County in Wales
Denbighshire
The man who found Dr Livingstone was born in Denbigh, a Welsh Bible translator became Bishop of St Asaph, and Rhyl's seaside has welcomed holidaymakers for generations.
Key information
- County
- Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych)
- Nation
- Wales
- Population
- about 95,000 (2021 Census)
- Known for
- Llangollen's International Musical Eisteddfod, Rhyl and Prestatyn seafronts, the Clwydian Range, St Asaph Cathedral
- What locals are called
- Denbighshire folk, or by town: Rhylites, Denbigh people, Ruthin people
- Famous people
- Henry Morton Stanley, Tom Pryce, Lady Eleanor Butler, Sarah Ponsonby
- Football clubs
- Rhyl 1879, Prestatyn Town, Denbigh Town, Ruthin Town, Llangollen Town
About Denbighshire
Dr Livingstone, I presume? He was a Denbigh lad
The explorer Henry Morton Stanley, famous for tracking down David Livingstone in Africa in 1871, was born in Denbigh in 1841. He began life as John Rowlands and spent part of his childhood in the workhouse at nearby St Asaph. He later reinvented himself, changing his name and heading for America. Denbigh still has the shattered hilltop castle that dominates the town, built by Edward I's men after the conquest of Wales. Its great gatehouse is the showpiece. The town is also home to the Denbigh plum, a local fruit variety of the Vale of Clwyd that has its own followers and a festival each autumn.
The tiny city with a Welsh Bible bishop
St Asaph is one of the smallest cities in Britain, and its cathedral is the smallest ancient cathedral in the country. The place was given city status in 2012, as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The cathedral's big claim to fame is William Morgan. He completed the first full translation of the Bible into Welsh in 1588 while vicar of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, and later became Bishop of St Asaph. That book did a great deal to keep the Welsh language alive as a living, written tongue. A memorial to him stands in the cathedral grounds. Not bad for a place you can walk across in a few minutes.
Llangollen: where the world comes to sing
Every July, Llangollen's population swells for the International Musical Eisteddfod, founded in 1947 to help heal a war-torn Europe through folk song and dance. Choirs and dancers arrive from across the globe. In 1955 a young Luciano Pavarotti came with his father's choir from Modena, and the choir won. Above the town sit the ruins of Dinas Brân, a medieval castle on a steep hill, wrapped in legend. Nearby are Valle Crucis Abbey and Eliseg's Pillar, a ninth-century carved stone shaft. The River Dee, the canal and the steam trains of the Llangollen Railway add to the scenery. It was also home to the famous Ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby. The Irish pair left Ireland together in 1778 and settled at Plas Newydd in 1780, where their unconventional household drew visitors from across Europe.
Buckets, spades and a very long path
Rhyl is the county's big seaside town. It has a promenade, a funfair, a pavilion theatre, the Sky Tower and a marine lake, and has welcomed holidaymakers by train from the north-west of England for generations. Prestatyn, just along the coast, is where the Offa's Dyke Path begins, a 177-mile route to Chepstow following the old Anglo-Welsh frontier. Walkers set off from the seafront with a long way ahead of them. Rhuddlan, near the coast, is where Edward I issued the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, which set out how Wales was to be governed after the conquest. Its castle still stands beside the river.
Hills, a ruined tower and a revolt that began in Ruthin
The Clwydian Range runs through the county as a line of heather-topped hills, and is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its high point is Moel Famau, around 554 metres. On top stands the stump of the Jubilee Tower, begun in 1810 to mark George III's fiftieth year on the throne and blown down in a storm in 1862. Below lies the Vale of Clwyd and Ruthin, a market town of crooked streets and timber-framed houses. In 1400 Owain Glyndŵr attacked it, an early blow in his great revolt against English rule. Ruthin also gave the world the Formula One driver Tom Pryce, born there in 1949. Further west, the moorland of Hiraethog and the reservoir of Llyn Brenig offer big skies, walking and cycling trails.
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