CORWEN

'Corwen' is a town in the county of Denbighshire.Wales, but in the traditional county of Merionethshire. It stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains.

Contents

History

Transport

Culture

History

Corwen is best known for its connections with Owain Glyndŵr, the fifteenth century Welsh leader. He is remembered by a statue in the town centre.
The town grew as a centre for cattle drovers. Attractions in Corwen include the motte of a Norman castle, the thirteenth century Church of St Mael and St Sulien and the Capel Rûg built in 1637 by William Salisbury.

Transport

In the 1860s Corwen was linked to the national rail network; in 1864 by a line from Ruthin along the Vale of Clwyd and in 1865 with a Great Western Railway branch line alomg the Dee valley from Ruabon. The station was a vital development in the town's importance as the centre of the local Agriculture industry. Unfortunately neither survived the Beeching Axe in the 1960s. Plans are advanced to link Corwen to the private Llangollen Railway which currently terminates in the nearby village of Carrog.
Corwen is the last sizeable town on the A5 from London to Holyhead until Betws-y-Coed is reached. Because of this it still contains a number of hotels which were used in the past as staging hotels for the stagecoaches. Although the A5 is no longer a main trunk road, having been superseded by the coastal route of A55, there is still significant traffic travelling through the town centre’s narrow main street.

Culture

Corwen hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1919. The Pavilion in the town has played an important part in Welsh culture throughout the 20th century. It has hosted several concerts and eisteddfodau. It was also the venue for the first concert performed by Edward H Dafis. These were the first notable rock band in Wales and appeared at Corwen in 1974.