slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 2 slow walks round ruthin | a guided tour slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 3 introduction This booklet describes three Slow Walks around the streets of Ruthin. Two will take you more or less in a straight line, and one is circular; they all finish in St Peter’s Square in the centre of town. Later in the booklet, the ‘Stepping Out’ section highlights places of interest on the outskirts of Ruthin; these excursions are at opposite ends of the town and it may be best, depending on how fit you are, to take your car, if you have one, to the starting point of each walk. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Denbighshire County Council. 100023408. 2009. Ruthin is at the crossroads of the A494 (Queensferry to Dolgellau) with the A525 (Rhyl to Whitchurch). It can be reached by bus from Rhyl, Wrexham, Corwen and Llangollen. 2 slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 3 slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 4 introduction contents This booklet describes three Slow Walks around the streets of Ruthin. Two will take you more or less in a straight line, and one is circular; they all finish in St Peter’s Square in the centre of town. Later in the booklet, the ‘Stepping Out’ section highlights places of interest on the outskirts of Ruthin; these excursions are at opposite ends of the town and it may be best, depending on how fit you are, to take your car, if you have one, to the starting point of each walk. card1_LayoutWelcome 1 22/11/2012 15:40 Page 1 page 4 BedrockWelcome page 45 ABedrock Well-Trodden Path page 56 FootprintsA Well-Trodden Path page 16 6 TopFootprints of the Town – and Around page 1620 SteppingTop of the Out Town – and Around page 2030 RuthinStepping and Out District Civic Association, publishers of this booklet, is pagethe local 30 organisation concerned with the quality of buildings old and new, throughout Ruthin and in nearby villages. Each year, in September, along with Denbigh Ruthin and District Civic Association, compilers of this booklet, is the local and other local civic societies, Denbighshire County Council and Ruthin Town organisation concerned with the quality of buildings old and new, throughout Council, it organises an Open Heritage Weekend, one of many throughout Ruthin and in nearby villages. Each year, in September, along with Denbigh Europe, during which the doors of historic buildings are opened free of and other local civic societies, Denbighshire County Council and Ruthin Town charge;Prosiect toursCelf C roundymune thedol Btownro C inonm esuchirch athemesr y cyd âas'r a rMedievaltist Ruthin, Crime andCouncil, Punishment, it organises andL u anthene dOpen history Rhys Heritage P ofar rshops,i Weekend, are led by one knowledgeable of many throughout people. Europe, during which the doors of historic buildings are opened free of Bro originalcharge;Cinme itextr ctoursh com roundmuDereknit ythe aJonesr ttowns pro jeonct suchin co nthemesjunction as w itMedievalh artist Ruthin, Crime originaland Punishment, translation and HafinaLu then eClwydd history Rhys P ofar rshops,i are led by knowledgeable people. pictures Miles Anderson specialtext thanks PhilDerek Ebbrell Jones and Arnold Hughes for expert comments. translation Hafina Clwyd Firstpictures published 2009 - RevisedMiles 2014Anderson © Ruthin and District Civic Association 2014 Thisspecial project thanks has receivedPhil funding Ebbrell through and the Arnold Rural Development Hughes for Plan expert comments. 01824 705800 for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the Welsh Government and the© Ruthin European and AgriculturalDistrict Civic Fund Association for Rural 2009 development. Slow Walks round Ruthin was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (Awards for All Wales) and by Ruthin Town Council. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Denbighshire County Council. 100023408. 2009. Ruthin is at the crossroads of the A494 (Queensferry to Dolgellau) with the A525 (Rhyl to Whitchurch). It can be reached by bus from Rhyl, Wrexham, finelineprintandweb.co.uk designed and produced by www.whitefox-design.co.uk Corwen and Llangollen. 2 3 slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 5 welcome! St Peter’s Square. Ruthin is a most inviting place, even From St Peter’s Square, at the top from a distance. Two of its most of the town, there are magnificent prominent landmarks – the slender views of the surrounding country. spire of St Peter’s Church, and the Four streets radiate from the intensely red sandstone walls of square, giving you some idea of the the Ruthin Castle Hotel, at each shape of the centre, which hasn’t end of the hill on which the small really changed since the 13th town stands, are easily visible from century. The town has, of course, vantage points in the Vale of Clwyd grown considerably, spreading below, and from the Clwydian range down the hill and beyond, especially of hills above; they suggest that this during the 19th and 20th centuries town is worth more than a quick (its population at the 2011 census look round and away; in fact you was 5461); but at its heart, Ruthin need at least a couple of days to see is still small enough to allow you to it thoroughly and without rushing. see it in detail: its many handsome and historic buildings, but also its Our title, ‘Slow Walks round Ruthin’, more ‘ordinary’ shops and houses is intended to tempt you to do just which are also worth your interest that. Decide to stay and enjoy the and attention. atmosphere and you are soon aware that Ruthin is a real place; local Welcome, therefore, to our guide people meet and greet each other, to Ruthin in close-up, describing in Welsh or English, in the streets three ‘slow walks’ and providing and shops; they are happy to spend notes on the streets and buildings the time of day with family, friends which will, we hope, catch your and acquaintances because this eye. ‘Slow walks’, like ‘slow food’, is, first and foremost, a community, allow you to savour a place and people’s home town. enjoy it all the more. 4 slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 5 slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 6 welcome! bedrock First, a word about ‘the ground beneath your feet’. There appears to have been a Roman settlement in the vicinity, but little trace of it has been found and the place was not called Ruthin. The latest scholarship suggests that Ruthin (Rhuthun) means ‘red edge’; it is named from the red sandstone on which the medieval town was built. If you want to see the ‘raw’ sandstone, there is a spectacular example outside the town centre, where Llanrhydd Road St Peter’s Square. cuts through the rock. Its use as a Llanrhydd Road. building material is everywhere certainty that for long periods of its apparent. history there were enough rich men to leave us a wealth of wood. Limestone is also plentiful locally. It has been quarried over the centuries to provide building materials for Ruthin and many other places in North East Wales; bricks and mortar have been added over the centuries, making for a town with a rich variety of texture. Ruthin and the Clwydian Hills. Another material to look out for is wood. Time and again on the walks you will see references to timber- framed buildings – from the 15th to the 17th centuries – many of them built for local merchants and landowners. It seems likely that much of the wood was local – there are many oak woods near Ruthin. Either way, we can say with some Castle Street. 4 5 slow walks eng 10/2/09 09:29 Page 7 a well-trodden path nourishment and material help were provided), via the Courthouse (where justice was dispensed), would have been in everyday use. Towards the end of the 17th century, a fourth public building, a Town Hall (built 1663, demolished 1863) would have been a regular port of call; a 19th century print shows it to have had two gables, a bell tower and at least two porches with arched entrances. Our first walk is based on the three landmark buildings that remain; it has been a ‘well-trodden path’ from the beginning. Start at Ruthin Castle at the southern end of the sandstone ridge. Building began in 1277, at the behest of the English king, Edward Work on the Castle and St Peter’s I. Ruthin Castle was, for several began within a few years of each centuries, a military garrison as well other in the late 13th century. as a landowner’s house. Ruthin was Roughly halfway between them, always in Wales, but the presence the Courthouse (now the NatWest of the Castle made clear, in no Bank), was built a century later. In uncertain terms, that the English (in medieval times, the path between the persons of the de Grey family the Castle (the seat of power), and and their successors) were in control the church building (where spiritual here. A local Welsh prince, Owain Glyndŵr, challenged their authority in 1400, burning down some of the growing town before he was finally overcome. He is a major figure in Welsh history, not to mention Ruthin’s. (And the new Wrexham University is named after him). Old Ruthin Castle did not fare well in comparison with Rhuddlan or the great English castles of North West Wales. Quite a lot of the structure was flattened in the 17th century during the Civil War; but what remains - vaults, curtain walls and basements are well Ruthin Castle Hotel.