Denbighshire: A place to live

Denbighshire stretches from the coastal resorts of Rhyl and Prestatyn in the north, through the Vale of Clwyd, over the panoramic Horseshoe Pass into the picturesque Dee Valley. The bustling town of Llangollen is home to the annual International Music Eisteddfod and on the edge of the recently designated World Heritage Site of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Llangollen canal. 

Not only are we fortunate to be located in a truly stunning area of the UK, we also have excellent transport links. Along the A55, Liverpool, and Chester are within an hour’s drive, and Holyhead and Manchester just an extra 20 minutes.

Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is the scenic frontier of North Wales and has some of the UK’s most wonderful countryside. The Clwydian Range is an unmistakable chain of purple heather-clad summits, topped by Britain's most dramatically situated hillforts. Beyond the Horseshoe Pass over Llantysilio mountain, lies the glorious Dee Valley with historic Llangollen, a famous transport route rich in cultural and industrial heritage.

The Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail traverses this specially protected area, one of the least discovered yet most welcoming and easiest to explore of Britain’s finest landscapes.

Nature, history and people have made Denbighshire distinctive. Three characteristic landscapes created by nature; the coast, the uplands, and the contrasting river valleys await exploration here, along with the changes made to them by countless generations of inhabitants and invaders. Here, nearly 250,000 years ago, lived the first known people of Wales. Now, the peace of the rural landscape and blue flag coastline blends harmoniously with thriving towns and villages, supporting a diverse range of residents and visitors alike and creating a county rich in culture.

The story of historic Denbighshire is likewise chronicled in its heritage of legend-haunted holy wells and characteristic churches, many of them rebuilt in the Tudor period, when Denbighshire became the prosperous and cultured Power-house of Renaissance Wales. Historic towns, picturesque villages and varied historic houses all help to tell Denbighshire’s story: and though the Industrial Revolution sits lightly on the modern county, its industrial heritage can still be traced, often amid the now peaceful setting of its country parks and outstanding landscapes.

Legends, curiosities, and links with famous people all add to Denbighshire’s character. So too does the fact that both Welsh and English are spoken in its towns and villages, for both nature and history have ensured that Denbighshire remains the most distinctively Welsh of the eastern ‘border’ counties.

To sum this up in a phrase, Denbighshire is a beautiful county.

To find out more, visit our Leisure and Tourism web pages.