Llangollen is a small town in Wales of some 3000 people. It is seeped in myth and legend and nestles within the beautiful Dee Valley in the North East of Wales. It is a town of varied parts, with plenty to interest the most discerning of visitors. It is also host to many different international events each year, the most famous being the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Llangollen became important because of its prominent position on the main London to Holyhead coaching road which was improved by Thomas Telford from 1815 and continued for some 15 years. The Llangollen Canal was constructed around the coaching road and combined they brought considerable immigration into Llangollen during the early part of the 19th century.

The Llangollen Canal is thought to be one of the most beautiful canals in Britain, certainly it's the most popular. The scenery varies from isolated sheep pastures to ancient peat mosses, from tree lined lakes to the foothills of Snowdonia.

These improved communication, routes, and local natural resources made an ideal location for newly developing industries. The old Water Mill opposite the Railway Station had already functioned for hundreds of years when a new Flannel Mill was erected at the north end of Church Street on a site later to be occupied by a tannery after the business had expanded and moved across the river to Lower Dee Mills.

Llangollen is a small town of some 3,000 people in the valley of the river Dee in eastern mid Wales, within the county of Denbighshire.

Llangollen is now famous as the home of the International Musical Eisteddfod held every year in July which brings in some 120,000 visitors, and which should not to be confused with the Welsh National Eisteddfod. It now operates from a permanent centre at the Royal International Pavilion which also hosts an annual jazz festival in addition to a festival for male voice choirs.

It was founded in the seventh century by Saint Collen who built a church there but remained a small village until the construction of Thomas Telford's Holyhead Road (now known as the A5) in 1815 when it became an important stop for coach travellers enroute from London to Holyhead. It was also around this time that the Ladies of Llangollen, the Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, took up residence at Plas Newydd in the town. They achieved a certain fame as they entertained much of Regency society at their home as well as a certain modern notoriety. The house and gardens remain today as a tourist attraction within the town.

Nearby are the remains of Castell Dinas Bran (some people believe the Holy Grail is buried there) and also the ruins of the 13th century Valley Crucis Abbey and further up the valley is the thousand-year old Pillar of Eliseg commemorating the medieval kings of Powys.

Table of References

  • http://www.gazetteer-wales.co.uk/
  • http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/
  • http://www.llangollen.com/
  • www.llangollen.org.uk/

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