Saturday 24th July 1819
Saturday July 24th We arose early and went to Crow Castle situated on a high mountain and commanding a fine prospect. It is however so much decayed as scarcely to be distinguishable. Mr Grimes breakfasted with us. Afterwards we left Llangollen from Chirk Castle the seat of Mrs Middleton it was built in the time of Edward the 1st is kept in good preservation & there are some fine pictures we saw the bed in which
Charles the 1st slept on the night previous to the battle of Chester. The Park is large and well wooded. Winsty the seat of Sir Watkin W Wynn was our next place of curiosity the house is large and comfortable with a beautiful flowgarden all around it the pleasure grounds are very extensive and beautifully laid out as we approached Wrexham the country of Wales was changed into England. Wrexham is built entirely of brick the church is one of the wonders of Wales while dinner was preparing we examined it after dinner we continued our *** on a flat beautiful
road to Chester where we arrived at ½ past nine having bid adieu to Wales and its beautiful scenery.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Crow Castle, or Castell Dinas Brân in Welsh, is a medieval castle occupying a prominent hilltop site above the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales. The presently visible castle was probably built in the 1260s by Gruffydd Maelor II, a Prince of Powys Fadog, on the site of several earlier structures, including an Iron Age hillfort. Dinas Brân has been variously translated as the "crow's fortress" or "fortress of Brân", with Brân as the name of an individual or of a nearby stream.
1779: View of Dinas Bran Castle in the County of Denbigh, an engraving 'Engraved for the Modern Universal British Traveller', which was written by Charles Burlington and David Lewellyn Rees, and published by J. Cooke. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEDinasBranMUBT14.jpg
2008: Castell Dinas Brân (left) viewed from the north west, by James Frankcom at English Wikipedia. James Frankcom, the copyright holder of this work, publishes it under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dinas_Bran_in_the_fog.JPG
An English name, "Crow Castle", has also been used since at least the 18th century. Dinas Brân is in what was once the ancient Kingdom of Powys. The last Prince of Powys, Gruffydd Maelor, died in 1191 and his son, Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor, lord of Powys Fadog, founded the nearby Valle Crucis Abbey. The castle played a key role in the battles with England and eventually fell to the English. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell_Dinas_Br%C3%A2n
Lucy found the remains so much decayed as scarcely to be distinguishable.
2006: Dinas Brân southern wall and ditch, by Colin Neville (Cynnydd) who is the copyright holder and grants permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castell_Dinas_Bran_2.jpg
Chirk Castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It was the administrative centre for the Marcher Lordship of Chirkland.
circa 1770: The north view of Chirck Castle, in the county of Denbigh. engraving after Samuel and Nathaniel Buck. Printed in London by Newbery and Carnan, between 1765-1770 from ‘A Description of England and Wales. Print in the collection of the National Library of Wales, Accession number 1131876. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_north_view_of_Chirck_i.e._Chirk_Castle,_in_the_county_of_Denbigh.jpeg
1823: Chirk Castle. Engraving by H. Bond after J.P. Neale. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEChirkCastleJPN.jpg
The castle was bought by Sir Thomas Myddelton in 1593 for £5,000 (approx. £11 million as of 2008). His son, Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle was a Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, but became a Royalist during the 'Cheshire rising' of 1659 led by George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer. Following the Restoration, his son became Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st Baronet of Chirke. The castle passed down in the Myddelton family to Charlotte Myddelton (on the death of her father in 1796). Charlotte had married Robert Biddulph, who changed his name to Robert Myddelton-Biddulph, leaving the castle on his death to their son Robert. It then passed down in the Myddelton-Biddulph family.
1796: Chirke Castle in Denbighshire, the Seat of Richard Myddleton. Esq. Engraving by Walker after Evans. Published by H.D. Symonds and Allen & West. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEChirkeCastleWalker17.jpg
The castle is owned by National Trust and is notable for its gardens, with clipped yew hedges, herbaceous borders, rock gardens and terraces and surrounded by 18th century parkland. Offa's Dyke passes within some 200 yards of the castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirk_Castle
Image taken from The National Trust website at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chirk-castle/features/mortimers-fortress-a-medieval-castle
Chirk Castle is the only one of Edward I's Marcher fortresses still inhabited today. The area of the castle with the most visually original features is the West Range, where visitors can still explore the Adam Tower, complete with its two-level dungeons, medieval garderobes (toilets) and murder holes. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chirk-castle/features/mortimers-fortress-a-medieval-castle
Wynnstay Hall: During the 17th century, Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet inherited the Watstay Estate through his marriage to Jane Evans (daughter of Eyton Evans of Watstay), and renamed it the Wynnstay Estate. The gardens were laid out by Capability Brown. Wynnstay was Brown's largest commission in Wales, with work beginning in 1774 and completed in 1784, a year after his death. He replaced the older formal gardens with lawns which swept right up to the house overlooking the lake.
1793: Wynne Stay, seat of Sir Watkins Williams Wynne by John Ingleby (1749–1808) in the collection of the National Library of Wales Accession number PD9140. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wynne_Stay,_seat_of_Sir_Watkins_Williams_Wynne,_1793.jpg
Circa 1800: Wyn-Stay in Denbighshire, seat of Sir Watkin Williams Wynne. Bart., an engraving which was published in the 'Lady's Magazine'. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWynStayLadys12.jpg
2004: Wynnstay Hall. The Hall at the centre of the Wynnstay estate, by John Haynes from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by John Haynes and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wynnstay_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_70973.jpg
During the 19th century, Princess Victoria stayed there with her mother, the Duchess of Kent. In 1858 Wynnstay was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt on the same site. After the house was vacated by the Williams-Wynn family in the mid-20th century, in favour of the nearby Plas Belan on the Wynnstay estate, it was bought by Lindisfarne College. When the school closed due to bankruptcy, the building was converted to flats and several private houses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynnstay
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet. As the largest landowner in North Wales, and controller of many parliamentary seats, he was referred to, at least by himself, as the 'Prince in Wales' and had a keen interest in military affairs. In 1794 he raised a cavalry regiment called the "Ancient British Fencibles" and took part in the suppression of the Irish rebellion of 1798, when they were known as "Sir Watkin's lambs" and "a terror of the rebels", acquiring a reputation that he had to defend from charges of cruelty among the Irish. He commanded them until they disbanded in 1800. A Colonel of the Denbighshire Militia since 1797, he deployed with a battalion of them under his kinsman the Marquess of Buckingham for service in France from March to June 1814. Originally intending to link up with the Duke of Wellington's army who had come from Spain before the French armistice intervened, they were garrisoned in Bordeaux where he was known among local people as "le gros commandant Whof Whof Whof". He also became Colonel commanding the Denbighshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1820 and was Welsh Militia aide-de-camp to King William IV from 1830 to 1837 and to Queen Victoria from 1837 until his death.
Below is a flattering portrait from 1802 - A less generous but probably more accurate crown copyright portrait can be accessed at https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/williams-wynn-sir-watkin-1772-1840
1802: Sir Watkin Williams Wynne Bart, portrait of the 5th Baronet by Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835) from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales, accession number PA6779. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Sir_Watkin_Williams_Wynne_Bart_(4674662)_(cropped).jpg
He grew to be a portly man of seventeen and half stone (238 pounds : 108 kg), which sometimes caused chairs to collapse under him, and Lady Holland, in her Journal (volume I, page 238), commented: "Sir Watkin is a Grenville in person and manner all over him; his tongue is immensely too big for his mouth and his utterance is so impeded by it that what he attempts to articulate is generally unintelligible." He died at Wynnstay Hall, aged 67, on 6 January 1840, and was buried at Ruabon, Denbighshire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Watkin_Williams-Wynn,_5th_Baronet
Wrexham is the largest town in the north of Wales and is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley alongside the border with England. The Industrial Revolution began in Wrexham in 1762 when the entrepreneur John Wilkinson (1728–1808), known as "Iron Mad Wilkinson", opened Bersham Ironworks. Wilkinson's steam engines enabled a peak of production at Minera Lead Mines on the outskirts of Wrexham. 18th century literary visitors included Samuel Johnson, who described Wrexham as "a busy, extensive and well-built town", and Daniel Defoe who noted the role of Wrexham as a "great market for Welch flannel".
Circa 1835: Wrexham. An engraving by W. Wallis after Henry Gastineau. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWrexhamHG15.jpg
The artist J. M. W. Turner also visited the town and painted a watercolour of a street scene entitled "Wrexham, Denbighshire" dated 1792–3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrexham
St Giles' Church is the parish church of Wrexham, Wales, and is a Grade 1 listed building, described by Simon Jenkins as "the glory of the Marches". At 180-feet long, it is the largest medieval Parish Church in Wales.
1823: Wrexham Church. Engraving published in 'The Beauties of Cambria' by H. Hughes. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWrexhamChurchBOC12.jpg
The core of the present building dates from the 14th century, although it was extensively remodeled in the later 15th century by Thomas, Lord Stanley and his wife Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII) both of whom are depicted on corbels either side of the chancel arch. In this depiction, Stanley has not a crown, but donkey's ears.
The church's tower is traditionally one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, which are commemorated in an anonymously written rhyme: Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple, Snowdon's mountain without its people, Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells, Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.
1831: Tower of Wrexham Church. Engraving after Henry Gastineau. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SETowerWrexhamChHG13.jpg
The church's tower is mistakenly called a "steeple" in the rhyme. The iconic tower can be seen for many miles around as the tallest building in the town and is a local landmark. The richly-decorated tower, 135-feet high, with its four striking hexagonal turrets, was begun in 1506. It is graced by many medieval carvings including those of an arrow and a deer, the attributes of Saint Giles. The nave arcade is in the Decorated style, and dates from the 14th century, but the remainder of the church is in the late Perpendicular style, and includes an unusual polygonal chancel, similar to that at Holywell, and an echo of the one in the contemporary Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey. Above the present chancel arch are large parts of a 15th-century Doom painting, and the arch beneath shows striking evidence of the tracery which once filled it. It also contains late medieval carvings including on the ceiling wooden polychrome angels playing musical instruments, and a series of later monuments including two by Roubiliac. There are windows by Burne-Jones in the north aisle and a series of windows by Charles Eamer Kempe and C.E. Kempe and Co in the south aisle. The lyrics of the Evangelical hymn "From Greenland's Icy Mountains", written by Reginald Heber, are etched on a window. The hymn was both composed and first performed at the Church in 1819.
Just west of the tower is the grave of Elihu Yale, after whom Yale University in the United States is named, with its long, self-composed epitaph opening with the following lines: Born in America, in Europe bred, In Africa travell'd, and in Asia wed, Where long he lov'd and thriv'd; At London dead
In 2012, wrexham.com placed a webcam pointed at St Giles giving a live view of the church. June 2012 saw a beacon being lit on top of St Giles as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Giles%27_Church . See also https://stgilesparishchurchwrexham.org.uk/joomla30 /
Can you help us?
Transcription problems: As untrained transcribers we sometimes experience problems interpreting some of Lucy’s writing. We have a problem deciphering one word, as follows: after dinner we continued our *** on a flat beautiful….
We would really appreciate help from a trained eye to make sense of the missing word.
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?