The River Clywedog is a river in

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 ...

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 ...

. Its uses have been watering crops, powering industrial machinery but is now used as walking trails or geography trips. The river originates to the west of

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 ...

, and joins the River Dee some four miles south east of the city.

Course of the river

The river Clywedog rises in the hills west of the village of Minera. After flowing through Minera it turns south-east, past

Coedpoeth Coedpoeth (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The built-up area with Minera had a population of 5,723 in the 2011 census. Locality Coedpoeth is on a hill between the Clywedog and Gwenfro valleys, surrounded by c ...

, Bersham and Rhostyllen and through the

Erddig Erddig () is a country house and estate in the Community (Wales), community of Marchwiel, approximately south of Wrexham, Wales. It is centred on a country house which dates principally from between 1684 and 1687, when the central block was bui ...

Country Park, then east, passing slightly to the south of

. There is a path along the entire river bank from Minera to Wrexham. After passing the

Wrexham industrial estate Wrexham Industrial Estate () is a well defined industrial area in Wrexham, Wales. It is situated 3 miles east of the city centre. Originally the site of a World War II munitions factory, the estate later became known as the Wrexham Trading Esta ...

, the river joins the River Dee near the English/Welsh border.

History

During the 18th and early 19th centuries there were 17

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s along the river:

fulling mill Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate (lanolin) oils, dirt, ...

s for preparing cloth, mills for grinding corn and malt, and

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

s. Large waterwheels powered the bellows blasting air into the iron furnaces at Bersham, and drove winding and pumping machinery in the lead mines. The population grew dramatically as the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

drew workers to the Wrexham area, serving the rapidly developing coal mines, lead mines, limestone quarries,

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

and lead smelting works. The fertile Clywedog flood plain had always provided rich pasture and corn; but, to meet the increased demand for food for the expanding work force, new corn mills were built and additional areas of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

were cleared for growing crops. When steam power took over in the late 19th and 20th centuries, new industries no longer needed to be sited close to the river. New technology and cheap imports led to a gradual industrial decline in the area. WXM-SDSC0053

Today the Clywedog has returned to nature and is a place for wildlife, relaxation and walking. Several of the old buildings and surrounding land are now museums, visitor centres and riverside country parks: Minera Lead Mines, Nant Mill Visitor Centre and Picnic Area, Bersham Heritage Centre and Ironworks and

. There is now a 7-mile (11 km) trail along the river through a number of the old industrial sites. Known as the Clywedog Trail, its starts at the Minera Lead Mines and finishes at Kings Mills.

References

{{authority control Clywedog Tourist attractions in Wrexham County Borough 1Clywedog