Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) is a relatively small county in northern Wales, with a very distinctive shape. It lies between Flintshire and Cheshire to the east and Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire to the west.
Denbighshire has a gentle coast on the Irish Sea, a sandy coast dotted with affordable holiday resorts, a continuation of the holiday coast that stretches from the Dee to Colwyn Bay. Inland the county is agricultural, low-lying near the coast and along the Clwyd Valley (shared with Flintshire), becoming more rolling with charming villages as one moves more southward.
The south and west of Denbighshire rise into the mountains. Pistyll-y-Rhaeader is a spectacular 240 feet waterfall. A south-eastern spur of Denbighshire drives high up to Mignaint to the watershed between north and west. Another arm reaches far east southward of Flintshire (indeed squeezing between its two parts) to embrace Wrexham beyond the mountains. Wrexham is a substantial, industrialised town.
County Facts
County Town: Denbigh
Main Towns: Abergele, Chirk, Colwyn Bay, Gresford, Llangollen, Llanrwst, Ruthin, Wrexham.
Main Rivers: Conwy, Clwyd, Dee.
Highlights: Castell Dinas Bran; Erddig Hall; Plas Newydd; Valle Crucis Abbey; St Peter’s Square, Ruthin.
Highest Point: Cader Berwyn (southern summit – “New Top”), 2,723 feet.
Area: 640 sq miles
Flower: Limestone Woundwort
