Page
Aqueduct of Pontcysyllte 33
Berwyn Mountains 25
Brynkinallt 18
Castell Dinas Bran 46
Chirk Castle 13
Village 16
Clawdd Offa, or Offa’s Dyke 6, 10
Conclusion 101
Dee, River 72
Glyn Dyfrdwy 76
La Crucis, or Pillar of Eliseg 68
Llangollen Town 1
Church 93
Bridge 75
Vicarage 41
Llantysilio 58
Llys Pengwern 42
Plas Newydd 99
Ruabon, or Rhiwabon 7
Trevor Hall 39
Valle Crucis Abbey 59
Wynnstay 8
LLANGOLLEN
AND
ITS VICINITY.
“Here let me still with simple Nature live,
My lowly field-flowers on her altar lay;
Enjoy the blessings that she meant to give,
And calmly pass my inoffensive day.”
The attraction of North Wales, by its romantic scenery, the antiquity of
its language, and the well authenticated records of its desperate
struggle for independence, renders every part of the Principality
interesting, and perhaps none more so than the beautifully picturesque
town and neighbourhood of Llangollen, which have deservedly excited the
attention and admiration of a vast number of strangers and antiquarians.
Nor have the expectations of its numerous visitors been disappointed;
for, though the Alps may raise their towering summits to a greater
height—may embosom in their dark recesses more ample lakes, and give rise
to more magnificent rivers—yet even they cannot present a more pleasing
variety of scenery, or more picturesque views, than those with which
Llangollen is surrounded.
This small market town is on the border of North Wales, and is situated
in that part of the county of Denbigh which adjoins Shropshire. It is on
the south {2a} bank of the river Dee, and the mail road from London to
Holyhead passes through the town. The distance from London to Llangollen
is about one hundred and ninety miles, and from the latter place to
Holyhead seventy-seven miles.
The town consists of one long badly paved street, and a short cross one,
together with some courts and alleys, called squares, but which at
present ill deserve an appellation generally conveying to the mind an
idea of neatness, if not of superiority, as they are for the most part
formed with obscure mean-looking houses, built of the dark-coloured
silicious stone procured from the rocky bed of the river, and from the
surrounding hills. The houses are seldom more than two stories high, and
have a very sombre appearance, except where the owners have had the good
taste to avail themselves of the lime which is near at hand, in
rough-casting or plastering the fronts. The difference of the appearance
of the buildings thus finished is so advantageous that it is to be hoped
the plan will be generally adopted. {2b}
Increase of population has here the effect which is usually attributed to
it, viz. a manifest improvement in the town. The last census states the
number of houses at 289, and of the population at 1287; but the
inhabitants may at this time (A.D. 1827) be fairly estimated at 1500, and
habitations in proportion. {3a} Among the newly-erected houses are some
very neat buildings, at which private lodgings may be obtained, with
every requisite accommodation.
Llangollen has a market on Saturday, and five {3b} fairs in the year,
viz. on the last Friday in January, the 17th of March, the 31st of May,
the 21st of August, and on the 22nd of November; at which, horses, horned
cattle, pigs, butter, cheese, &c. are sold. A market house once stood
where the Hand Gardens now are, and is a convenience much wanted.
Besides the London Mail to Holyhead, which passes through Llangollen
every afternoon at five o’clock, {3c}; and leaves the letter bags, which
it takes up again about eight o’clock every morning, there are regular
stage coaches passing to and from London and Holyhead every day. Light
vans, for the conveyance of luggage, &c. pass twice a week from Salop.
{3d} There are also waggon conveyances, through Wrexham, to Chester;
{3e} and boats on a collateral branch of the Ellesmere Canal, which start
at stated periods for Liverpool, &c.
There are twelve {4} licensed inns and public houses in this little town,
all of them very respectable; and whether it is owing to superior
management, or to the excellence of the water, which is the most pure
imaginable, and flows abundantly in every part of the town, the ale
brewed in Llangollen is in great and deserved repute all over the
kingdom.
Two principal inns and hotels adorn the town—the Hand inn, which is in
the centre, near the church; and the King’s Head, at the west end, near
the bridge. The excellent accommodations afforded in both of them are
not surpassed; they are under the best regulations, and abound with
elegance and convenience. Post carriages and horses are kept at both
houses, and the harp resounds in their halls. The Viceroys of the sister
kingdom, as well as the nobility, seem to regard Llangollen as a
favourite resting-place, in passing from one country to the other.
Mountains and hills enclose the town on every side. On the south, the
Berwyn Mountains raise their lofty heads. On the north, Castell Dinas
Bran, vulgarly called Crow Castle, seated on its conical summit, frowns
over the town in ruined grandeur, and is backed with the vast and
wonderful range of lime-stone, which forms a ridge stratum super stratum,
and called the Eglwyseg Rocks. A portion of these rocks, with the little
tumulus-like hill of Pen y Coed, forms the eastern barrier. On the west,
the lofty Gerant, {5} or Moel y Barbwr, with the Bwlch Coed Herddyn, and
other distant mountains, close the scene.
The sacred Dee, which here foams along its rocky bed, is crossed by a
stone bridge at the western extremity of the town; the church stands in
the centre; and at the east end is Plas Newydd, the residence of the two
highly respected ladies whom Miss Seward has recorded in song.
Having thus given a brief sketch of Llangollen, embosomed as it is in a
vale where all the beauties of nature seem to concentre, I shall proceed
to retrace and fill up the outline of the picture, by classing under the
name of each remarkable place its description, and the particulars of its
history, quoting from and referring to authorities as I proceed; but as,
from the varied scenery and the romantic views with which this
neighbourhood abounds, an attempt to do justice to its several beauties
would be vain, I shall abstain from endeavouring fully to describe what
requires a more nervous hand than mine to paint; leaving to the reader’s
taste full scope to select the scenes most congenial to his disposition,
assuring him, that whether the dreary waste, over whose vast plains
sterility and barrenness hold eternal sway; or the luxuriance of verdant
meads and shady groves—the sombre haunts of secluded retirement; or the
soul-inspiring gaiety of nature in her most lightsome mood—be most in
unison with his frame of mind, here may be found solace for the
melancholy, amusement for the gay, exercise for the naturalist, and food
for the antiquarian and philosopher.
As a commencement of my proposed tour, I shall now beg my reader to
accompany me on the north side of the Dee, to Clawdd Offa, or Offa’s
Dyke, the ancient boundary of this part of the Principality.