DENBIGH
In Denbigh a long, broad street leads up to the centre of the town, and here the chief attraction, the castle, may be visited. Passing up through a Norman gateway, which once formed part of the boundary of the ancient town, and was called Burgess's Tower, the ruins of the long-abandoned parish church, or garrison church of St. Hilary, are seen on the spacious castle green. The old parish church of the town is at Whitchurch, on the road to Ruthin. The stately ruins of the great Norman fortress, which kept watch and ward over this portion of the Vale of the Clwyd for so many centuries, crowns the summit of this conical hill, and is perched nearly 500 feet above sea-level. Long before the Norman invasion this vantage-point had been seized upon for a stronghold, but the great epoch for Denbigh happened when Edward I. sat down in Rhuddlan and gathered into his conquering hands the fair lands of Wales, consolidating his power by building a castle in each. Denbigh and Ruthin, ruled by the Laceys and the Greys respectively, formed the nuclei of two counties. Here Henry Percy, in the wars with Glendower, tried to stem the tide of insurrection; and later, in the Wars of the Roses, it was a centre of that desolation and destruction which overwhelmed the valley under Jasper Tudor and the Earl of Pembroke, and reduced it to a land of smouldering embers. But one of the most stirring episodes in the history of the castle was the grand defence made by Colonel William Salusbury, the stout old Royalist, who, in the summer of 1646, valiantly held the walls against the Parliamentarians. From April until November it was assaulted in vain, for Salusbury had sworn that he would not surrender it except at the bidding of his King. This was eventually obtained, and the garrison marched out with, if possible, more than the honours of war. Soon afterwards the castle was completely dismantled, and now chiefly serves as a place of assembly for the townspeople, a recreation-ground, and a coign of vantage, under favourable circumstances, for a splendid view over the Vale.
The road to Ruthin leads out of the busy market-place, and a mile beyond the town one reaches the fine old church of Whitchurch, now only used for burial services. It belongs to the Perpendicular period, and in it parts of the rood-screen may be seen, converted into a reredos, and a screen at the west end of the north aisle. An interesting brass to Richard Myddelton, who died 1575, is preserved here; he was the Governor of Denbigh Castle, and is represented with his wife and a small family of sixteen. The Myddeltons, like the Salusburys, have left indelible traces upon this part of Wales, and of the sons represented on the brass, one became a Lord Mayor of London, and another, the sixth, is perhaps the best known to Englishmen, as he was the celebrated Sir Hugh Myddelton who brought the New River to the metropolis. The ancestral home of this family, Chirk Castle, will be visited en route.
After another one and a half miles, Llanrhaiadr Church is seen, whose interior is interesting on account of the 'Jesse' window, of fine fifteenth-century glass, purchased with the offerings of pilgrims to the holy well in the wooded glen above the church. It is in a remarkably good state of preservation, with the colours rich and brilliant. Outside the east window are the graves of five soldiers who fell in the famous siege of Denbigh; under one lies Captain Wynne, of the great house of Gwydir, near Llanrwst. He died from wounds in the castle, and by mutual arrangement the cortège was permitted to pass through the lines of the beleaguers, the Parliamentarians firing the last salute over the grave of the hero.
Between Llanrhaiadr and Ruthin the highest points of the Clwydian Range come prominently into view, the huge ruin on Moel Fammau, to which reference has been made in connection with Mold, being plainly visible.
RUTHIN (RED CASTLE)
The road leads into the central square of the town, from the south side of which issues Castle Street. The modern Ruthin Castle is occupied by Colonel W. Cornwallis West, Lord-Lieutenant of Denbighshire, and the ruins stand in the Park. (Permission to enter may be obtained at the lodge.) The remains consist of a dungeon, a 'Beheading Tower,' an armoury, and some curious passages. A whipping-post is also preserved. The ruins, deep red in hue, and mantled by the rich green of the clinging foliage, with a setting beyond of the upper part of the Vale of the Clwyd, form a picture rich in colour. Reginald de Grey owned the castle shortly after its erection in 1280, and it remained in the possession of his family until about 1480. Owen Glendower attempted its capture in 1400, but the Parliamentarians were more successful, for it fell in 1646, after a siege of three months, from which time it has been a ruin. Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk became owner, and the present possessor has inherited it from him in the female line. The castle was partially rebuilt in 1826, and brought to its present condition in 1852.
The Church of St. Peter is an imposing edifice, chiefly Perpendicular, and contains a finely decorated roof of Henry VII.'s period, beautifully carved in black oak and divided into 500 small panels. The old building adjacent and the church are the remains of a Priory of White Friars, and form a very picturesque addition; near them are the former buildings of the Grammar School, founded in 1574. The foundation is now accommodated in better surroundings.
The natural environs of Ruthin are of great beauty, and this part of the Clwyd Valley is a favourite place of residence. Upon Moel Feulli are the remains of a fortified British camp, enlarged by the Romans, and from it and Moel Fammau magnificent views may be obtained.
Leaving Ruthin, the upper part of the Vale of the Clwyd is traversed, and the watershed between the latter river and the Dee crossed at a height of 600 feet. After passing through the narrow Vale of Nantclwyd, with its towering limestone rocks, the small church of Derwen, lying off the road to the right of Derwen Station, is seen. It contains a handsome fifteenth-century screen and rood-loft, with a time-honoured thirteenth-century cross in the churchyard.