With a population of just under three thousand, Llangollen is like a small paradise sitting aside the glorious River Dee in Northeast Wales. This idyllic village is like a postcard lost in time as its beautiful riverside coast overlooks the impressive and inspiring Berwyn Mountains.

Llangollen's roots extend all the way back to the 600s when a monk named Saint Collen erected a humble church next to the fertile Dee. From there Llangollen quickly became a village and the building of the Castell Dinas Bran by the Princes of Powys marked the first fortress on this lush landscape. This impressive castle was further bolstered by the natural beauty native to Llangollen, like the Eglwyseg Rocks, a natural limestone cliff that can still be seen today by anybody lucky enough to go wandering through Llangollen.

Though Llangollen's natural features are fascinating, some of the most awe inspiring parts of Llangollen date from the Middle Ages. The famed Valle Crucis Abbey, for instance, was built all the way back in 1201 and still proudly stands to this day as a marker of the time when the church ruled all. Llangollen's bridge is also of great historical interest to many, as it was built in the 14th century by the future Bishop of St. Asaph. This ancient bridge underwent some revisions and extensions during the 1800s but it is still a shining beacon of glory for citizens of Llangollen.

Llangollen grew up as a primarily agricultural town. The rushing waterways that still permeate the town made for some of the most fertile soil in all of England and farming was a large part of the city's income very early on. When the wool trade exploded all around Europe Lllangollen quickly rose to the occasion and wool farming and sheep were the primary trade of Llangollen, with wool and cotton factories being built not long after. Though wool is not as popular these days, Llangollen is still a thriving city that hosts many manufacturing companies in order to keep its economy afloat. It is still an important city along the waterways in terms of trade and commerce and this has helped the city to stay alive while not succumbing to the mass urbanization that afflicted many other parts of the country. Llangollen's resistance to change and insistence on keeping its natural and historic beauty have allowed the city to maintain its pristine reputation through the years and as a result the city has been written about extensively in classic nursery rhymes like "Llangollen Market" and "Ladies of Llangollen". Some have said that the world-famous "Mary Had a Little Lamb" originated in Llangollen after a ditty written about one Mary Thomas but in recent years it has been proven that the nursery rhyme is American in origin and was written about a Mary Sawyer. Either way, though, Llangollen's gorgeous appearance has clearly influenced the creative minds of countless of writers and artists and, if the city continues unabated as it has in the past few centuries, we can look forward to many more years of inspiration from Llangollen.

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The Llangollen Tourist Board gives comparable information to this page. If you require more information about Llangollen, you may be able to obtain it from the Llangollen Tourist Board.