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Corwen is a town 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, villag ...
in the 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 (Bontnew ...
in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. Historically, Corwen is part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llangollen and south of Ruthin. At the 2001 Census, Corwen (community and ward) had a population of 2,325, decreasing slightly from the 2001 population of 2,398, The community, with an area of , includes Corwen and the surrounding villages of Carrog, Clawdd Poncen and Glyndyfrdwy. The
Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for ...
identifies Corwen Built-up area with a 2011 population of and an area of .


History

Corwen is best known for its connections with
Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in W ...
, who was proclaimed Prince of Wales on 16 September 1400, from his nearby manor of Glyndyfrdwy, which began his fourteen-year rebellion against English rule. A statue of Glyndŵr by the sculptor Simon van de Put was installed in The Square in Corwen in 1995, and in 2007 it was replaced with a larger equestrian statue by Colin Spofforth. It commemorates the day he was proclaimed the last true Prince of Wales in 1400. The town grew as a centre for
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
drovers. Attractions in Corwen include the
motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...
of a Norman
castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
, the thirteenth-century Church of St Mael and St Sulien and the Capel Rûg built in 1637 by William Salesbury. Corwen Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1909. The club closed at the onset of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.


Economy

Located in the hills of north Wales, the main economy of Corwen is based in and around
farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...
. The town's main employer is local trailer manufacturer Ifor Williams Trailers, started by a farmer looking to transport sheep to the local market.


Transport

In the 1860s Corwen was linked to the national rail network in 1864 by a line from Ruthin along the Vale of Clwyd and in 1865 with a
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...
branch line along the Dee valley from
Ruabon Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original churc ...
. The
station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...
was a vital development in the town's importance as the centre of the local agriculture industry. Unfortunately neither survived the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
in the 1960s. The town is now linked to the Llangollen Railway. A temporary station, Corwen East (Welsh: ''Dwyrain Corwen''), was opened on 22 October 2014. The
permanent way A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepe ...
had been extended into Corwen in late spring 2014. Work is in progress to construct a new permanent Corwen railway station alongside the town's main car-park, near the town centre. Bus services in Corwen were primarily provided by GHA Coaches with routes available to
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...
via Llangollen on services 5 and T3, Barmouth via
Bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...
and Dolgellau on service T3 (now operated by Lloyds Coaches), and to Ruthin on service X5 (now operated by Arriva Buses Wales), with through services continuing to Denbigh. Llew Jones operate a twice daily, weekday service to
Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known ...
with one journey extended to/from
Bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...
. Corwen is the last sizeable settlement on the A5 road from
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to Holyhead until Betws-y-Coed is reached. Because of this it still contains a number of hotels which were used in the past as coaching inns for the Mail coach and
stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
es. Although the A5 is no longer the most important road to Holyhead, having been superseded by the coastal route of the A55, there is still significant traffic travelling through the town centre's narrow main street.


Governance

At the local level, Corwen is governed by Corwen Town Council, with 13 town councillors elected or co-opted from the Lower ward and Upper ward of the town. Corwen had its own electoral ward to Denbighshire County Council, until the
2022 local elections This local electoral calendar for 2022 lists the subnational elections held in 2022. Referendums, Recall election, recall and retention elections, and national By-election, by-elections (special elections) are also included. January *9 January: ...
. The ward elected one county councillor.
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...
councillor, Huw "Chick" Jones, died in office in 2020, leading to a by-election in March 2021 which was won by Plaid Cymru's Alan Hughes. In 2022 the ward was merged with the neighbouring Llandrillo ward, to be named Edeirnion, electing two councillora. Hughes was one of the successful candidates at the
2022 Denbighshire County Council election An election to Denbighshire County Council took place on 5 May 2022 as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections. The previous elections took place in May 2017 and the next are scheduled to happen in 2027 Ward changes Following a ward boundary rev ...
.


Culture

Corwen hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1919. The Pavilion in the town, which was pulled down in 2015, played an important part in Welsh culture throughout the 20th century. It hosted several concerts and eisteddfodau. It was also the venue for the first concerts performed by Edward H. Dafis, the first Welsh-language rock band to receive significant press notice, in August 1973. In 1938, Elena Puw Morgan, then living in Annedd Wen, Corwen, became the first woman to win the Literary Medal for her novel Y Graith (The Scar) at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff. Novelist John Cowper Powys (1872-1963) lived in Corwen with his
common-law wife Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil ...
Phyllis Playter from 1935 until 1955, when they moved to Blaenau Ffestiniog. He wrote two major novels both set in this region of Wales, while living in Corwen, ''Owen Glendower'' (1940) and ''
Porius ''Porius'' is a genus of Papuan jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1892. it contains only two species, found only in Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua ...
'' (1951), amongst other works of both fiction and non-fiction. In 1940 he began a novel set in contemporary Corwen but gave it up, to start his "Romance of Corwen", '' Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages'', in January 1942, the action of which takes place in 499 AD.''Descent of Memory'', p.351.


Geography


Notable residents

* John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet; moved to Corwen in 1935, where he set two novels * Elena Puw Morgan (1900–1973, writer, in 1938 was the first woman to win the Literary Medal at the National Eisteddfod with the novel ''Y Graith (The Scar)'' * Frank Serpico (born 1936), a retired New York Police Department detective, lived in Orissor College from 1979 to 1980. * Sarah Green (born 1982), businesswoman and politician, MP for Chesham and Amersham since 2021. *
Hywel Lloyd Hywel Lloyd (born 14 March 1985 in Corwen, Wales) is a racing driver, currently driving in the British Formula 3 Championship for his family-run CF Racing team.British Formula 3


References


External links

* {{authority control Towns in Denbighshire Communities in Denbighshire Wards of Denbighshire