Friday 23rd July 1819
Friday July 23rd This morning my brothers went out fishing until 12 o’clock when we started for Corwen between which stage we saw a a (sic) further waterfall and some fine views in the vale of Eglwyseg. Changing horses at Corwen we proceeded to Llangollen the river Dee winding through the vale of Crusus with a fine view of Crow Castle
& Crusus Abbey formed a most beautiful amphitheatre. On entering Llangollen a small town badly built we proceeded to the Hotel which is a comfortable Inn.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Corwen is best known for its connections with Owain Glyndŵr, who proclaimed himself Prince of Wales on 16 September 1400, from his nearby manor of Glyndyfrdwy, which began his fourteen-year rebellion against English rule. A life-size bronze statue of the prince mounted on his battle horse was installed in The Square in 2007 commemorating the day he was proclaimed the last true Prince of Wales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corwen
Waterfall near Corwen, possibly the one the Coplands saw on their way to the town.
Circa 1860: Waterfall near Corwen. Engraving by Newman & Co. Published by E. Edwards. Corwen. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWaterfallCorwen12.jpg
1813: Corwen. Drawn and etched by John George Wood to accompany his work " The Principal Rivers of Wales" which was published in 1813. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/WoodsCorwen17.jpg
Circa 1860: Corwen, N.Wales. Engraved by Newman & Co, published by E.Edwards, Corwen http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/2449
Ninety five years later, Lucy’s grandson Esmond Copland-Griffiths took his wife Offie to Corwen, 13 months after their marriage and four months after the birth of their first child, Arundel Helen. Note that Offie is suitably protected by a veil, gloves and stockings from the midges.
May 1914, from Lucy’s grandson, Esmond Copland-Griffiths’s Photograph Album, entitled “Lunch between Dolgelly and Corwen” - their motorcar parked at the side of the road
May 1914, from Esmond’s Photograph Album, entitled “Lunch between Dolgelly and Corwen” his new wife Offie suitably protected against midges with a veil, gloves and stockings
Vale of Eglwyseg: The entire valley is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Landscape of Special Historic Interest.
2003: Valley of the River Eglwyseg. This looks north over the valley from Hendrie towards Pen y clawdd Farm, and the wooded top covered by Foel Plantation by Chris Heaton from geograph.org.uk. The copyright on this image is owned by Chris Heaton and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Valley_of_the_River_Eglwyseg_-_geograph.org.uk_-_83811.jpg
Thomas Pennant, writing around 1778, described the valley: Long and narrow, bounded on the right by astonishing precipices, divided into numberless parallel strata of white limestone, often giving birth to vast yew-trees ... this valley is chiefly inhabited (happily) by an independent race of warm and wealthy yeomanry, undevoured as yet by the great men of the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglwyseg
They proceeded to Llangollen following the River Dee, probably in countryside very like F Jukes’s engraving below:
1793: View between Corwen and Llangollen on the River Dee. Engraving by F.Jukes from a picture by T.Walmsley. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SECorwenJukes.jpg
Crown Hotel, Corwen: This former coaching inn mostly dates from the early 19th century, reputedly incorporating parts of a building from 1628. It was probably here that the Coplands changed their horses. The picture below is from the Crown Hotel’s Facebook Page.
The long room at the back (west of the bar) was once the passage for horses and coaches to reach the stables behind the hotel. Horse-drawn road vehicles continued to be widely used long after the advent of railways decimated long-distance travel by coaches.http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=crown-hotel-corwen See also https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/crown-corwen.en-gb.html
Llangollen takes its name from the Welsh llan meaning "a religious settlement" and Saint Collen, a 6th-century monk who founded a church beside the river. St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle and may have had connections with Colan in Cornwall and with Langolen in Brittany.
1818: Llangollen. Aquatint by D. Havell after T. Compton, published by T. Clay. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SELlangollenHavell12.jpg
1815: Llangollen. Engraving by T. Cartwright after E. Pugh. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SELlangollenEPugh12.jpg
On the outskirts of the town is Plas Newydd ("New Mansion" or "New Place"), from 1780 the home of the “Ladies of Llangollen”, the Honourable Sarah Ponsonby, Lady Eleanor Butler and their maid Mary Caryll. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangollen
1820: Llangollen Vale. Engraving by T. Fielding after G.F. Robson. Published by T. Clay. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SELlangollenValeTF13.jpg
Vale of Crucis: The countryside that Lucy calls the vale of Crusus is well depicted in the print below:
1871: A Landscape of the Country which surrounds the Abbey of Vallis Crucis in Denbighshire. Engraving by W. Walker & W. Angus of a drawing by S.H. Grimm. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEAbbeyOfVallisCrucis17a.jpg
Valle Crucis Abbey is only 4½ miles from Llangollen. The Abbey was founded in 1201 as the last Cistercian monastery to be built in Wales. It gained a reputation as a place of hospitality. Several important Welsh poets of the period spent time at the abbey including Gutun Owain, Tudur Aled and Guto'r Glyn. Guto'r Glyn spent the last few years of his life at the abbey, and was buried at the site in 1493 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_Crucis_Abbey
1800: Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire. Engraving by J. Storer after J. Varley. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEValleCrucisAbbeyJW17.jpg
2008: Valle Crucis Abbey, by Bryan Pready from geograph.org.uk. The copyright on this image is owned by Bryan Pready and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Llantysilio_-_Valle_Crucis_Abbey.jpg .
Llangollen Inn: The Coplands almost certainly stayed at the Kings head, which Lucy found to be a comfortable Inn, especially as it had been rebuilt and enlarged in 1815 and was used by the Ladies of Llangollen and their guests. The Kings Head was first listed in the register of alehouses in 1752 under this name. After the 1832 visit by a young Princess Victoria - later Queen Victoria - the hotel was renamed as the King’s Head and Royal Hotel. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/historic-llangollen-hotel-sale-11m-11197892
1835: The Bridge and King's Head Hotel, Llangollen. Engraving after W. Crane. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEBridgeKingsHead13.jpg
From the Hotel's website, https://royalhotelllangollen.co.uk/about/
There was another Inn at Llangollen, the Lion, but it was not as prestigious as The Kings Head. See http://gales.wine/about-us/
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?