Loggerheads Country Park is a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...

in the village of Loggerheads, Denbighshire, Wales. The park has a wooded river valley that follows the course of the River Alyn and high cliffs from within the Clwydian Range of mountains, with views of the range's tallest mountain Moel Famau. The park has a visitor centre, woodland walks, and two landmarks—a historic corn mill called Pentre Mill, and a

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

called Devil's Gorge.

History

The site was the location of Pentre Mill, a corn mill dating to the early 19th century. The mill was powered by a water wheel near the River Alyn; the water wheel was closed in the 1940s and restored in the 1990s. The park was also the location of lead mining and quarrying. In 1926, the Crosville Motor Bus Company acquired land at Loggerheads and constructed tea rooms and gardens for visitors who often arrived at the park by bus. Other amenities included a bandstand, boating lake, and refreshment kiosks. Loggerheads was popular in the 1920s and 1930s but declined after the Second World War. In 1974, Clwyd County Council bought the land and the gardens for use as a country park. In 1984 a wooden tea room burned down.

Facilities

The park includes a visitor centre, corn mill, cafe, picnic area, nature trails, and walking tours. One of the mill buildings has been turned into an interactive audiovisual display explaining the landscape of the

Clwydian Range and Dee Valley , iucn_category =V , iucn_ref = , photo =Sunny Hillside, Frosty Valley Dee Valley Wales (11014647076).jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt =Image of the view of the Dee Valley from Moel Y Gamelin , photo_caption = ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Landmarks

Pentre Mill

Pentre Mill is a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

* listed corn mill at the park. A 1796 painting of Loggerheads by John Ingleby depicts a mill and water wheel at Loggerheads. The name of this mill is unconfirmed and

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

, the Welsh Heritage Body, has confirmed Pentre as early 19th century. The mill was used to grind corn and cereal into flour and also as a

circular saw A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. ''Cir ...

to cut wood. The mill was powered by a water wheel fed from the nearby River Alyn. It was in continuous use until 1942, when it was closed. After closure, the mill fell into disrepair. It was restored to working order in 1995. However, due to degradation of the sluice gate, weir, and water course, there was no water reaching the wheel. In 2012 the water course was repaired and the water wheel turns once more.

Devil's Gorge

Devil's Gorge is a

located in the park with two solid limestone walls that are high. Walkers cross a bridge over the gorge as part of a route through the park; it is also a destination for

rock climbing 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 and ...

and abseiling. One climbing route is called the Devil's Haircut.

References

{{reflist, 30em Country parks in Wales