Corwen (Denbighshire)

Corwen (Sir Ddinbych)

OS Grid Ref: SJ 07860 43440
52º58’49.23”N 003º22’25.65”W

Opinions seem to vary about the derivation of the name of this locality, Corwen. Some say that it means "the white choir", but this simple approach to the name begs more questions than it answers. I prefer to dig a bit deeper into the name, believing it to be derived from "Corfaen", the mutated form of "Cor-Maen", which means "sacred-stone". There is indeed a sacred stone here - a prehistoric monolith called "Carreg y big yn y fach rhewellyd", meaning "the pointed rock in the freezing corner". 

The Celtic saints Mael and Sulien will have seen this monolith when they founded a religious community in the area in the sixth century. The church which now bears their names was begun several centuries after that time, and the sacred monolith has been incorporated into the porch of the Church. There is also an ancient cross shaft in the churchyard.


The Corwen Cross, 
October 2000

 The top of the cross is missing, meaning that most of the evidence that the ornamentation might provide about the date of the cross is not available. Such ornamentation as has survived appears to be simple plaits (see left and right), and as such, it could belong to any period from about the ninth century to the sixteenth. It may have been a preaching cross erected before the church was begun in the thirteenth century.

The lower part of the shaft is four-sided, with rounded corners and bevelled edges. An unusual feature is that one of the faces of the cross also carries a carving of a cross or dagger (see left). The form of this dagger-cross may indicate a link with the time of the Crusades. Otherwise, the sides of the lower shaft are undecorated.

The nearby cross shaft of Eliseg's Pillar, which dates from the ninth century, has some things in common with the Corwen cross - a plain lower shaft, with four panels at the top of the shaft, each of which is surrounded by a raised cartouche border. On the other hand, Eliseg's Pillar is notable for having a cross shaft which is circular in cross section below the panels, so there are differences as well as similarities.

It is thus possible that this is a pre-Norman Cross, but it seems more likely that it is post-Norman.

 


The Corwen Cross, 
October 2000

There are plenty of other reasons for tourists to visit Corwen and its environs. Starting with the oldest first, the Iron Age hill fort called Caer Drewyn stands on a hill just north of the town - perhaps those people were responsible for the monolith at the church. Owain Glyndýr, the Prince of Wales who stood up to the English came from a few miles up the Dee Valley, where there is a mound bearing his name at the site of his home, which was destroyed in 1403; the Prince himself is commemorated by a modern statue in the centre of Corwen. He is also commemorated in the name of the hotel across the road from the statue, but in the days when that hotel was known as the New Inn, it was the venue for the first public Eisteddfod, in May 1789. All these and the chance to travel on Telford's A5 as well....


Owain Glyndýr, Tywysog Cymru 
Owain Glyndýr, Prince of Wales 
Corwen, October 2000


The church is set back from the main A5 road through a gate.
There is a handy car park by the bus station.

 

* The Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference (and corresponding Latitude/Longitude) given at the top of the pages describing individual sites usually refer to the location of the closest or most prominent entrance to the site where the monument is to be found - e.g. a gate into a churchyard. For monuments located in open country, or at a significant distance from the site entrance as just defined, the co-ordinates usually refer to the exact location of the monument.
Please allow for a small error in the co-ordinates of up to a couple of dozen metres.

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