Llangar Old Parish Church

The north-east Wales county of Denbighshire shares a name – though not the same borders – with one of Wales’s thirteen historic counties. It includes the seaside holiday towns of Rhyl and Prestatyn; the medieval county town of Denbigh; and the tiny cathedral town of St Asaph.

Pretty Llangollen in the south of the county is part of the 11-mile UNESCO World Heritage Site beginning at the Horseshoe Falls, in Denbighshire’s Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and following the Llangollen Canal along its length to Thomas Telford’s cast iron Pontcysyllte Aqueduct just over the border in neighbouring Wrexham.

Today, the county is predominantly rural, with sheep and cattle rearing in the upland areas. Much of the economy is based around tourism, with plenty of holiday cottages and B&Bs available around the seaside towns, while attractions further inland include plenty of castles – try Rhuddlan, Denbigh, Dinas Bran or Bodelwyddan – the Llangollen–Corwen heritage railway and the Victorian Ruthin Gaol.