The Eglwyseg valley is an area to the north east of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales; it is within the boundaries of Llantysilio Community. The name also refers to a widely scattered hamlet in the valley.
Formerly the old township of Eglwysegl or Eglwysegle, the area is now best known for its dramatic rock formations and unspoiled historic landscape.
The area is best known for the prominent Lower Carboniferous Limestone escarpment, the Eglwyseg Rocks, (Welsh : Creigiau Eglwyseg, 52°59′53″N3°09′50″W / 52.998°N 3.164°W ), which runs north–south for around 4.5 miles (7.2 km). The high point of the area is at 513 metres (1,683 ft) on Mynydd Eglwyseg (Eglwyseg Mountain, 53°00′32″N3°08′50″W / 53.0089°N 3.1471°W ). 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, the Eglwyseg River flowing into the River Dee near Pentrefelin.
The entire valley has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Landscape of Special Historic Interest. The upland moors have several Bronze Age burial mounds, 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 lynchets. [1] Historically, the crags have been quarried for limestone, and there are also several disused lead mines; the land use is currently a mixture of heather moorland managed for Black Grouse, improved sheep pasture and oak woodland, with conifer plantations 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 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 and Thomas Pennant, speculated that it may have taken its name from Eliseg (Elisedd ap Gwylog), a historical king of Powys. [2] It is, however, more likely that the name Eglwysegl was in fact derived from the Latin ecclesicula, a diminutive of ecclesia - a "churchlet or chapel". [3]
The relatively remote area continued to be farmed under freehold 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 yeomanry, undevoured as yet by the great men of the country. [4]
A medieval church, perhaps the chapel referred to in the name Eglwysegl, was marked on Speed and Saxton's 17th-century maps of the valley, but it had disappeared by 1808. [1] 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. [5] 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 still fords the river at World's End), and there are also a number of 18th-century stone bridges. [1]
The limestone cliffs were quarried in the past for building stone, and lime kilns were used to convert limestone to lime. This had uses as lime mortar as well as to improve soil. At the top of the valley, at Craig y Forwyn (near World's End) there was a lead and silver mine which operated in the mid 19th century. Also near the head of the valley, but on the Western side, was the Pant Glas slate quarry. After several years prospecting in the valley by John Jones and George Evans a body of slate was discovered there in 1883. With the backing of a Mr George Roper of London the Pant Glas Slate and Slab Company was formed in 1883. [6] An incline was built that year, and there were plans to build a tramway to carry the slate to Llangollen (much like the nearby Oernant Tramway), but this was never built. There was a tradgey in 1886 when three men were killed in the quarry by the sudden collapse of 1000 tons of overhanging rock. [7] The Pant Glas slate company was put into voluntary liquidation in 1892, the same year that the Llangollen Slab and Slate Company was wound up with closure of its quarries and the Pentrefelin slate and slab mill.
Eglwyseg was the setting for a popular legend of St. Collen, 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, was recorded at Corwen, amongst other localities. [8]
The manor house of Plas Uchaf yn Eglwyseg [Grid reference SJ 22828 47942 ] was said to stand on the site of a hunting lodge belonging to Owain ap Cadwgan, 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, 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). [9] Plas Uchaf was later the home of John Jones Maesygarnedd, a prominent Republican in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and one of the regicides of Charles I.
Offa's Dyke Path passes through the area, and Eglwyseg is also popular with rock climbers, with around 800 routes, both sport and traditional.
The 'Panorama Walk' starts at the westernmost junction of Blackwood Road (Garth Mountain) [Grid reference SJ 2481 4310 ], accessed from the A539 Ruabon-Llangollen main road either via Tower Hill in Acrefair or Garth Road, Trevor. 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 [Grid reference SJ 24589 42874 ] erected for local Welsh poet, I. D. Hooson. At the next clear bend [Grid reference SJ 2409 4295 ] the 'Walk' joins the Offa's Dyke Path and affords magnificent views of the Dee Valley, Castell Dinas Brân and the mountains beyond, and Trevor Rocks (with quarry) which marks the easternmost outcrop of the main Eglwyseg Escarpment. The junction with Dinbren Road [Grid reference SJ 2170 4463 ], 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. [Note: Grid References may also be accurately pinpointed by use of ‘UK Grid Reference Finder']. [10]
Eglwyseg is one of the few sites where the Whitebeam Sorbus anglica 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 and Rigid Buckler-Fern Dryopteris submontana have also been recorded here.
Offa's Dyke Path 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 the world. About 60 miles (97 km) of the 177-mile (285 km) route either follows, or keeps close company with, the remnants of Offa's Dyke, an earthwork traditionally thought to have been constructed in the late 8th century on the orders of King Offa of Mercia.
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 Beauty, with the easternmost point of the Dee Valley Way being within the town. It had a population of 3,658 at the 2011 census.
The Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales, and extending across the England–Wales border into Herefordshire. They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons national park, and are frequently confused with the westernmost, which is known as the Black Mountain. The Black Mountains may be roughly defined as those hills contained within a triangle defined by the towns of Abergavenny in the southeast, Hay-on-Wye in the north and the village of Llangors in the west. Other gateway towns to the Black Mountains include Talgarth and Crickhowell. The range of hills is well known to walkers and ramblers for the ease of access and views from the many ridge trails, such as that on the Black Hill in Herefordshire, at the eastern edge of the massif. The range includes the highest public road in Wales at Gospel Pass, and the highest point in southern England at Black Mountain.
The Nantlle Valley is an area in Gwynedd, North Wales, characterised by its numerous small settlements.
The Ruabon Moors are an area of upland moorland in Wales to the west of Ruabon and Wrexham. They lie partly within Wrexham County Borough and partly within Denbighshire.
World's End is a narrow vale located between Wrexham and Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales. It lies at the head of the Eglwyseg Valley, enclosed by the cliffs of Craig y Forwyn, Craig y Cythraul, and Craig yr Adar.
Craig y Cilau is a limestone escarpment in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. The name translates from Welsh as crag of the nooks.
Mynydd Llangatwg or Llangattock Mountain is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys, south Wales. It is named from the village of Llangatwg which sits in the valley of the River Usk to the north of it. It is essentially an undulating plateau rising in the west to a height of 530 metres (1,740 ft) at grid reference SO171157 and in the east to a height of 529 metres (1,736 ft) at Hen Dy-aderyn / Twr Pen-cyrn. This spot is marked by a trig point. The shallow pool of Pwll Gwy-rhoc sits in a broad depression towards the northern edge of the plateau whilst a smaller pool frequently occupies a large shakehole a few hundred metres to its west. The hill forms an impressive northern scarp overlooking the Usk valley and commonly referred to as the Llangattock Escarpment. Its southern margins are more subdued. Its eastern end is defined by the drops into the Clydach Gorge. Beyond the B4560 to the west the hill merges with Mynydd Llangynidr which has a similar character.
Llangattock is a village, community and electoral ward in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It lies in the Usk Valley just across the river from the town of Crickhowell. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal passes through the village en route between Brecon and Pontypool. It is in the historic county of Breconshire.
The Hatterrall Ridge is a ridge in the Black Mountains forming the border between Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales and Herefordshire in England. The ridge is about 10 miles (16 km) long, and is followed by the Offa's Dyke Path. On the west side of the ridge is the Vale of Ewyas, and on the east side is the Olchon Valley and Black Hill. The western side of the ridge falls within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Much of the northern part of the ridge is a broad whaleback, but it narrows down considerably further south, and especially near to Llanthony Priory in the Vale of Ewyas to the west of the mountain. There is a large and prominent landslip on the eastern side of the mountain here, known as Black Darren, where a large slice of the rocks has fallen away from the main mass of the hill.
Craig y Forwyn is a crag that encloses the northern side of World's End, near the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales. It is part of the limestone escarpment that separates the Eglwyseg Valley from the higher Ruabon Moors and, along with nearby Craig Arthur, is a popular site for rock climbing. Evidence of lead and silver mining is found just to the west. The Offa's Dyke Path runs along its foot.
Esclusham Mountain 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, with the nearby spur of Cyrn-y-Brain, to the west, reaching 473 m. It lies mostly within the community of Esclusham. A smaller spur to the north, known as Minera Mountain, is within the neighbouring community of Minera.
The bedrock geology of Carmarthenshire in west Wales consists largely of Palaeozoic age sedimentary rocks. Unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age in Carmarthenshire include a dissected cover of glacial till, valley floor alluvium and some scattered peat deposits in both upland and lowland settings. There are extensive beach and tidal flat deposits along the Carmarthenshire coast. The exploitation of the county's mineral riches, particularly coal and limestone, was a key part of the local economy through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Clwyd Limestone Group is a stratigraphic unit of Chadian to Brigantian age found in north Wales. It forms part of the Carboniferous Limestone Supergroup. Its most extensive outcrop is along the length of the Clwydian Range, immediately to the east of its crest, between Llandegla and Prestatyn. A further though more fragmented outcrop extends in an arc along the western margins of the Vale of Clwyd north from Rhyd-y-meudwy, west of Ruthin and then northwest to meet the coast at Llanddulas. It is prominently exposed at the Great Orme and Little Orme near Llandudno and again in three areas of eastern and southern Anglesey, together with a small area to the south of the Menai Strait between Bangor and Y Felinheli. The outcrop also extends southwards from Llandegla to form an impressive scarp at Creigiau Eglwyseg north of Llangollen and south again, to the west of Oswestry to Llanymynech Hill on the Powys/Shropshire border.
The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty located in north-east Wales, covering the Clwydian Range, and the valley of the River Dee.
