Gwaenysgor is a small village in

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

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 ...

. Located near

Prestatyn Prestatyn (; ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085. Origin of name The name Prestatyn d ...

north Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, it lies at an elevation of 600 feet, 183 metres. There is one pub, the Eagle and Child. The remnants of RAF Prestatyn lie on the hill nearby. (St. Elmo's Summerhouse). It is in the community of

Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor () is a Community (Wales), community in Flintshire, Wales. The community includes the villages of Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor. The community council is made up of 9 councillors – 6 to represent the Trelawnyd ward and 3 to ...

Description

Betws Gwaenysgor (grid ref SJ 075 810) perches on the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

rim of the

Clwydian Range The Clwydian Range (; also Clwydian Hills or Clwyds) is a series of hills in the north-east of Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north; the highest point is Moel Famau. The range forms the north-western part o ...

, 2 km south-east of

at about 183 m (600 ft). Lanes drop north to the coast and south to

Dyserth Dyserth () is a village, community and electoral ward in Denbighshire, Wales. Its population at the 2011 United Kingdom census was 2,269 and was estimated by the Office for National Statistics as 2,271 in 2019. It lies within the historic cou ...

, but the settlement itself is a tight cluster around St Mary Magdalene's church and the Eagle and Child inn.

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

(1086) lists a manor and a ruinous church at "Wenescol". Place-name analysis derives the modern Welsh form from gwaun "moor" and ysgor "fort", giving "marsh by a fort", an echo of the prehistoric occupation attested on nearby Gop Hill. The same survey notes continuous farming on the spur for at least 5,000 years. St Mary Magdalene's preserves

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

masonry in its south doorway and a thirteenth-century font; the single-cell building gained a

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

east window and an arch-braced roof in the later Middle Ages and retains seventeenth-century fittings, including an oak

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

table and a sundial

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

dated 1663. A kilometre north-west the summit known locally as Gwaenysgor Mountain holds RAF Prestatyn, an R11 ROTOR

radar station Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), direction (azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track aircraft ...

completed in 1956 and abandoned in the late 1960s; its Type 14 plinth, operations block and perimeter fencing still dominate the skyline beside modern communication masts. The hilltop also covers the Bronze-Age barrow known as St Elmo's Summerhouse, while the 177-mile Offa's Dyke Path climbs past the site from Prestatyn before dropping east toward

Trelawnyd Trelawnyd (formerly ''Newmarket'' from 1710 to 1954) is a village in Flintshire, Wales. The village had a population taken at the 2011 census of 584. It is part of the community of Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor. Governance There is an electoral wa ...

, its way-markers inviting walkers into Betws Gwaenysgor for refreshment.

History

Mentioned in the

of 1086 (then referred to as Wenescol), people have lived on this ancient settlement for more than 5000 years.

References

{{authority control Villages in Flintshire