Abergele (; ; ) is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

, situated on the north coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

between the holiday resorts of

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

and

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...

, in

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy ...

and in the historic county of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

coast. Abergele and Pensarn railway station serves both resorts. Abergele is often overlooked due to the popularity of towns in nearby

, Prestatyn,

, Llandudno and

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

. Only 46.5% of the population was born in Wales as of the 2011 census.

Etymology

The meaning of the name can be deduced by being the Welsh word for estuary, river mouth or confluence and the name of the river which flows through the town. is a dialectal form of , which means spear, describing the action of the river cutting through the land. It has also been suggested this river is named because its waters flash brightly. Abergele is often mispronounced as ah-bear-geh-lee by non-native Welsh speakers.

Geography

The town itself lies on the

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway ( cy, Gwibffordd Gogledd Cymru) is a major road in Wales and England, connecting Cheshire and north Wales. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway primary ...

and is known for Gwrych Castle. The town is surrounded by

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

covered

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

sides, which contain

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s with the rare lesser horseshoe bat. The highest hill is Moelfre Isaf (1040 ft) to the south of the town. There are views from

Cefn-yr-Ogof Cefn yr Ogof is the highest point of the hill to the west of Gwrych Castle near Abergele and Llanddulas. Ownership of the hillside is divided into three categories; an area managed by Welsh National Resources on behalf of the National Assembly ...

(669 ft), Gallt-y-Felin-Wynt (Tower Hill) (587 ft) and Castell Cawr (known locally as Tan y Gopa and nicknamed 'Lôn garu' (Lover's Lane)) which is 189 metres (620 feet). Castell Cawr is an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, one of several in the area. Dinorben hillfort to the east of town was destroyed in the 1980s. Abergele (including Pensarn) has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of around 10,000 and is part of the Abergele/

/ Prestatyn urban area with a population of 64,000. Approximately 29% of Abergele has a significant knowledge of Welsh. The town has satellite villages such as

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

Betws yn Rhos Betws yn Rhos ('' en, Chapel house in Rhos'') is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Betws yn Rhos is located about inland between the coastal towns of Abergele and Colwyn Bay. Until 1974 it formed part of Denbighshire, bu ...

, Rhyd-y-foel, Belgrano, Llanddulas and Llanfair Talhaearn. Pensarn and Belgrano are significantly less Welsh than the rest of town, with 69.3% of people having no Welsh identity in the 2011 census.

History

Abergele was the site of an important clas ( Celtic monastery) and remained settled into the 13th century. A "Prince Jonathan of Abergeleu" is listed by the B text of the Annals of Wales as dying during the 9th century reign of Rhodri the Great, although Charles-Edwards has supposed him to have simply been the monastery's abbot. Edward I is known to have briefly stayed there in December 1294 during his invasion of Wales to suppress the revolt of

Madog ap Llywelyn Madog ap Llywelyn (died after 1312) was the leader of the Welsh revolt of 1294–95 against English rule in Wales and proclaimed "Prince of Wales". The revolt was surpassed in longevity only by the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr in the 15th century. Ma ...

. Sites of historical interest include two

s; Castell Cawr at Tan y Gopa and Dinorben (now virtually disappeared owing to

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

ing) at St. George. On Gallt y Felin Wynt, a hill above the town known as Bryn Tŵr or by its English name 'Tower Hill', is a 17th-century

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

, partially restored in 1930. There is another Iron Age fort at Pen y Corddyn Mawr hill above Rhyd y Foel. There is also another watchtower, 'Tŵr Arglwyddes Emily' or 'Lady Emily's Tower', which is located near Cefn yr Ogof. Gwrych Castle was built between 1819 and 1825 at the behest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh. From 1894 until 1946 it was the residence of the Dundonald family. Gwrych Castle's present owner, California businessman Nick Tavaglione, who bought the landmark in December 1989, put Gwrych up for auction on 2 June 2006, but it failed to sell. The condition of the property is being monitored by the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust. It is undergoing renovation. The boxers Bruce Woodcock (in the late 1940s) and

Randolph Turpin Randolph Adolphus Turpin (7 June 1928 – 17 May 1966), better known as Randy Turpin, was a British boxer in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1951 he became world middleweight champion when he defeated Sugar Ray Robinson. He was inducted into the Intern ...

(in 1952) trained at Gwrych Castle. The film '' Prince Valiant'', was filmed there in 1996, starring Edward Fox and Katherine Heigl. A curious undated inscription can be found on a tombstone in St Michael's

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

(built on the site of the old clas). It states "Here lieth in St Michael's churchyard a man who had his dwelling three miles to the north." As the sea is little more than half a mile away at this point, this suggests that the sea has made some considerable advance over the centuries. Outside the church is a penitential stone where sinners had to do penance by standing, dressed in white, by the stone and beseech the congregation for mercy as they entered and left the church. The 1868

Abergele rail disaster The Abergele rail disaster, which took place near Abergele, North Wales, in August 1868, was the worst railway disaster in Great Britain up till then. The Irish Mail train was on its way from London to Holyhead, when a complicated shunting ope ...

was, at that time, the worst railway disaster in Britain. The 33 people who died are buried in a mass grave in the local churchyard. Abergele Sanitorium was built just outside Abergele in 1910; it became a community hospital in the 1980s. On 30 June 1969, the evening before the Investiture of the Prince of Wales in Caernarfon, two members of

Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (, ''Movement for the Defence of Wales''), abbreviated as MAC, was a paramilitary Welsh nationalist organisation, which was responsible for a number of bombing incidents between 1963 and 1969. The group's activities prima ...

(Welsh Defence Movement), Alwyn Jones and George Taylor, were killed when the bomb they were planting outside government offices exploded prematurely. In 2020 Abergele hosted the 20th edition of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' at Gwrych Castle, and in 2021 it hosted the 21st series due to the Covid pandemic restrictions in Australia. Tower_hill_abergele

Notable people

* Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh (1788–1861), owner of the Gwrych Castle and High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1828. * Emrys ap Iwan (1848–1906) a Welsh literary critic and writer on politics and religion. * Aylward M. Blackman (1883–1956 in Abergele) Egyptologist, excavated sites in Egypt and Nubia *

Mervyn Roberts Mervyn Roberts (23 November, 1906 12 July 1990), full name William Henry Mervyn Roberts, was a Welsh composer, best known for his piano music. Eiluned Davies regarded him as one of 'Y Pump Cymreig' (The Welsh Five) along with Denis ApIvor, Dan ...

(1906–1990), a Welsh composer, known for his piano music. * Arthur Banks GC (1923 in Llanddulas – 1944) member of the RAF during WWII, tortured and killed after being captured behind enemy lines; posthumously awarded the George Cross * David Vaughan (born 1983), footballer with 476 club caps and 42 for

* Georgia Wilson (born 1995), paralympic equestrian

Etymology

Geography

History

Notable people

References

External links