St Asaph
St Asaph
| |
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Location within Denbighshire | |
Population | 3,355 (2011) |
OS grid reference | SJ035743 |
Community |
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Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ST. ASAPH |
Postcode district | LL17 |
Dialling code | 01745 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
Vale of Clwyd | |
St Asaph (
The city of St Asaph is surrounded by countryside and views of the Vale of Clwyd. It is situated close to a number of busy coastal towns such as Rhyl, Prestatyn, Abergele, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. The historic castles of Denbigh and Rhuddlan are also nearby
History
The earliest inhabitants of the vale of Elwy lived at the nearby
Later some historians postulate that the Roman fort of Varae sat on the site of the cathedral. However, the city is believed to have developed around a sixth-century
The cathedral has had a chequered history. In the 13th century, the troops of Edward I of England burnt the cathedral almost to the ground, and in 1402 Owain Glyndŵr's troops went on the rampage, causing severe damage to the furnishings and fittings. Two hundred and fifty years later, during the Commonwealth, the building was used to house farm animals: pigs, cattle and horses.[5]
The
City status
As the seat of a medieval cathedral and
The award of city status is typically granted to a
Community
Despite the previous lack of official city status, the community council had referred to itself as the City of St Asaph Town Council. The local community is passionate about St Asaph's historic claim to be known as a city like its Welsh cousin St Davids, which has led to a number of local businesses using 'City' as part of their business name. The city is promoted locally as the "City of Music".
The past few decades have seen the local economy in St Asaph thrive, first with the opening of the A55 road in 1970, which took east–west traffic away from the city, and, more recently, with a business park being built, attracting investment from home and overseas.
The crowded roads in St Asaph have been a hot political issue for many years. In recent years, increasing volumes of traffic on the A525, St Asaph High Street, which links A55 with the Clwyd Valley, Denbigh and Ruthin, have led to severe congestion in the city. This congestion is having a detrimental effect on the city, and residents have repeatedly called for a bypass to take this north–south road and its traffic away from the city, but the
St Asaph is now home to Ysgol Glan Clwyd, a Welsh medium secondary school that opened in Rhyl in 1956 and moved to St Asaph in 1969. It was the first Welsh medium secondary school in Wales.
An original copy of the
Twinning
St Asaph is twinned with the town of Bégard in Brittany, France.[12]
Festivities
Every year the city hosts the
Other annual events in the city include the increasingly popular Woodfest Wales crafts festival in June, the Beat the Bounds charity walk in July and the Gala Day in August.
Churches
In addition to the cathedral, there are five other churches in St Asaph covering all the major Christian denominations. The Parish Church of St Asaph and St Kentigern (
Governance
The City Council comprises two wards that both elect seven councillors.[13] The presiding officer and chairperson of the council is The Rt Wp The Mayor Cllr Colin Hardie.[13]
In the 2022 local elections, St Asaph elected the first Green Party councillor in Denbighshire in the St Asaph East electoral ward.[14]
Transport
St Asaph is served by regular buses to
Although further away, other stations in the vicinity of the city include Flint, Shotton, Wrexham and Ruabon. Llangollen Railway is also a nearby tourist attraction in nearby Corwen, as is Bala Lake Railway in the town of Bala.
Notable people
A number of famous people have strong links to St Asaph, having been born, raised, lived, worked or died in the city. These include:
- William Morgan (1545–1604), translated the Bible into Welsh, later Lord Bishop of St Asaph
- Georgiana Hare-Naylor (ca. 1755–1806) an English painter and art patron.
- Dic Aberdaron (1780–1843), traveller and polyglot who taught himself Latin at the age of 11
- Felicia Hemans (1793–1835), poet, wrote the poem Casabianca with The boy stood on the burning deck.[15]
- G. W. Hemans (1814–1885), architect and engineer, engineered the Vale of Clwyd Railway line through St Asaph[16]
- Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904), explorer and journalist.[17]
- A. G. Edwards, (1848–1937), Lord Bishop of St Asaph the first Lord Archbishop of Wales in the Church in Wales
- Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag
- Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag
- William Mathias (1934–1992), composer of choral works, lived and was buried in St Asaph.
- Geoffrey James (born 1942), Canadian photographer
- Gareth Jones (born 1961), television presenter
- Jo Caulfield (born 1963), actress, writer and comedian
- Antony John Williams (born 1964), chemist, science-blogger and author
- Russell Morris (born 1967), Professor of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews and former first-class cricketer
- Carl Sargeant (1968–2017), Welsh politician[18]
- Greg Davies (born 1968), comedian, presenter, actor and writer
- Steve Williams (born 1971), keyboard player, founder of Power Quest and former member of DragonForce
- Spencer Wilding (born 1972), actor and stunt performer
- radio host
- Steps
- Paul Mealor (born 1975), composer, much of his output is for chorus
- MP for the Vale of Clwyd
- Bryan Parry (born 1992), actor
Sport
- Rosamund Colman (June 1885 – 1950) international golf and tennis player a member of the Salusbury family.
- Alan Rudkin (1941–2010), British, Commonwealth and European bantamweight boxing champion
- Brynley Jones (born 1959), footballer with over 190 club caps
- Ian Rush (born 1961), footballer, former Wales captain and with 346 goals for Liverpool is their record goalscorer.
- Barry Horne (born 1962), footballer with over 540 club caps and 59 for Wales
- Paul Affleck (born 1966), professional golfer who has played on the European Tour
- Darren Owen (born 1967), horse racing commentator.
- Royal Ascot
- Rob Higgitt (born 1981), rugby union player
- Eifion Lewis-Roberts (born 1981), rugby union prop forward
- Becky Brewerton(born 1982), golfer on the Ladies European Tour
- Mark Webster (born 1983), former professional darts player
- Newport Gwent Dragonsregional team
- Andy Fenby (born 1985), former rugby union footballer
- Victoria Thornley (born 1987), rower, team silver medalist in the women's double sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
- Neil Taylor (born 1989), footballer, with 338 club caps and 43 for Wales international and Team GB squad member for the London 2012 Olympics
- fullback for the Gloucester Hartpury and Wales women
- Chris Maxwell (born 1990), football goalkeeper with over 400 club caps and captain of Blackpool
- discus and shot put at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Another well-known individual, Geoffrey of Monmouth, served as Lord Bishop of St Asaph from 1152 to 1155. However, due to war and unrest in Wales at the time, he probably never set foot in his see.
The hospital in the city (formerly the St Asaph Union Workhouse) was named
References
Notes
- ^ St Asaph—John Wells's phonetic blog Archived 18 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 15 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012
- ISBN 9780198527589.
- ^ BBC News—St Asaph in north Wales named Diamond Jubilee city Archived 30 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 March 2012
- ^ Office for National Statistics Archived 9 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine 2011 census - St. Asaph C
- ^ T. W. Pritchard St Asaph Cathedral Guidebooks
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 1016. .
- ^ "St Asaph: A new Diamond city for North Wales". GOV.UK. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- ^ "WELCOME TO ST ASAPH". www.stasaph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 May 2000.
- ^ "Three towns win city status for Diamond Jubilee". BBC News. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ "No. 60167". The London Gazette. 11 June 2012. p. 11125.
- ^ "Corby City Bid" (PDF). www.corby.gov.uk. Corby Borough Council.
Applications may only be made by an elected local authority – normally, in respect of the entire local authority area.
- ^ "Cathedral to New Inn". St Asaph City Council. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Councillors". Archived from the original on 25 May 2013.
- ^ "Local Election 2022: Denbighshire Council voting and results in full". MSN.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 256–257. .
- ^ "George Willoughby Hemans". Grace's Guide. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ^ Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). pp. 779–781. .
- ^ Carl Sargeant: Profile of long-serving AM's career - BBC News
Bibliography
- T.W. Pritchard St Asaph Cathedral R J L Smith Much Wenlock (1997) ISBN 1-872665-91-8
- Dr Chis Stringer Homo Brittanicus 319 pages, publisher: Allen Lane (5 October 2006) ISBN 978-0-7139-9795-8
External links
- St Asaph City Council
- St Asaph (City Times)
- BBC St Asaph page
- North Wales International Music Festival
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of St Asaph and surrounding area