Denbighshire
Welsh Sir Ddinbych
Unitary authority in north Wales; population 91,000 (1996);
area 844 sq km/326 sq mi. The administrative centre is Ruthin.
The main industries are agriculture and tourism; it includes Denbigh
and Rhuddlan castles and the seaside resorts of Rhyl and Prestatyn.
The Clwydian range of mountains rises to a height of 555 m/ 1,820
ft, with Offa's Dyke along the main ridge. The main rivers are
the Clwyd, Dee, and Elwy.
The area yields excellent dairy produce, and is well timbered.
Other principal towns are Denbigh and Llangollen. The area is
rugged and mountainous except for the fertile Vales of Llangollen
and Clwyd. The rocks are chiefly Silurian clay and graywacke slates,
with some granite and trap, and bands of Devonian, Carboniferous,
and Permian strata. Coal and limestone are found with minor quantities
of mineral ores. A former county, between 1974 and 1996 it was
largely merged, together with Flint and part of Merioneth, into
Clwyd; a small area along the western border was included in Gwynedd.
|
Top
