Denbigh, from the Welsh "Dinbych" meaning "small fortress", is the county town of Denbighshire, in north-east Wales. It lies within the valley of the river Clwyd and guarded one of the key approaches to the Snowdonia mountain range.
In 1282, when Edward I overcame Welsh resistance in the area he established the Marcher Lordship of Denbigh, which was granted to Henry de Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln who built Denbigh Castle. A medieval town later developed which was contained within its own town walls and was later a charter.
Denbigh became one of the largest and richest towns in Elizabethan Wales, and was one of the centres of the Welsh printing and publishing industry. During the civil war the town was the home to a Royalist garrison until they were forced to surrender in 1646. After this date the castle and the old town walls were abandoned and were allowed to fall into ruin but the remains of the castle, some gatehouses and two-thirds of a mile of the old town walls are still standing.
Denbigh traditionally was the centre of the leather trade in north Wales but its industries were overshadowed by the new industrial towns to the east in Flintshire and currently survives as a market town for the Clwyd valley district.
Table of References
- http://www.gazetteer-wales.co.uk/
- http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/
- http://www.denbigh-town.co.uk/history.htm
- www.denbighshire.gov.uk/Corp/AboutDenbighshire.nsf/ 0/d006f8cd6c8291b380256a80003a1812?OpenDocument