The scenery of Llangollen can scarcely be called mountainous, but the
little town is situated in the most beautiful part of the hill district
of Wales. Its chief charm, in common with all other Welsh villages, is
in its contrasts,--deep lanes with fern and flower-clad banks lead you
past picturesque cottages and farms, surrounded with low stone walls,
half hidden by brilliantly coloured creepers; bold crags, high above the
valley, give place to bright green sheep pastures, they in turn changing
to thick woods of oak and ash.
Llangollen Bridge, across which runs the chief thoroughfare, is one of
the so-called "wonders of Wales." It was built in 1346 by John Trevor,
afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph, and was the first stone bridge in Wales.
It is borne by five stone arches, and beneath them rushes the fine river
Dee. The church is dedicated to St. Collen, but is of no particular
interest. In the churchyard is a monument to the two fashionable ladies
who at an early age tired of the vanities of this world, and lived in
complete seclusion at Plas Newydd, a house just beyond the village,
famed for its old oak.
Valle Crucis Abbey, which can be reached either by walking along the
canal from Llangollen, or by train to Berwyn, lies in a beautiful wooded
valley surrounded by some of the best scenery in the neighbourhood of
Llangollen. A little to the east, a very picturesque view of the ruins,
which are the finest of their kind in Wales, may be obtained over a
quiet pool of water.
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