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Mold

A popular base for walkers in the nearby Clwydian Range, Mold is a pleasant little town with a market every Wednesday and Saturday. The town boasts a goodly number of inns and restaurants that in late September host the Mold Food and Drink Festival.

The town’s most famous son is the novelist, tailor and Methodist preacher Daniel Owen (1836–1895) who is often hailed as Wales’ greatest novelist. He wrote only in Welsh and his honest accounts of ordinary life were to gain him the title of the ‘Welsh Dickens’. His most famous books were Rhys Lewis and Enoc Huws, which both feature local life with the chapel as its focus. Owen’s statue stands outside the town library, which is also the home of Mold Museum where a room is dedicated to Owen’s memory.

Although landscape painter Richard Wilson (1713-1782) was born in Montgomeryshire, Mold claims him as its own. After pursuing a career in London, he returned to his native Wales and settled in Mold to concentrate on the dramatic scenes of mountainous Welsh countryside that became his trademark. He died in Colomendy, and his grave and memorial can be found near the north entrance to St Mary’s Parish Church. Dating from the 15th century, the church was built by Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, to celebrate her son Henry VII’s victory at Bosworth in 1485. The church has some interesting stained-glass windows and an oak roof, carved with Tudor roses, retained from an earlier church.

The church stands at the foot of Bailey Hill, the site of a Norman motte and bailey fortification that was built at this strategic point overlooking the River Alyn by Robert de Montalt, who may have given the town its English name. Little remains of the fortress and its site is now occupied by a bowling green. Bailey Hill may have given the town its Welsh name of Yr Wyddgrug, which means The Mound.

On the outskirts of Mold, Clwyd Theatr Cymru offers a wide range of entertainment including theatre, music and frequent exhibitions of art, sculpture and photography. It has 5 different performance venues including the Anthony Hopkins Theatre, which seats 580 people, and a 120-seater cinema. There’s also a bar, coffee shop and bookshop. Every June the centre hosts the Mold Carnival.

The composer Felix Mendelssohn was said to have been inspired by the town’s surroundings when writing his opus Rivulet, and the nearby limestone crags provide panoramic views over the surrounding countryside. One such scenic area lies four miles west of Mold on the A494 – Loggerheads Country Park (see panel above), which is situated on the edge of the Clwydian Range. Classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this large park is an ideal environment for all the family, especially younger members, as there are various trails that are each about one-and-a-half miles long. The trails all start near the late 18th-century mill building. A regular bus service takes you to Loggerheads from both Mold and Chester.

Around 200 years ago, Loggerheads was a centre for lead mining, due to the plentiful supply of ore-bearing limestone, and many relics of those days can still be seen within the quiet woodland. There is a fine selection of local arts, crafts and souvenirs on display in the Craft Shop at the Loggerheads Countryside Centre, where there is also a tearoom.