The weather this morning was beautiful: sunny but cool. Since we thought it might be the last nice day of Summer, we headed off to Denbigh for some castle-spotting and a spot of elevenses.
We set off around 9am and arrived in Denbigh shortly after 10, made our way up the winding narrow roads, and parked by the castle. A solitary tower greets you on the way up to the castle, which used to be part of the town’s chapel. St Hilary’s Chapel was built just after the castle and town walls in around 1300 and referred to as “the chapel within the walls”, mainly used by the English inside the town walls, while the Welsh on the outside used St Marcella’s. The town outgrew the small chapel though, and a much larger church was built in the 19th century. Finally in 1923, all but the tower was demolished.
The entrance to the castle was very grand for such a small town, the gatehouse consisted of 3 octagonal towers surrounding a “killing zone”, not too dissimilar to Caernarfon. A statue of Edward II stands over the entrance to scare away the Welsh.
The castle was void of tourists, which was great for us, letting us explore the grounds free of bumping in to anyone. I took the time to do a 360 degree photo, though the gyroscope in my phone was broken so it took a while.
The views from the top of the castle hill were incredible, and with such great weather, we could see for miles and miles. A very picturesque setting.
There were a lot of small ruined rooms, lots of twists and turns, lots of small staircases that would’ve gone somewhere at one point. A long staircase at the back of the castle led to what would’ve originally been the back gate. Lots of dead-ends with ruined structures.
As I explored, I found the old Sally Port, though it didn’t seem to lead anywhere. It was more like a dungeon, but was fun to explore nonetheless. It had several holes in the ceiling leading back outside, like murder holes, which again made me question its purpose as a Sally Port.
My favourite sights though were through old ruined doorways and windows. I love the framing they give to the rest of the ruin and the surrounding scenery.
After the castle, we headed downhill in to Denbigh town centre itself. We checked out a few local shops, before settling down for some elevenses. We sat outside a small cafe called “Denbigh Chocolate Shop” which was lovely. Helen had a pancake, I had a scone. A table of girls sat next to us speaking a mixture of Welsh and English which was very strange to listen to.
We also got talking to an old local man in the cafe, who told us that if we ask nicely at either the library or a small cafe round the corner called “The Glass Onion”, they’ll lend us the keys to the castle walls for a small deposit. Naturally I couldn’t resist, and went off on another adventure. There were a lot of steep steps and hills, so Helen chose to walk around Denbigh some more while I entertained myself.
The first leg of the walls is a long narrow path alongside local houses, looking in to several peoples gardens and living rooms. Then as you reach the North-Eastern Tower, the wall opens up, and the view to the East of Denbigh is incredible.
More winding staircases and ruined structures could be found around the Countess Tower, then the Goblin Tower. The latter of which held a deep well, and was very tall. I counted about 100 stairs going all the way down to the bottom. I was exhausted when I got back to the top!
During the English Civil War, Parliamentarians laid siege to the castle, and tried to destroy the Goblin Tower, as it had a deep well that kept the Royalists watered, but they couldn’t bring it down. Many cannonballs remain embedded into the wall to this day, but I couldn’t see any from the inside. Good walls!
I finally found myself round the back of the castle in a forest, climbed up a few more staircases, and eventually caught sight of the tower of St Hilary’s Chapel where our adventure began about 2-and-a-half hours ago.
So we got back on the road and headed towards home. We stopped off for a nice lunch in Tarporley on the way at the Rising Sun pub. We shared ribs and wings, and had a couple of desserts. No need for dinner now!
Last job of the day was to stop by the parent’s house and mow their lawn. This tiny guy, less than an inch long, barely escaped the wrath of the mower. Luckily I noticed him in time and carried him to safety!
I’d definitely recommend Denbigh for a day trip, but when you go, make sure you get the key to the walls from either the library, the Glass Onion cafe, or the castle itself. It’s a tiring walk, but well worth it.
What a lovely trip out and fancy getting the keys to the walls – that was a bonus. Thanks for sharing the photos with us.