CILCAIN

Main headings on this page are:

Cilcain - Situation & Origin of the Name.
Cilcain Show.
Moel Fammau (Was it a Volcano?).
St Mary's Parish Church.
Cilcain's Early Inns & Shops.
Water, Electricity & the Railway.
Penbedw Standing Stones.
Village Photographs.
Quarrying Operations.

Further information is on the 'Old Cilcain' page, a link to which is given at the foot of this page.

Cilcain - Situation & Origin of the Name.

The magnificent panorama of the Clwydian Hills forms the backdrop for this small, old village. There have been various spellings for the ancient village of Cilcain over the years. In the Doomsday Book of 1086 it may have been listed as Chiluen or Chilven. Since then there has been Cilcen; Kilkorn; Kilkeyn; Kilkyn; Kylkeyn; Kilken and Kilcain. 'Cil' can mean corner, edge, shelter or side. 'Cain' can mean beautiful, fair or ridge. Suggested translations of Cil-Cain have included "A fair or pleasant retreat" and "Shady side of a mountain". Both are applicable as Cilcain lies at the foot of the northern slopes of Moel Fammau.Cilcain is about 700 feet above sea level and Moel Fammau is the highest mountain in the Clwydian Range at about 1,800 feet. The County Development Plan stated that the local countryside was of "Great Landscape Value".

Cilcain Show.

The Cilcain Show is famous over a wide area. Held on August Bank Holiday Monday, the Show involves many very popular events. In particular the 'Moel Fammau Mountain Race' attracts great interest. Distance is approximately 4 miles, and the winner takes about half an hour to complete it. There are various prizes including outright winner, local winner, ladies winner, etc. There is also a 'Junior Road Race' of about 1.5 miles for 11 to 15 year olds. Traditional exhibits include 'Home' (Cakes etc.); 'Garden'; (Vegetables etc.); 'Flowers'; 'Flower Arrangement'; Handicraft'; 'Wine'; 'Art & Design'; 'Photography' and a 'Dog Show'.

Moel Fammau (Was it a Volcano?).

400 or 500 million years ago, the region was covered by a shallow sea, and the prehistoric shales from that sea now form the interior of the chain which was once higher than the Rockies. It has worn down along the length of the Vale of Clwyd fault, and the summit is now 1,820' high. Ice age glaciers cut out the cwms and valleys through which the present roads pass.

It has been reported that between 1700 and 700 BC, the mountain slopes were used as sacred burial grounds by people of the Middle and Late Bronze Age - Beaker Folk. Although many burial cairns were identified, most are now lost.

The Denbighshire Free Press (14.3.79) reported a story that following an extraordinarily heavy snowfall in February 1773, Moel Fammau erupted one night at 11 p.m.! The mountain had been heard to utter, as it were, deep groans. The adjacent hills trembled from their roots. The noise at 11 p.m. was like the sound of distant thunder, from the rolling of huge stones down a craggy precipice. At midnight there was a loud clap and a jet spurted out from the vertex of the hill; in the same instant vast bodies of combustible matter - liquid fire, rolled among the heaps of ruins. Was it true, or a joke? A similar report is in 'A Book of Natural Wonders' by Ellison Hawkes. It records the volcanic eruptions near Mold on 31 January and 1 February 1773, when vast quantities of burning matter were thrown up, and the summit of the mountain fell into a vast opening.

Moel Famau is the highest peak in the Clwydian Range. On its summit now, are the remains of Jubilee Tower, built at a cost of £6,000 to celebrate the Jubilee (50th year of reign) of George III in 1810, and once a prominent landmark. The tower was 150' high and 60' in diameter, constructed in Egyptian style. Construction was still being finished in 1816, but was never quite completed, but fell down in 1862. There were unsuccessful rebuilding attempts in 1863 & 1887, and some restoration work on the remains in 1970. The summit offers wonderful views extending as far as Snowdonia, Cumberland and the Midlands. Conifers now cover much of the slopes, forming part of the Clwydian Forest. The mountain became a Country Park in 1974.

St Mary's Parish Church.

Parts of the present St. Mary's Parish Church in Cilcain were constructed in the 14th century and were apparently built on the site of an earlier Norman church. The north aisle was burn down after a carol service on Christmas Day 1530 or 1532. The north aisle was rebuilt in 1746. Earliest records in the register date from 1576. The solid square tower was added in the 16th century, and was raised 4' during restoration work in 1888. The magnificently carved 15th century oak hammer beam roof over the south aisle is one of the finest in Wales. It may have been brought to Cilcain from Basinwerk Abbey at the time of the Dissolution of Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII in 1536.

Cilcain's Early Inns & Shops.

Between one and two centuries ago, there were seven public houses or inns in the village, but only the White Horse is now functional.

1. Red Lion (Llys Eifion), by the Post Office.
2. Pen-y Cefn, a stage coach halt.
3. Crown, now a farm.
4. Star, near Star Crossing on the A541, now Pine Ridge.
5. Cross Foxes, in the Pentre.
6. Ty'n Llan (near the Cross), an 18th century house, was an inn in the 19th century.
7. White Horse.

Preswylfa was a tailor and draper's shop.

Penallt was known as 'Siop Fawr' - Big Shop. Around the corner is The Close, which was formerly two small cottages. One of these housed the village cobbler, and the other was a bakehouse where big ovens were lighted on certain days of the week so that village women could bake bread.

Fron Deg, near the church, was originally the Orange Tub Cafe and still had this name in 1948.

Water, Electricity & the Railway.

The first of the reservoirs at Cilcain was established in about 1890, and mains water was on tap from about 1904. Prior to that, all drinking water for the village had to be carried up from St. Michael's (i.e. St. Mary's) Well near White Cottage, past the Old Vicarage. Mains electricity arrived at last in 1957. The Mold to Denbigh Junction Railway line was opened to traffic in 1869, and in 1914 a halt was established which served Cilcain, located at Star Crossing on the A541. The level crossing gates were operated by an attendant until the line closed in 1962. Cilcain had a working smithy at the cross roads in the village until 1970.

Penbedw Standing Stones.

For a description, follow the link to Nannerch. The Penbedw Stones are said to be part of a Beaker Folk or Druidical Circle.

Leaving A541 Mold to Denbigh road at

Star Crossing; Cilcain 2 miles. 

 Arrival at Cilcain village.

 Entering Cilcain from Pantymwyn.

There is a maximum width limit of only 6 feet 6 inches over the river bridge at Trial Hill on the most direct road to Cilcain from Mold.

Cilcain lies on the northern slopes of Moel Fammau.

 The Bowling Green.

 Primary School: Ysgol-y-foel.

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 A view of the Church.

 Village Hall & Playing Field.

The hall can be hired for children's parties, receptions and meetings.

 Road to the Church.

 The White Horse Inn at Cilcain's Centre.

Quarrying Operations.

Trimm Rock Quarry
There is active quarrying of sand and gravel in areas surrounding Cilcain. One limestone quarry is located on the eastern edge of Cilcain (Hanson's Trimm Rock Quarry). Here limestone is blasted, crushed and graded, and loaded onto lorries. The gravel is mostly taken to be used as an ingredient in concrete, but can also be used in road building. Somewhere around 60 lorries per working day leave the quarry, carrying an average of say 25 tons each. The lorries are washed and sheeted before leaving site, and they do not pass through the village itself.

Lloyds Spar Quarry
Next door to Trimm Rock, is the site of the old Cefn mine. It is now used as a marshalling site for a variety of very interesting building materials, some of which are washed and stored on site. Transported-in materials include Welsh slate, Pilkington waste from for example penthouse glass, marble from Greece, lava from volcanoes in Turkey and exotic gravel from Japan. Boats bring materials into Mostyn Docks from Greece for example, and lorries arrive from Germany and Spain. Bulk supplies of sand and gravel from local Welsh quarries can also be brought in, because the site has a robot bagger which automatically bags the material and stacks it on pallets. Once the material is bagged into branded sacks, it is distributed by lorry to various builders' merchants. Marble may be supplied to monumental masons for example. Different colours of gravel can be mixed to be used in pebbledash. Further information can be found on Lloyds web site: www.lloyds-spar.co.uk

Studying samples of exotic building materials at Lloyds Spar Quarry