Festival time
Pretty little city Stone Age man was first to recognise the attractions of the Elwy Valley, where you’ll find Britain’s second smallest city, St Asaph – home to a wonderful cathedral Neanderthals who hunted game in the DID YOU KNOW? vale of Elwy 225,000 years ago. This A precious early is the most north-western site in copy of the Welsh Eurasia for remains of early hominids Bible is on and is of international importance. display here
St Asph Cathedral: small but perfectly formed
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estling on the banks of the River Elwy in Denbighshire is Britain’s second smallest city, St Asaph, with a population of just 3,400 calling the area home. ‘Church on the Elwy’, as its Welsh name translates, is surrounded by stunning countryside and boasts views of the Vale of Clwyd. It is also well placed for busy coastal towns such as Rhyl, Prestatyn, Abergele, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno, while the castles of Denbigh and Rhuddlan are nearby for visitors to enjoy. People have lived here as far back as can be traced, with evidence of the earliest inhabitants found nearby at the Paleolithic site of Pontnewydd (Bontnewydd). A team of excavators from the University of Wales discovered teeth and part of a jawbone believed to belong to a group of
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passionate about St Asaph’s historic claim. The past few decades have seen the local economy thrive, first with the opening of the A55 road in 1970, which took the east–west traffic away from the centre, and more recently with the opening of a business park, attracting investment from home and overseas. St Asaph is now home to Ysgol Glan Clwyd; the first Welsh medium secondary school in Wales – it opened in 1956 – the school moved here from Rhyl in 1969. Every year the city hosts the North Wales International Music Festival, which attracts musicians and music lovers from all over Wales and beyond to various local venues. Other annual events include the increasingly popular Woodfest Wales crafts festival in June, the Beat the Bounds charity walk in July and Gala Day in August.
Later investigations have suggested signs of a Roman fort, but the city is generally believed to have developed around a 6th-century Celtic monastery founded by Saint Kentigern, and is now home to the 14th-century St Asaph Cathedral. The small cathedral has had a chequered history. In the 13th century, the troops of Edward I of England burnt it almost to the ground, and in 1402 Owain Glyndwr’s troops went on the rampage, severely damaging the interior. Some 250 years later, during the Commonwealth, the building was used to house farm animals. The cathedral was what allowed St Asaph to be regarded as a city, but for many years the UK government deemed it The Georgian Brynbella House and gardens are well worth a visit not to hold city status. The town applied in competitions held in THINGS TO SEE AND DO 2000 for the Millennium and again in 2002 for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, before North Wales International Music Festival finally being successful in 2012 as part of the 17th September – 1st October 2022 nwimf.com Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Status update
Even before it was official, the council had referred to itself as the City of St Asaph Town Council and the local community is
St Asaph Cathedral 25 High St, St Asaph LL17 0RD Brynbella House & Gardens Tremeirchion, St Asaph LL17 0UE
