For mouldering time hath swept away much of its grandeur and its form.
Llys, i.e. Palace or Prince’s Court, of Pengwern, is situated at the foot
of Pen y Coed, a tumulus-like hill on the east side of Llangollen, in a
well cultivated and fruitful valley, formed between, or rather of, the
bases of Pen y Coed, and the Berwyn. Little remains of the old house.
There are two vaulted rooms (the use of which I cannot conjecture)
standing at the end of the present house; and they are, I think, part of
the old palace. The roofs are formed with nine stone ribs, which support
a stone floor; for the rooms are one above the other, and the little
light admitted is through narrow loop-hole windows. There is no vault or
cellar beneath them. The site is extensive, and many old pointed gothic
windows appear about the dilapidated walls.
The place is now in the occupation of a very respectable farmer. Sir
Thomas Mostyn, Bart. is the proprietor, in whose family it has been a
great many years. I find that “Tudor Trevor, {43} who in the British
genealogies is reckoned to be lineally descended from Vortigern, that
unfortunate King of the Britons, who first invited the Saxons over into
his country, married Gwladdis (some call her Anghariad,) daughter of
Howell Dda, King of all Wales, by whom he had issue three sons; from the
eldest of whom, Llwydocca, this family of Mostyn is descended in a direct
male line. Tudor Trevor lived about A.D. 924, and his usual residence
was at Llys Pengwern, in Chirkland, in Denbighshire; which site, and
lands about it (though the house has been long destroyed,) is in the
possesion of the family to this day.”
There is a stone which seems to have belonged to the old Llys, wrought up
in the door-way, with an inscription which I cannot decipher. The design
seems a rude figure of a sword, with an obtuse point, and the letters cut
in relief on the blade. They are many of them unlike the characters I
have seen, although some of them bear a strong resemblance to the Roman,
and some few to the Saxon. The hilt of the sword, on which was the
beginning of the inscription, is wanting. This is the only inscribed
stone I could discover on the premises, although I was civilly assisted
in my researches by the occupier of the house. From the appearance of
many of the windows, &c. I should almost suppose it the remains of a
religious sanctuary.
Returning to the north side of the Dee, I must notice a small factory,
where cotton {44a} is spun and manufactured into cloth by machinery. It
was erected by a Mr. Turner. The main wheel is worked by a partial
diversion of the river. It has also a claim upon the Ellesmere Canal for
a supply of water, and affords employment for many of the inhabitants.
The builder and his partner unfortunately proving insolvent, the concern
was for a while stopped, and the factory stood unoccupied about five
years. It is now carried on by a very respectable firm from Manchester,
{44b} and is a great benefit to the town. The factory was destroyed by
fire in 1814, but being fully insured it was soon rebuilt. By means of
an outlet from the mill dam, a great quantity of fine trout and salmon
are caught here in the season.
I shall now proceed to give some account of Castell Dinas Bran, to which
I had before conducted my reader by the ancient road from the Berwyn
Mountains, &c.