Llandegla () or Llandegla-yn-Iâl () is a village and

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 ...

in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

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 ...

. In the 2011 census, the community had a population of 567.

Name

The village's name is Welsh for the "

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Saint Tecla", which honours the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

. This was most probably originally dedicated to a Welsh

virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

named Tegla Forwyn ("Thecla the Virgin") – not the more famous

Thecla Thecla (, ) was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal '' Acts of Paul and Thecla''. Church tradition The ''Acts of Paul and Thecla ...

who is known as "Tecla" in several

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. IV, p. 219
Honorable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1913. However, the Welsh saint is obscure and Llandegla's

Patronal Festival A patronal feast or patronal festival (; ; ; ; ) is a yearly celebration dedicated – in countries influenced by Christianity – to the 'heavenly advocate' or 'patron' of the location holding the festival, who is a saint or virgin. The day of t ...

has been held on the feast of the foreign saint since at least the early 20th century. Llandegla-yn-Iâl distinguishes the community as "St Tegla's in

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

". Yale's own name meant the "fertile hill country"; it was a Welsh

commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

and English

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

. The estate of Plas yn Iâl in the village was the seat of the Iâl family, whose most well-known member is

Elihu Yale Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British Americans, British-American Colonialism, colonial administrator. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, a ...

, a governor of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. Elihu made a substantial gift towards the founding of an educational institution in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

(

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

). This sponsorship led to the college becoming known as

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and later

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Yale is buried in nearby

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 ...

Location

Llandegla is located above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

in the upper valley of the

River Alyn The River Alyn () is a tributary of the River Dee in north-east Wales. It rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The main tow ...

just off the

A525 road The A525 is a major route from Rhyl in Wales to Newcastle-under-Lyme in England. The route passes near Denbigh, through Ruthin, through Wrexham and near Whitchurch. The route is a dual carriageway just south of Rhyl. As of 10 March, 2010, the ...

between

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; ) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh ''rhud ...

and

. The boundaries of the community include both the village of Llandegla itself and the neighbouring village of Pen-y-stryt. Notably the village boundary includes Llandegla Forest, or Coed Llandegla, a famous mountain biking centre, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. To the east rises the

Nant-y-Ffrith Nant-y-Ffrith refers to a stream and the wooded valley through which it flows on the border between Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough in Wales. The stream begins in moorland to the east of Llandegla. It passes Bwlchgwyn village before enteri ...

stream.

History

St Tecla's church is likely to have been an early-mediaeval foundation, and by the 13th century was recorded as a chapelry of

Valle Crucis Abbey Valle Crucis Abbey (Valley of the Cross) is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio in Denbighshire, north Wales. More formally ''the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis'' it is known in Welsh both as ''Abaty Glyn Egwestl'' a ...

. The fabric of the building was, however, heavily rebuilt in 1866, probably to a design by John Gibson.Church of St Tecla, Llandegla
Churches of Denbighshire Survey, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust The village was located on one of the main

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...

s from the north-west coast of Wales to the markets of England, and the cattle trade was central to its economy.

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

wrote that it was "noted for its vast fairs for black cattle", and there were formerly several inns in the village to cater for the drovers and cattle-dealers.Pennant, T. ''Tours in Wales, Volume 2'', 1810, p. 15

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

, in his travelogue ''Wild Wales'', recorded meeting a hog-dealer on the road above

Eglwyseg The Eglwyseg valley is an area to the north east of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales; it is within the boundaries of Llantysilio Community. The name also refers to a widely scattered hamlet in the valley. Formerly the old township of Eglwysegl ...

taking a large herd of pigs across the mountain from "Llandeglo" towards

.Borrow, G. ''Wild Wales'', v. 2, John Murray, 1862, p. 286 As the droving trade tailed off in the later 19th century, due to the construction of the railways, many of Llandegla's residents worked in quarrying.

Local customs and traditions

Pennant recorded the

Christian pilgrimage Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to sit ...

traditions, believed to date from the time of the

Celtic Church Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unified and identifiab ...

, connected with St Tecla's Well, a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

located in a field close to the church. Sufferers of what were known as ''Clwyf Tecla'', "St Tecla's disease", washed themselves in the well after sunset and walked around it three times

sunwise Sunwise, sunward or deasil (sometimes spelled ''deosil''), are terms meaning to go clockwise or in the direction of the sun, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite term is ''widdershins'' (Middle Low German), or ''tuathal'' (Scottish ...

, leaving an offering of fourpence, afterwards spending the night inside the

. The nineteenth-century folklorist Elias Owen recorded a tale about a "wicked Ghost" which haunted the rectory at Llandegla and was eventually exorcised by a man named Griffiths from

Graianrhyd Graianrhyd, also spelt ''Graeanrhyd'', is a small, scattered village in the community of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl, Denbighshire, Wales. It lies in hilly limestone country around to the east of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl village, and just to the south of Eryr ...

. The spirit was said to have been buried in a box under a large stone in the

close to Llandegla's bridge.Owen, E. ''Welsh folk-lore: a collection of the folk-tales and legends of North Wales'', Woodall, Minshall and Co, 1896, pp. 206–207 The village has an annual Summer Fate festival, which involves vegetable growing, and artwork competitions, as well sports races for the local children.

Amenities

Natural features in the area include 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 ...

to the north-west of the village, Llandegla Forest to the south-east and the Horseshoe Pass to the south. The

Offa's Dyke Path Offa's Dyke Path () is a long-distance footpath loosely following the Wales–England border. Officially opened on 10 July 1971, by John Hunt, Baron Hunt, Lord Hunt, it is one of Britain's National Trails and draws hillwalking, walkers from th ...

and

Clwydian Way The Clwydian Way () is a waymarked long-distance footpath in north-east Wales, mostly running through Denbighshire. Distance The waymarked circular walk runs for a total of . It was established by the North Wales area of the Rambler's Associat ...

long-distance walking routes pass through the village. Llandegla also has a

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

centre located in the forest. Notable people who have lived in the village include the author Edward Tegla Davies and the hymn-writer and poet Ehedydd Iâl ( William Jones).

References

*Llandegla Millennium Action Group (2003) ''Llandegla Then and Now'', Llandegla Millennium Action Group, Llandegla.

External links

Llandegla Community (Parish)
National Statistics
Official Coed Llandegla Mountain Biking websiteMountain Biking in Coed Llandegla – MBWales

Llandegla Fishery & Cafe
– Website
Photos of the Llandegla area at Geograph
{{authority control Holy wells in Wales Villages in Denbighshire