Glyn Ceiriog () is the principal settlement of the Ceiriog Valley and a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire and Shropshire to ...

, north-east

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Glyn Ceiriog translates simply as Ceiriog Valley, though there are other villages in the valley. The village and community is technically known, in traditional Welsh naming style, as Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog or sometimes Llansanffraid Glyn Ceiriog, which means church of St Ffraid (the Welsh name of Saint Brigid of Kildare) in the Ceiriog Valley, but it has come to be known simply as Glyn Ceiriog, or even Glyn for short. The name Llansanffraid is now more associated with other villages of the same name. It is in the Clwyd South Senedd constituency and the Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr UK parliamentary constituency. A former slate mining village, it lies on the River Ceiriog and on the B4500 road, about 6 miles (10 km) west of

Chirk Chirk () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the historic counties of Wales, traditional coun ...

. It is south of

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

Geography and administration

Civic history

Glyn Ceiriog was historically administered as the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of ''Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog'', ("St Ffraid's in the Ceiriog Valley"). From 1889 until 1974, Glyn Ceiriog was part of the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, which was divided into various rural districts. From 1895 to 1935, Glyn Ceiriog was in the Chirk Rural District, which merged in 1935 with Llansilin Rural District to form the Ceiriog Rural District. Glyn Ceiriog was in the Ceiriog Rural District from 1935 to 1974. In 1974, Denbighshire was abolished as an administrative county, and Glyn Ceiriog was incorporated into the Glyndŵr district of the new county of

Clwyd Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...

. Both of those were dissolved in 1996, and Glyn Ceiriog became a part of the new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

of Wrexham County Borough, in which it currently remains.

Political representation

Today, Glyn Ceiriog is administered by

Wrexham County Borough Council Wrexham County Borough Council () is the governing body for Wrexham County Borough, a principal area with city status in north Wales, covering Wrexham and the surrounding area. History Wrexham County Borough Council was created in 1996 under the ...

, is in the Ceiriog Valley

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

, and has an independent

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

. The Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog Community Council meets every fourth Thursday in the month. Ten councillors represent the villages of Glyn Ceiriog, Garth, Pandy and Nantyr. Since 2011, Glyn Ceiriog has been represented in the

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

Ken Skates Kenneth Christian Skates (born 2 April 1976) is a Welsh Labour politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales since March 2024. Skates has represented the constituency of Clwyd South in the Senedd since the elect ...

, the

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...

Member of the Senedd A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituency, Senedd constituencies, a ...

for Clwyd South. From 2010 to 2019, Glyn Ceiriog was represented in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

by Susan Jones, the Labour Party member of parliament for Clwyd South. From 2019 to 2024 it was represented by

Simon Baynes Simon Robert Maurice Baynes (born 21 April 1960) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clwyd South (UK Parliament constituenc ...

of the Conservative Party. Following the

2023 review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency boundaries were approved by the Privy Council on 15 Nov ...

the village became part of the Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr constituency. Since the July 2024 it has been represented by Steve Witherden of the Labour Party.

Physical geography/Geology

Glyn Ceiriog is located in the Ceiriog Valley, a valley created by the River Ceiriog. Geologically, the area has

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

and

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

strata. The soil is thin and peaty.

Village resources

Glyn Ceiriog, being the principal village for the Ceiriog Valley, is home to many of the Valley’s resources: • Village Post Office
• Cross Stores Village Shop
• Glyn Valley Hotel
• The Oak / Y Dderwen
• Valley Doctors Surgery
• Valley Pharmacy
• Christian Centre
• Ceiriog Memorial Hall
• Llansanffraid Church

Industry

Glyn Ceiriog was once the home of extensive

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarries. The Glyn Valley Tramway was built to take the slate to a wharf on the

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that netwo ...

and later to sidings on the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

line from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. Although the valley does not have a primary industry any longer, there are a few recent and long standing manufacturing businesses supplying the valley and beyond.

Transport

Bus services are provided by Bryn Melyn, a subsidiary of GHA Coaches. Services operate to

via

and to Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog on service 64. Infrequent services on route 65 connect the village to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

via Ruabon. Rail services are available from

, away.

Notable residents

A number of Welsh literary figures have lived in or near Glyn Ceiriog. * The 15th century Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn (1435–1493) is associated with Glyn Ceiriog * The 17th century Welsh poet

Huw Morus Huw Morus or Morys (1622 – 31 August 1709), also known by his bardic name ''Eos Ceiriog'' ("the nightingale of Ceiriog"), was a Welsh poet. One of the most popular and prolific poets of his time, he composed a large number of poems in a variet ...

(1622–1709) was born near Glyn Ceiriog and lived at Pont Y Meibion. * The

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

prize-winning poet and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

, Robert Ellis (Cynddelw) (1812–1875) was a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister at Glyn Ceiriog Independent Welsh Baptist Chapel, ''Seion'', from 1838 to 1840 * The Welsh novelist Islwyn Ffowc Elis spent most of his childhood on a farm near Glyn Ceiriog, although he was born in

. * The actress Sarah Edwards was born in Glyn Ceirog in 1882. *

Lancelot Hogben Lancelot Thomas Hogben FRS FRSE (9 December 1895 – 22 August 1975) was a British experimental zoologist and medical statistician. He developed the African clawed frog ''(Xenopus laevis)'' as a model organism for biological research in his e ...

, an experimental zoologist and medical statistician, moved to the Ceiriog Valley in the late 1950s, and lived in Glyn Ceiriog at the time of his death in 1975.

Bibliography

*Dewi Parry Jones & Robert Owen Jones, "100 Years in the Valley – Y Glyn a Fu" (1998) *Dewi Parry Jones & Robert Owen Jones, "100 Years in the Valley Volume II – Y Glyn a Fu" (1999)

References

External links

Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog Community Council
{{authority control Villages in Wrexham County Borough