Denbighshire

Denbighshire, a county of North Wales, on the Irish Sea, and between the Dee and the Conway. With 8 miles of coast, it is 41 miles long, 17 broad on an average, and 603 sq. m. in area, being the sixth in size of the Welsh counties. The surface is partly rugged and mountainous, with some beautiful and fertile vales, as the vale of the Clwyd, 20 miles by 7, and those of the Dee and Conway. In the north is a range of hills, convex to the coast. The highest hill is Cader Fronwen, 2563 feet; and many others rise above 1500 feet. The rocks are chiefly Silurian clay and graywacke slates, with some granite and trap, and bands of Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian strata. There occur coal, iron, slates, flags, millstones, limestone, lead, and copper. The chief rivers are the Dee, Conway, Elwy, and Clwyd. The Rhaiadr waterfall is 200 feet high in two parts. Llangollen vale is famed for romantic beauty and verdure, amid hills of savage grandeur. The climate is mild in the lower parts, but cold and bleak among the hills, where small hardy sheep and ponies are reared. About two-thirds of Denbighshire are under cultivation; its corn, cheese, butter, and live-stock are greatly esteemed. It is also well timbered. Salmon are caught in the rivers. The chief towns are Denbigh, Wrexham, Ruthin, Holt, Llangollen, Llanrwst, Abergele, and Ruabon. Pop. (1801) 60,299; (1841) 88,478; (1891) 117,872. Denbighshire returns two members to parliament. It was anciently occupied by the Ordovices, a powerful tribe, not entirely subdued by the Romans till the time of Agricola. Of British or pre-Roman remains there still exist tumuli, two kistvaens or stone cells, barrows, and forts. To the times of the Welsh and Saxon struggles are referable the Pillar of Eliseg, near Llangollen, and the dikes of Offa and Watt. The dike of Offa, king of Mercia, to keep out the Welsh, was a ditch, with small forts on mounds at intervals, and ran from Herefordshire to the estuary of the Dee; Watt's dike ran on the east side of Offa's dike, and parallel to it. Wrexham Church is one of the 'seven wonders of Wales.' Chirk Castle is a fine Edwardian stronghold, lately restored.