THIS picturesque village is situated upon the great road from Shrewsbury
to Holyhead, and about a quarter of a mile from the banks of the river
Dee, in the county of Merioneth. It is seated art the base of a bold
rock, a projection of the Berwyn mountains, against which the white tower
of its church is well relieved, and forms an imposing feature in the
beautiful landscape which the valley of the Dee presents at this place.
It is an inland town, possessing the advantages of a market and good inn,
but without any trade or manufacture; it has grown up into its present
neat and cheerful aspect since the construction of the noble road which
passes through it, and the traveller has here the gratification of
observing, that whatever portion of his viaticum is expended at Corwen,
is carefully husbanded and judiciously employed by its inhabitants. The
church, a conspicuous feature in the distant view, is on a large scale in
proportion to the extent of the town. In the cemetery surrounding it is
the shaft of an ancient cross of excellent workmanship; and at the
farther side stands a range of buildings two stories in height, called
the College of Corwen. The following inscription, graven on a tablet
placed over the entrance, explains its benevolent object:
“Corwen College for Six Widows of Clergymen of the Church of England,
who died possessed of cure of souls, in the county of Merioneth, A.D.
M.D.CCL. By the legacy of William Eyton, Esq. of Plas Warren.”
Corwen is the country of Owen Glandwr. The head inn is adorned by his
gigantic portrait: in the church wall is shown the private doorway,
through which he entered his pew whenever he attended worship, and in the
rock impending over the church yard is a recess, called “his chair.”
From this rude seat Glandwr is said to have thrown a dagger with such
strength that it left an impression of its form in a hard stone below,
full half an inch in depth, which stone now forms the lintel of the
doorway leading to his pew within the church.
On the sloping brow of a lofty hill, having a western aspect, is a
circular enclosure, formed by loose stones but arranged in a systematic
way, and measuring rather more than half a mile in circumference. Some
scattered heaps within it are supposed to have been habitations, but
nothing now appears to justify the notion. This curious circus is called
Caer Drewyn, and Owen Gwynedd is said to have been encamped within it
while the army of Henry the Second lay on the opposite side of the vale.
A situation so commanding could not have escaped the notice of the
prudent Glandwr, who frequently took shelter within this rude fortress,
from which he had a free and uninterrupted view of his native vale of
Glan-Dwrdwy. About one mile from Corwen is Rûg, the beautiful seat of
Colonel Vaughan.