Hugh Myddelton, who, largely at his own expense, brought the New River from Ware, twenty miles distant, to London. He was the sixth son of the above-mentioned Richard, and was a goldsmith in Basinghall Street. His elder brother Thomas was a grocer--so little in those days was trade thought to be unsuitable for men of gentle birth and good position. He represented Denbigh in Parliament several times, and obtained a charter of incorporation for his native town. A proper supply of pure water to the Metropolis had often been canvassed by the corporation, and the wells were frequently contaminated and productive of periodical outbreaks of fever. Myddelton declared himself ready to carry out the great work, and in 1609 “the dauntless Welshman” began his undertaking. The engineering difficulties were not all he had to contend with, for he had to overcome violent opposition from the landowners, who drew a harrowing picture of the evils that would result were his scheme carried through, as they contended, for his own private benefit. Worried by this senseless but powerful party, with a vast and costly labour only half completed, and with the probability of funds failing, most men would have broken down in bankruptcy and despair. But James I. came to his aid and agreed to furnish one half of the expense if he were granted one half of the ultimate profits. This spirited act of the King silenced opposition, the work went on, and in about fifteen months after this new contract the water was brought into London. The popular story is that Myddelton ruined himself by this undertaking, and had to apply for relief of his necessities to the citizens of London, who, however, failed to unbutton their pockets for their benefactor. He fell into poverty, and disguising himself under the name of Raymond, laboured as a common pavior in Shropshire.