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Corwen

This market town, in a pleasant setting on the flank of the Berwyn Mountains and above the River Dee, has, for many years been known as the ‘Crossroads of North Wales’. The town’s origins can be traced back to the 6th century when the Breton-Welsh saints, Mael and Sulien, founded a religious community here. The Parish Church of St Mael and St Sulien still bears their name. This church dates back to the 12th century, though what can be seen nowadays dates mainly from the 13th to 15th centuries. In a lintel of the doorway there is an incised dagger that is known as Glyndwr’s Sword. The mark was reputedly made by Glyndwr when he threw a dagger from the hill above the church in a fit of rage against the townsfolk. However, the dagger mark actually dates from the 7th to 9th century and there is another such mark on a 12th-century cross outside the southwest corner of the church.

The town was once the headquarters of Owain Glyndwr who gathered his forces here before entering into his various campaigns. Owain Glyndwr (c1354–c1416), the self-styled Prince of Wales, led the last major attempt to shake off the yoke of the English. A striking life-size statue of Owain on his battle horse stands on Corwen Square and was installed in 2007. There is no memorial to the novelist John Cooper Powys, who lived in Corwen from 1934 to 1955, but while he was here he wrote the historical novel Owen Glendower (1941).

It was in the Owain Glyndwr Hotel in 1789 that a local man, Thomas Jones, organised a bardic festival that laid the foundations for the modern eisteddfod. Across the River Dee from the town lies Caer Derwyn, a stone rampart around a hill that dates from
Roman times.

To the west of Corwen, and set in pretty, landscaped grounds, is the simple, stone-built Rug Chapel. A rare example of a private chapel that has changed little over the years, Rug was founded in the 17th century by ‘Old Blue Stockings’, Colonel William Salisbury, in collaboration with Bishop William Morgan (the first translator of the Bible into Welsh), and its plain exterior gives no clues to its exquisitely decorated interior. It is testimony to Salisbury’s high church outlook, and is best described as a painted chapel. Few parts have been left unadorned. There is a beautifully carved rood screen (a Victorian addition) and the ceiling beams are painted with rose motifs. However, not all the decoration here is exuberant; there is also a sombre wall painting of a skeleton as a reminder of mortality. The architect Sir Edwin Lutyens acknowledged that his work was influenced by this beautiful chapel and evidence of this can be seen in his most elaborate commission, the Viceroy’s House, New Delhi, which was completed in 1930.

Another interesting religious building can be found just to the south of Rug, in the direction of Llandrillo. The Parish Church of All Saints at Llangar, overlooking the confluence of the Rivers Dee and Alwen, is medieval. Because it was superseded in the 19th century by a new church at Cynwyd, this small place still retains many of its original features. In particular, there are some extensive 15th-century wall paintings and a minstrels’ gallery. Both Rug Chapel and Llangar church are now cared for by CADW – Welsh Historic Monuments.