Llanarmon-yn-Iâl is a village, and local government

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

, in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, Wales, lying in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

country in the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

of the River Alyn. The community is part of an electoral ward called Llanarmon-yn-Iâl/Llandegla. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,456, the community population being 1062.

Location

The village sits on the B5431 road, near the junction with the B5430, six miles south of the

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 rura ...

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

, at approximate

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

map

grid reference A projected coordinate systemalso called a projected coordinate reference system, planar coordinate system, or grid reference systemis a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on Earth using Cartesian coordinate system, Car ...

. The boundaries of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl community include, as well as the main village, the villages of Eryrys and Graianrhyd, along with a number of small hamlets and large areas of farmland. The community lies mostly within the boundaries of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

History

The village, considered the capital of the

commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

of Iâl (Yale)—the "hill country"—grew up around a religious community dedicated to a Roman Bishop named St. Germanus of Auxerre (St. Garmon in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

). Pilgrims travelling to St Garmon's shrine, which contained an image of the saint reputed to have miraculous properties, probably financed the construction of the impressive church of St. Garmon, dating from the 13th century. Near to the village, the Lords of Yale had constructed an earth-and-timber motte and bailey castle, Tomen-y-faerdre, during the 11th century, which seems to have acted as an administrative centre.

King John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

rebuilt the castle in 1212 for his campaign against Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. Just to the east of the village, close to the river, is a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

containing signs of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

human habitation. Llanarmon was located on several

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...

s and owed much of its prosperity to the cattle which passed through on their way from

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

to the markets of England. In the 19th century it was one of the few places in north Wales where

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

was grown, through heavy treatment of the fields with lime, which also helped to create lush pasture for the drovers' cattle. The local limestone quarries provided employment after the droving trade died out towards the end of the 19th century. It was the birthplace of the Welsh folklorist and poet Robert Bryan (1858–1920) and of the hymn-writer J. R. Jones ('Alltud Glyn Maelor'; 1800–81).

Amenities

In the centre of the village can be found a small, traditional

village shop A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

and the Raven Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, the last of the many drovers' inns that were once found in the village. Both shop and pub are "community run" by villagers. Llanarmon is 2 miles from the A494, a main north–south trunk route, and 3 miles from the A525 and the A5104 roads. The village is approximately 1.5 miles east of the Offa's Dyke National Trail. The picturesque nature of the village, and the natural beauty of its surroundings, combined with proximity to major routes, make it a popular destination for walkers and other outdoor pursuits enthusiasts.

References

External links

www.llanarmon.com: community websitewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanarmon-yn-Ial and surrounding area
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