Our history man goes fishing for stories of the past in Llangollen.

Llangollen, the North Wales town, standing near to the Berwyn range and the Dee Valley Way, takes its name from the Welsh word Llan meaning ‘religious settlement’ and it was here in the seventh century that a monk known as St Collen founded a church beside the River Dee.

Llangollen is renowned for its 16th-century bridge that crosses the Dee, as well as the beautiful Llangollen railway and station close by.

Standing high above the town to the north is Castell Dinas Brân, a medieval castle occupying a prominent hilltop site. Various translations of the name of this castle include Crow Castle and Hill of the Crow.

And visitors to Llangollen can’t help but be drawn to the magnificent remains of nearby Valle Crucis Abbeyn founded by Prince Madog ap Gruffydd and the White Monks of the Cistercian order in 1201 AD. This religious site was the last Cistercian abbey to be built in Wales. The name Valle Crucis is Latin for Valley of the Cross and this refers to the ninth-century stone pillar that stands nearby.

Much of the abbey remains to this day with some parts, including the chapter house, almost intact. The abbey is believed to have been involved in the Welsh Wars of Edward I during the 13th century and history tells us it was possibly damaged in an uprising led by Owain Glyndŵr.

Valle Crucis was shuttered in 1537 at the time of the Dissolution of Monasteries by King Henry VIII. The site fell into disrepair and the building was given to Sir William Puckering on a 21-year lease by Henry VIII. The lease was renewed under the reign of Edward VI in 1551.

Today's visitors can walk around the remains and ruins to see for themselves life as it must have been throughout the medieval period. A visit to the dormitory, where the monks once slept, is a must and it’s in this building where we find a large collection of grave slabs used at the abbey in medieval times. They include the gravestone of Madog ap Gruffydd with its image of a lion carved upon it.

The chapter house also survives with its elaborate vaulted ceiling and it was here the monks gathered for daily meetings and to listen to religious readings.

One can only imagine the splendour of the church dedicated to St Mary during medieval times when it was tended by the White Monks of the Cistercian order. Before leaving Valle Crucis Abbey it's worth visiting the only monastic fishpond in Wales, found to the back of the site.

My film, Church Crawling in Llangollen, can be viewed for free with many other local history films by visiting my channel, youtube.com/Tvpresenter4history.


Things to look out for
The chapter house with its vaulted ceiling
The collection of medieval grave slabs in the dormitory
The stunning stone ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey
The monastic fishpond, the only one existing in Wales