Llangollen1 takes its name from the Welsh llan meaning "a religious settlement" and Saint Collen, a 7th-century monk who founded a church beside the river.2 St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle. St Collen’s Church is the only church in Wales dedicated to St Collen, and he may have had connections with Colan in Cornwall and with Langolen in Brittany.
Above the town to the north is Castell Dinas Brân, a stronghold of the Princes of Powys. Beyond the castle is the impressive Lower Carboniferous limestoneescarpment known as the Eglwyseg Rocks. The outcrop continues north to World's End in Wrexham. The single track road north of the castle forms the , and a monument to poet from the village of is located near its easternmost end ().
This page is based on “Llangollen” from English Wikipedia, (r1362324554) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
The bridge at Llangollen was built across the Dee in the 16th century to replace a previous bridge built in about 1345 by John Trevor, of Trevor Hall (later Bishop of St Asaph), which replaced an even earlier bridge built in the reign of King Henry I. In the 1860s the present bridge was extended by adding an extra arch (to cross the new railway) and a two-storey stone tower with a castellated parapet. This became a café before being demolished in the 1930s to improve traffic flow. The bridge was also widened in 1873 and again in 1968, using masonry which blended in with the older structure.3 It is a Grade I listed structure and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.4
Plas Newydd ('new mansion' or 'new place') high on the outskirts of the town, was from 1780 the home of the Ladies of Llangollen (the Honourable Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Eleanor Butler) and their maid Mary Carryl. They share the same grave memorial in the church.5
Elevated on the opposite side of the Dee is Castell Dinas Brân, the ruins of a medieval castle built by the Princes of Powys Fadog.
There are two tiers of local government covering Llangollen, at community (town) and county level: Llangollen Town Council (Cyngor Tref Llangollen) and Denbighshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Ddinbych). The town council is based at the Town Hall on Parade Street.78
Administrative history
Llangollen was an ancient parish. It formed part of the commote of Nanheudwy within the cantref of Chirkland, which became part of Denbighshire on the county's creation in 1536.910 The parish was divided into three traeanau ("traean" being the Welsh for 'a third'): Llangollen Traean, Trefor Traean, and Glyn Traean.
Llangollen Traean contained the townships Bachau, Cysylltau, Llangollen Abad, Llangollen Fawr, Llangollen Fechan, Feifod, Pengwern and Rhisgog.
Trefor Traean contained the townships Cilmediw, Dinbren, Eglwysegl, Trefor Isaf and Trefor Uchaf.
Glyn Traean contained the townships Cilcochwyn, Crogeniddon, Crogenwladus, Erwallo, Hafodgynfor, Nantygwryd, Pennant and Talygarth.
In 1857, a local board district was established covering the central part of the parish around the town itself, administered by an elected local board.11 Llangollen Town Hall was built at the corner of Castle Street and Parade Street in 1867 to serve as the local board's meeting place and a public hall for the town.12
Local board districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894, which also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries. The parish of Llangollen was therefore reduced to match the urban district, and the remainder of the old parish was made a separate parish called Llangollen Rural.13
Llangollen Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The area became part of the new district of Glyndŵr in Clwyd. The area of the pre-1974 urban district became a community called Llangollen, with its community council taking the name Llangollen Town Council.1415 The upper tiers of local government were reorganised again in 1996, when the modern Denbighshire, and its county council were created.16
Shortly after the inclusion of Llangollen in Denbighshire, there were discussions whether Llangollen, Llangollen Rural and Llantysilio were to all or partly become part of the neighbouring Wrexham County Borough. Referendums by Llangollen Town Council were held in 1993 and 2000, with the latter resulting in a narrow majority of nineteen votes for staying in Denbighshire, and the Welsh Assembly accepting the result by confirming the boundaries in 2002.17 Llangollen Rural was the only one transferred in 1997.1819
Economy
Today Llangollen relies heavily on the tourist industry, but still gains substantial income from farming. Most of the farms in the hills around the town were sheep farms, and the domestic wool industry, both spinning and weaving, was important in the area for centuries. Several factories were later built along the banks of the River Dee, where both wool and cotton were processed. The water mill opposite Llangollen railway station is over 600 years old, and was originally used to grind flour for local farmers.
Culture
In the late 19th century, Llangollen had a weekly newspaper, the Llangollen Advertiser.
Llangollen hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1908. The Gorsedd ceremony was held on the Hermitage Field, next to Plas Newydd, and the circle of stones was later moved into the grounds of the hall. The eisteddfod itself took place on the old Vicarage Field at Fronhyfryd and was visited by David Lloyd George, accompanied by Winston Churchill.
Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod
The annual Llangollen International Eisteddfod is a large international music festival. It starts on a Tuesday and ends on the following Sunday. It opens with a parade led by the Llangollen Silver Band, in which both locals and visitors take part in dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments.20
"Pastai Fawr Llangollen" (The Great Llangollen Pie), Arfon Gwilym
According to an anonymous rhyme, the bridge over the Dee is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales.
The nursery rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" is frequently, but incorrectly, linked with Llangollen. Its true origins are in the United States:23"This is a lovely folklore story, but sadly Mary Thomas of Llangollen was not the heroine of the nursery rhyme ... The Mary of the rhyme was Mary Sawyer and the school was the Redstone Schoolhouse in Sterling Massachusetts, U.S.A."
Various buses serve the town, including buses to Wrexham (Arriva service 5), Barmouth (TrawsCymru service T3) and the Ceiriog Valley. Services 5 and T3 connect Llangollen to Ruabon and Wrexham, which have the closest railway stations on the national network. The Dee Valley Picturesque Bus (service 199) operates between April and November, linking Llangollen and the surrounding villages to popular local attractions including Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wenffrwd Nature Reserve, Horseshoe Falls, Valle Crucis Abbey, Plas Newydd house and the Horseshoe Pass.
Railways
The railway, operating both passenger and goods services, was extended from Ruabon, via Acrefair and Trevor, to reach Llangollen by 1865. The Ruabon to Barmouth Line became part of the Great Western Railway. However under the Beeching Axe of 1964, the line closed to passengers in early 1965, and to freight in April 1969.24 The line was lifted in May 1969.25 However, a 10-mile stretch of the line between Llangollen and Corwen has been restored and operates as the Llangollen Railway, a tourist attraction. In 2002, the Rainhill locomotive trials were re-staged on the line.
Waterways
The Ellesmere Canal was intended to connect the coal mines and ironworks at Ruabon and Wrexham to the canal network and thence to the sea via the River Mersey and the River Severn. The plans were altered, and instead of connecting Trevor northwards to the sea via the River Dee and southwards to the Severn, the canal ran eastwards to join the national network at Hurleston Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal near Nantwich. A feeder canal, navigable to Llangollen, was constructed from Trevor to tap water from the River Dee at Llantysilio (at the weir called "Horseshoe Falls"). After company mergers, the canal became part of the Shropshire Union System.26 Until recently it was properly called the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, though it is now known as the Llangollen Canal.
The canal supplied enough Dee water to supply Crewe and Nantwich, and when commercial traffic failed in the 1940s, it was kept open to function as a water supply. Amongst Britain's artificial waterways, the canal has an unusually strong flow of up to 2 miles per hour (3.2 kilometres per hour). Since the use of canals for leisure took off in the 1970s and 1980s, the route, roughly parallel to the river Dee and across the Dee Valley on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, is an important part of Llangollen's attraction as a holiday destination. Moorings at Llangollen Wharf and additional moorings in a marina are built at the end of the generally-navigable section, allowing visitors arriving by narrowboat to moor overnight in Llangollen. The canal then extends 1.7 miles (2.7 km), north and then west, to Horseshoe Falls in a section navigable only by a horse-drawn excursion boat.27
Llangollen1 takes its name from the Welsh llan meaning "a religious settlement" and Saint Collen, a 7th-century monk who founded a church beside the river.2 St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle. St Collen’s Church is the only church in Wales dedicated to St Collen, and he may have had connections with Colan in Cornwall and with Langolen in Brittany.
Above the town to the north is Castell Dinas Brân, a stronghold of the Princes of Powys. Beyond the castle is the impressive Lower Carboniferous limestoneescarpment known as the Rocks. The outcrop continues north to in . The single track road north of the castle forms the , and a monument to poet from the village of is located near its easternmost end ().
The bridge at Llangollen was built across the Dee in the 16th century to replace a previous bridge built in about 1345 by John Trevor, of Trevor Hall (later Bishop of St Asaph), which replaced an even earlier bridge built in the reign of King Henry I. In the 1860s the present bridge was extended by adding an extra arch (to cross the new railway) and a two-storey stone tower with a castellated parapet. This became a café before being demolished in the 1930s to improve traffic flow. The bridge was also widened in 1873 and again in 1968, using masonry which blended in with the older structure.3 It is a Grade I listed structure and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.4
Plas Newydd ('new mansion' or 'new place') high on the outskirts of the town, was from 1780 the home of the Ladies of Llangollen (the Honourable Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Eleanor Butler) and their maid Mary Carryl. They share the same grave memorial in the church.5
Elevated on the opposite side of the Dee is Castell Dinas Brân, the ruins of a medieval castle built by the Princes of Powys Fadog.
There are two tiers of local government covering Llangollen, at community (town) and county level: Llangollen Town Council (Cyngor Tref Llangollen) and Denbighshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Ddinbych). The town council is based at the Town Hall on Parade Street.78
Administrative history
Llangollen was an ancient parish. It formed part of the commote of Nanheudwy within the cantref of Chirkland, which became part of Denbighshire on the county's creation in 1536.910 The parish was divided into three traeanau ("traean" being the Welsh for 'a third'): Llangollen Traean, Trefor Traean, and Glyn Traean.
Llangollen Traean contained the townships Bachau, Cysylltau, Llangollen Abad, Llangollen Fawr, Llangollen Fechan, Feifod, Pengwern and Rhisgog.
Trefor Traean contained the townships Cilmediw, Dinbren, Eglwysegl, Trefor Isaf and Trefor Uchaf.
Glyn Traean contained the townships Cilcochwyn, Crogeniddon, Crogenwladus, Erwallo, Hafodgynfor, Nantygwryd, Pennant and Talygarth.
In 1857, a local board district was established covering the central part of the parish around the town itself, administered by an elected local board.11 Llangollen Town Hall was built at the corner of Castle Street and Parade Street in 1867 to serve as the local board's meeting place and a public hall for the town.12
Local board districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894, which also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries. The parish of Llangollen was therefore reduced to match the urban district, and the remainder of the old parish was made a separate parish called Llangollen Rural.13
Llangollen Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The area became part of the new district of Glyndŵr in Clwyd. The area of the pre-1974 urban district became a community called Llangollen, with its community council taking the name Llangollen Town Council.1415 The upper tiers of local government were reorganised again in 1996, when the modern Denbighshire, and its county council were created.16
Shortly after the inclusion of Llangollen in Denbighshire, there were discussions whether Llangollen, Llangollen Rural and Llantysilio were to all or partly become part of the neighbouring Wrexham County Borough. Referendums by Llangollen Town Council were held in 1993 and 2000, with the latter resulting in a narrow majority of nineteen votes for staying in Denbighshire, and the Welsh Assembly accepting the result by confirming the boundaries in 2002.17 Llangollen Rural was the only one transferred in 1997.1819
Economy
Today Llangollen relies heavily on the tourist industry, but still gains substantial income from farming. Most of the farms in the hills around the town were sheep farms, and the domestic wool industry, both spinning and weaving, was important in the area for centuries. Several factories were later built along the banks of the River Dee, where both wool and cotton were processed. The water mill opposite Llangollen railway station is over 600 years old, and was originally used to grind flour for local farmers.
Culture
In the late 19th century, Llangollen had a weekly newspaper, the Llangollen Advertiser.
Llangollen hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1908. The Gorsedd ceremony was held on the Hermitage Field, next to Plas Newydd, and the circle of stones was later moved into the grounds of the hall. The eisteddfod itself took place on the old Vicarage Field at Fronhyfryd and was visited by David Lloyd George, accompanied by Winston Churchill.
Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod
The annual Llangollen International Eisteddfod is a large international music festival. It starts on a Tuesday and ends on the following Sunday. It opens with a parade led by the Llangollen Silver Band, in which both locals and visitors take part in dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments.20
"Pastai Fawr Llangollen" (The Great Llangollen Pie), Arfon Gwilym
According to an anonymous rhyme, the bridge over the Dee is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales.
The nursery rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" is frequently, but incorrectly, linked with Llangollen. Its true origins are in the United States:23"This is a lovely folklore story, but sadly Mary Thomas of Llangollen was not the heroine of the nursery rhyme ... The Mary of the rhyme was Mary Sawyer and the school was the Redstone Schoolhouse in Sterling Massachusetts, U.S.A."
Various buses serve the town, including buses to Wrexham (Arriva service 5), Barmouth (TrawsCymru service T3) and the Ceiriog Valley. Services 5 and T3 connect Llangollen to Ruabon and Wrexham, which have the closest railway stations on the national network. The Dee Valley Picturesque Bus (service 199) operates between April and November, linking Llangollen and the surrounding villages to popular local attractions including Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wenffrwd Nature Reserve, Horseshoe Falls, Valle Crucis Abbey, Plas Newydd house and the Horseshoe Pass.
Railways
The railway, operating both passenger and goods services, was extended from Ruabon, via Acrefair and Trevor, to reach Llangollen by 1865. The Ruabon to Barmouth Line became part of the Great Western Railway. However under the Beeching Axe of 1964, the line closed to passengers in early 1965, and to freight in April 1969.24 The line was lifted in May 1969.25 However, a 10-mile stretch of the line between Llangollen and Corwen has been restored and operates as the Llangollen Railway, a tourist attraction. In 2002, the Rainhill locomotive trials were re-staged on the line.
Waterways
The Ellesmere Canal was intended to connect the coal mines and ironworks at Ruabon and Wrexham to the canal network and thence to the sea via the River Mersey and the River Severn. The plans were altered, and instead of connecting Trevor northwards to the sea via the River Dee and southwards to the Severn, the canal ran eastwards to join the national network at Hurleston Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal near Nantwich. A feeder canal, navigable to Llangollen, was constructed from Trevor to tap water from the River Dee at Llantysilio (at the weir called "Horseshoe Falls"). After company mergers, the canal became part of the Shropshire Union System.26 Until recently it was properly called the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, though it is now known as the Llangollen Canal.
The canal supplied enough Dee water to supply Crewe and Nantwich, and when commercial traffic failed in the 1940s, it was kept open to function as a water supply. Amongst Britain's artificial waterways, the canal has an unusually strong flow of up to 2 miles per hour (3.2 kilometres per hour). Since the use of canals for leisure took off in the 1970s and 1980s, the route, roughly parallel to the river Dee and across the Dee Valley on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, is an important part of Llangollen's attraction as a holiday destination. Moorings at Llangollen Wharf and additional moorings in a marina are built at the end of the generally-navigable section, allowing visitors arriving by narrowboat to moor overnight in Llangollen. The canal then extends 1.7 miles (2.7 km), north and then west, to Horseshoe Falls in a section navigable only by a horse-drawn excursion boat.27