The Eglwyseg valley is an area to the north east of
Llangollen
Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...
in
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 ...
,
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 ...
; it is within the boundaries of
Llantysilio
Llantysilio ( cy, Llandysilio-yn-Iâl) is a community in Denbighshire, Wales, near Llangollen. It has a population of 472, falling to 421 at the 2011 census.
The community includes the site of Valle Crucis Abbey, the Horseshoe Pass, and Llant ...
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, ...
. The name also refers to a widely scattered hamlet in the valley.
Formerly the old
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
of Eglwysegl or Eglwysegle, the area is now best known for its dramatic rock formations and unspoiled historic landscape.
Topography
The area is best known for the prominent Lower
Carboniferous Limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...
, the Eglwyseg Rocks, ( cy, Creigiau Eglwyseg, ), which runs north–south for around . The high point of the area is at on ''Mynydd Eglwyseg'' (Eglwyseg Mountain, ). Various parts of the escarpment have specific names; these include ''
Craig y Forwyn'' (Maiden's Rock), ''Craig Arthur'' (Arthur's Rock), ''Tair Naid y Gath'' (the Three Leaps of the Cat) and ''Craig y Cythraul'' (Devil's Rock). The ''Afon Eglwyseg'' (Eglwyseg River) flows through the valley, joined by a number of tributary streams such as the ''Nant Elli'' and ''Nant Craig y Moch''.
The head of the valley is known as
World's End, and is a popular spot with walkers, cyclists and tourists. The lower end of the valley joins the Vale of
Llangollen
Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...
, the Eglwyseg River flowing into the
River Dee near Pentrefelin.
History
The entire valley has been designated a
Site of Special Scientific Interest and Landscape of Special Historic Interest. The upland
moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
have several
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
burial mound
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
s, and there is evidence of agricultural use of the area from the Bronze Age onwards, with the higher pastures being used for summer grazing and the valleys for winter grazing and as arable land, the latter indicated by remaining
lynchet
A lynchet or linchet is an Terrace (earthworks), earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly found in vertical rows and more commonly referred to as "strip lyn ...
s.
[The Vale of Llangollen - Dinbren Llangollen Community, Denbighshire, and Llangollen Rural Community, Wrexham]
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust Historically, the crags have been quarried for limestone, and there are also several disused
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
mines; the land use is currently a mixture of
heather moorland managed for
Black Grouse
The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...
, improved sheep pasture and
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
woodland, with
conifer plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s dating from the second half of the twentieth century. In 2000 an insect infestation meant that the entire moorland was sprayed to kill off the insects. This was successful and soon after sheep were allowed to graze in the moorland.
The ancient
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
of Eglwysegl (also spelt "Eglwysegle" or "Egloysegle", and the root of the modern name Eglwyseg) occupied part of the area. Some antiquaries, such as
Edward Lhuyd
Edward Lhuyd FRS (; occasionally written Llwyd in line with modern Welsh orthography, 1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also named in a Latinate form as Eduardus Luidius.
Life
...
and
Thomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant (14 June OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales.
As a naturalist he h ...
, speculated that it may have taken its name from
Eliseg (Elisedd ap Gwylog), a historical king of
Powys
Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain.
Geog ...
. It is, however, more likely that the name Eglwysegl was in fact derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''ecclesicula'', a
diminutive of ''ecclesia'' - a "churchlet or chapel".
The relatively remote area continued to be farmed under
freehold
Freehold may refer to:
In real estate
*Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple
* Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England
* Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...
tenure; Pennant alluded to this when, writing around 1778, he described the valley:
Long and narrow, bounded on the right by astonishing precipices, divided into numberless parallel strata of white limestone, often giving birth to vast yew-trees ..this valley is chiefly inhabited (happily) by an independent race of warm and wealthy yeoman
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...
ry, undevoured as yet by the great men of the country.
A medieval church, perhaps the chapel referred to in the name Eglwysegl, was marked on
Speed
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (ma ...
and
Saxton's 17th-century maps of the valley, but it had disappeared by 1808.
The school church of St Mary's, built on land donated by Sir
Watkin Williams-Wynn, was opened in 1871; it held its last service in 1985 and has now been converted to residential use. The valley also contained a nonconformist (Calvinistic Methodist) chapel, built in 1856, closed in 1930, and now ruinous. Until the early 20th century, when they were
culverted, there were many
fords across Eglwyseg's numerous streams (the road from
Esclusham Mountain
Esclusham Mountain ( Welsh: ''Mynydd Esclus'' or ''Mynydd Esclys'') is an area in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, United Kingdom, and is part of the Ruabon Moors. It rises to a height of 460 m (1509 feet), with the nearby spur of Cyrn-y-Brain, to ...
still fords the river at World's End), and there are also a number of 18th-century stone bridges.
Folklore
Eglwyseg was the setting for a popular legend of St.
Collen
Collen was a 7th-century monk who gave his name to Llangollen (from the Welsh llan meaning 'enclosure' and ''gollen'' being a mutation of "Collen").
Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle and founded a church beside the riv ...
, who was supposed to have killed a giantess called Cares y Bwlch, despite her call for aid from Arthur, another giant who had made his home in the Eglwyseg Rocks. The legend, related by
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...
, was recorded at
Corwen
Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. 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 Llango ...
, amongst other localities.
The manor house of Plas Uchaf yn Eglwyseg
rid reference was said to stand on the site of a hunting lodge belonging to
Owain ap Cadwgan
Owain ap Cadwgan (died 1116) was a prince of Powys in eastern Wales. He is best known for his abduction of Nest, wife of Gerald of Windsor.
Owain was the eldest son of Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, prince of part of Powys. He is first recorded in 1106, when ...
, a prince of Powys: a story related that it was the place to which Owain took
Nest ferch Rhys, when he abducted her and her children from
Gerald de Windsor
Gerald de Windsor (1075 – 1135), ''alias'' Gerald FitzWalter, was an Anglo-Norman lord who was the first Castellan of Pembroke Castle in Pembrokeshire (formerly part of the Kingdom of Deheubarth). Son of the first Constable of Windsor Castle ...
, her husband, in 1109. There was also a local tradition that a Prince Llewelyn had once hidden in a cave in the rocks near Plas Uchaf (there were
several Welsh princes of this name). Plas Uchaf was later the home of
John Jones Maesygarnedd
John Jones Maesygarnedd (c. 1597 – 17 October 1660) was a Welsh military leader and politician, known as one of the regicides of King Charles I following the English Civil War. A brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell, Jones was a Parliamentarian ...
, a prominent Republican in the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...
, and one of the
regicides
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
of
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
.
Today
Offa's Dyke Path
Offa's Dyke Path ( cy, Llwybr Clawdd Offa) is a long-distance footpath loosely following the Wales–England border. Officially opened on 10 July 1971, by Lord Hunt, it is one of Britain's National Trails and draws walkers from throughout th ...
passes through the area, and Eglwyseg is also popular with
rock climbers
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...
, with around 800 routes, both
sport
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
and
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
.
The 'Panorama Walk' starts at the westernmost junction of Blackwood Road (Garth Mountain)
rid reference accessed from the A539 Ruabon-Llangollen main road either via Tower Hill in
Acrefair or Garth Road,
Trevor
Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish la ...
. From Blackwood Road the Walk (or drive) proceeds SSE to the sharp right turn to head westwards along the Vale of Llangollen. Approximately 100m beyond the cattle grid is a small parking area from which a pathway leads to the stone memorial
rid reference erected for local Welsh poet,
I. D. Hooson.
At the next clear bend
rid reference the 'Walk' joins the Offa's Dyke Path and affords magnificent views of the Dee Valley,
Castell Dinas Brân
Castell Dinas Brân is a medieval castle, built by the Princes of Powys Fadog, who occupy a prominent hilltop site above the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales. The presently visible stone castle was probably built in the 1260s by Gruffy ...
and the mountains beyond, and Trevor Rocks (with quarry) which marks the easternmost
outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...
of the main Eglwyseg Escarpment. The junction with Dinbren Road
rid reference which leads to Llangollen town centre, is where the Panorama walk officially ends; the Offa's Dyke Path continues onwards to World’s End and beyond.
ote: Grid References may also be accurately pinpointed by use of ‘UK Grid Reference Finder'[UK Grid Reference Finder: https://gridreferencefinder.com/]
Eglwyseg is one of the few sites where the Whitebeam ''
Sorbus anglica
''Sorbus anglica'', the English whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam tree in the family Rosaceae. It is uncommonly found in Ireland and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the Un ...
'' is known to grow, and one of only three sites where the Welsh Hawkweed (''
Heiracium cambricum'') has been recorded. The rare Limestone Oak Fern ''
Gymnocarpium robertianum
''Gymnocarpium robertianum'', the limestone fern or scented oakfern, is a fern of the family Cystopteridaceae.
Description
''Gymnocarpium robertianum'' has small (10–50 cm), deltate, two- to three-pinnate fronds. Fronds arise from creep ...
'' and Rigid Buckler-Fern ''
Dryopteris submontana
:''The moth genus ''Dryopteris'' is now considered a junior synonym of '' Oreta.
''Dryopteris'' , commonly called the wood ferns, male ferns (referring in particular to '' Dryopteris filix-mas''), or buckler ferns, is a fern genus in the family ...
'' have also been recorded here.
References
{{reflist
External links
Historic Landscape Characterisation: The Vale of Llangollen & EglywsegRockfax: ClwydPhotos of Eglwyseg and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
Valleys of Denbighshire
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Clwyd