The walks below are illustrated on accompanying maps which you can view or print out.

There are two maps of the town, oriented with south at the top. Walks A and B are marked in red on these maps.

The Castle and environs

Denbigh north

Map showing country walks around Denbigh

Clicking on each of these maps in Internet Explorer will give you the choice of saving them to disk or opening them in your image editor. In Netscape, the maps will be displayed in your browser window and can then be saved to your disk. The full-size images may take a little time to download.

History

Denbigh is one of the most historic towns in north Wales. The name Denbigh or Dinbych derives from Welsh words meaning "a small fortified place". After the Norman conquest Denbigh became a Welsh border town guarding the approach to the Hiraethog hills and Snowdonia. It was also mentioned in local poetry of the 12th century. Dafydd ap Gruffydd had a fortified house in Denbigh.

In 1282, when Edward I overcame the resistance of the Welsh, the town and surrounding area was granted to Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, who became the first lord of Denbigh. He began the building of the present castle on its splendid site above today's town. The first Borough Charter was granted to Denbigh in 1290 when the town was still contained within the old town walls. During the Wars of the Roses the town was burned and it was subsequently moved from the hilltop to around the present market place, later to be extended in a grid pattern around Vale Street.

During Tudor and Stuart times Denbigh prospered as a market and business centre. Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, was lord of Denbigh until his death in 1588.

After 1600 the town developed as a centre for various crafts: glovers, weavers, smiths, shoemakers, saddlers, curriers and tanners. These survived grouped into guilds, until the industrialisation of the 19th century. By the 1800s Denbigh had become the main centre of the Vale of Clwyd and was on the railway network.

Throughout its history Denbigh has been important as an agricultural market town, being ideally situated between the Hiraethog moors and the fertile Vale. Although most of the town's inns (in 1911 there were over 40) have changed their use and the Cockpit has been moved to the National Folk Museum at St Fagans near Cardiff Denbigh remains steeped in history as a walk around the town will reveal.

Walk A

From County Hall along the High Street there are many interesting buildings to see. The Co-op and Star House on the left side and the arcaded façade over the lower pavement opposite. Narrow cobbled alleys lead off each side (Temple Bar and Rosemary Lane).

Highgate The wall above the pavement on the upper side is formed of solid rock to a height of two metres or so. This is the original street level but when the buildings opposite were erected it was lowered. No 7 Highgate is the medieval stone gabled house towering above the street. Crane your neck to spot a carved face on the projecting bracket high under the eaves on the left. The gothic arched opening in the gable, now filled in, once led to a bridge over the street to a hospice connected with guild chapel of St Annes. The remains of the chapel are just visible in a cellar below 15 Portland Place.

Turn up the steps and climb the steep path to Burgess Tower. You are now entering the walled town of Edward I. Tower Hill leads up past 19th-century terraces cut into the hillside: Salusbury Terrace, St Hilary's Terrace and the unusual medieval house, complete with battlements, at the top.

St Hilary's Tower is a remnant of the garrison chapel which was demolished in 1921-3. No graveyard was possible because of the solid underlying rock. Continue up to the castle gatehouse. The tiny cottage down the track to the left was the childhood home of H.M. Stanley. Beyond the cottage is a stone stile leading to a woodland path down to Howell's School and Park Street. But to continue the walk cross the castle green down past St Hilary's Tower and bear right. The remains of Leicester's incomplete church are on the right. Legend has it that he intended this to replace St Asaph Cathedral. The town walls are entered by a gate some fifty metres below. Another rewarding diversion, with the key available from the castle Keeper. Continue the walk on down Bull Lane, pausing to look over the Vale of Clwyd from the gateway at the corner. Drop steeply down to County Hall.

Walk B

From the County Hall pass in front of the Bull Hotel and right into Park Street. This plunges down for about 100 metres to Meilings Lane, a narrow alley to the left leading to Vale Street. Cross over and turn up to Chapel Street. Bronallt, the house just below Chapel Street, was the home of Thomas Gee, the printer and publisher of much Welsh literature. Chapel Street is a narrow, winding street once typical of Denbigh and also named Lôn Swan (Swan Lane). Swan Lane Chapel has a warm, brindled brickwork, classical façade, and a matching caretaker's cottage. It is a pleasing design whose promise is fulfilled by the interior. A horsehoe-shaped gallery and glowing pitch pine joinery maker for a warm and welcoming character.

Walk along past the three-storey stone warehouse on the left (now offices), past the large Victorian house with its grand, glazed vestibule (now sadly threatened) to Gwasg Gee, a range of stone buildings in classical 19th-century style, with arched windows and a gateway to an inner courtyard. Divert into Lôn Abram. This retains much of its winding character for at least the first 100 metres or more. The far end of Chapel Street is marked by Capel Mawr, a grand and solid classical edifice, built of dressed limestone from Denbigh Quarry (like much of the town) and the place where Thomas Gee worshipped.

Take a peep at Graig Terrace just before the Chapel. This retains its doll's house character almost intact; there are no disruptive window enlargements here! Around into Chapel Place, a row of tiny cottages at the bottom of Crown Lane nicely renovated by Cydeithas Tai Clwyd some years ago. On to Factory Ward, a row of lock ups on the left under the arches of the road above. These are all sizes from four foot to seven foot high: a complete set.

On to the Butter Market on the left, the truncated façade of which was once a grand building. The façade has been recently restored and bears the arms of the Borough on the central panel. Opposite is Foundry Garage, a heavily modelled Victorian façade, little altered from the day it was built and happily continuing in its original use.
Pendref Chapel next door, another stone built chapel, faces across the vast car park to the backs of the buildings facing Back Row, a few of which have been decently restored. Pass through the car park and up the newly paved alleyway, Rosemary Lane, into the High Street and turn left along Back Row past two lovely old pubs, the Golden Lion and the White Lion. Turn right at the end, through Crown Square, past the Angel and cross to the front of the County Hall.

The town walks were devised, designed and illustrated by the Denbigh Civic Society. Formatted for the web by Matthew Griffiths for the Civic Trust for Wales. The original leaflet was published with the support of Denbigh Town Council.