Roll out the barrel This Welsh market town has plenty of character and culture – even if some of it does include rolling barrels around in the high street… unfinished to this day after his scheme ran out of money. It’s now in the care of Cadw.
Textiles and train lines
The town thrived in the 1600s with the growth of the textile industry, with specialist industries springing up such as glovers, weavers, smiths, shoemakers, Denbigh’s famous barrel-rolling contest takes place every Boxing Day saddlers, furriers enbigh is one of Wales’s many ancient and tanners. The addition of train lines towns, its Welsh name Dinbych linking it to the rest of Wales and to English towns further enhanced Denbigh’s success. translating as “little fortress” in reference to the historic castle and town walls built The main Vale of Clwyd line closed in on Edward I’s orders in 1282. Although 1955, with the branch lines to both Ruthin the original settlement, given its charter in and Chester following suit in 1962. 1290, was contained within the walls, today The beautiful remaining station building still stands, as does another haunting it spills out into the surrounding areas, nestled at the foot of the Clwydian Hills. (literally) reminder of the town’s history – the Both the castle and town have been North Wales Hospital. At one stage most involved in various skirmishes over the of the population worked at this psychiatric institution, dating back to the 1840s, but it generations: captured in the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294, freed by Welsh rebels fell into disrepair after closing in 1995. The building had a brush with fame when it was and recaptured later the same year, and then burnt in 1400 during the revolt of Owain the main location for the TV series Most Glyndwr before being largely destroyed Haunted in 2008 and ghost hunters camped during the Wars of the Roses. After this it out hoping to record supernatural activity. shifted further away from the original hilltop location to where the main town sits today. Big screen dreams In 1579 the Baron of Denbigh, Robert Denbigh was home to a traditional cinema, Dudley (famous as one of Elizabeth I’s the Scala, which opened in 1928. It was favourites), decided to boost the town’s status rebranded first as the Wedgwood Cinema by building a cathedral and declaring it a city. and then as the Futura Cinema – and was However his ambition was never realised and briefly operated by Peter Moore, who was the half-built Leicester’s Church remains convicted of four murders in the 1990s
DID YOU KNOW? Chef and Great British Menu winner Bryn Dwyfor Williams is a local
– but is now closed. A local film club shows regular screenings in the theatre to compensate for the lack of a big screen. Today’s population of approximately 9,000 enjoy a relaxed and strongly communitybased existence. There are schools, a library, several churches, a shopping complex and an attractive, convenient high street. Sports fans can visit the boxing club and one of Wales’s oldest cricket clubs – and every Boxing Day, visitors and residents alike can enjoy the unusual experience of Denbigh’s barrelrolling competition, which takes over the town’s streets for the day.
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A statue of explorer Henry Morton Stanley, born in Denbigh, stands in the centre of town THINGS TO SEE AND DO Theatr Twm o’r Nant Station Road, LL16 3DA 01745 812349 Denbigh Library & Gallery Hall Square, LL16 3NU 01745 816313 Denbigh Castle Castle Hill, LL16 3NB 0300 025 2239
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