If you wondered how I could be in two places at once, the photos here are by the blog photographer
So that settles it, then. Anyone who was wondering about the location of post-1996 Denbighshire's county town now knows it's Dinbych/Denbigh, not Rhuthun/Ruthin. For on 11th June, Dinbych was the venue for the army freedom of the county march. Notably, it wasn't Rhuthun.
With successive local government restructures, we seem to have lost the concept of the "county town". Always a stronger notion in England, even there it's been watered down, to the extent that some are now divorced from their county (e.g. Chester from the new East Cheshire authority).
Pre-1974, county towns were very important sub-regionally, administratively, judicially and ecclesiastically. As well as county offices, they tended to house the county assizes or county court and, often, an episcopal See.
And, frequently, the county asylum (as they used to be known). Up to 1855, Dinbych was the county town of traditional Denbighshire. This, I assume, accounts for its choice in 1848 for the North Wales Hospital, whose patients began coming from everywhere.
Historic Denbighshire's county town shifted to Rhuthun in 1855. This was a remarkable feat in itself, engineered by the manoeuvrings of the aldermen and burghers of Rhuthun, who contrived to ensure Rhuthun was at the administrative & judicial forefront.
Historic Denbighshire's odd and elongated shape comes from filling the void in between the old counties of Caernarvonshire (sic) and Flintshire, both established in 1284 under the Statute of Rhuddlan. Denbighshire's large area resulted in council meetings moving around from town to town but Rhuthun was always its "capital". The formation of Clwyd in 1974 left Rhuthun as an administrative "also ran", down-graded like so many others at the time to mere "district" status.
New Denbighshire is a very different territory. In 1996, Rhuthun was again elevated in status. Or perhaps so we thought. Since then, no one actually seems to refer to any town being the "county town" in this part of the world, any more. In truth, it's sometimes difficult to pin a label on a Welsh "county town". Is Llandrindod really the county town of Powys, when both Y Drenewydd/Newtown & even Ystradgynlais are so much bigger? Is Conwy the county town of Conwy county borough? Could Torfaen ever have a town of such status? And how can Wrecsam county borough have a county town that stands aloft above all others when there aren't any others?
Rhuthun retains the administrative "head office" of new Denbighshire. But when it comes to granting freedoms, the Dinbych dogs win over the Rhuthun cats. Should we feel sad? Should we know our place? Should we care? Should it make a difference?Or was the Dinbych choice simply a pragmatic one?
So that settles it, then. Anyone who was wondering about the location of post-1996 Denbighshire's county town now knows it's Dinbych/Denbigh, not Rhuthun/Ruthin. For on 11th June, Dinbych was the venue for the army freedom of the county march. Notably, it wasn't Rhuthun.
With successive local government restructures, we seem to have lost the concept of the "county town". Always a stronger notion in England, even there it's been watered down, to the extent that some are now divorced from their county (e.g. Chester from the new East Cheshire authority).
Pre-1974, county towns were very important sub-regionally, administratively, judicially and ecclesiastically. As well as county offices, they tended to house the county assizes or county court and, often, an episcopal See.And, frequently, the county asylum (as they used to be known). Up to 1855, Dinbych was the county town of traditional Denbighshire. This, I assume, accounts for its choice in 1848 for the North Wales Hospital, whose patients began coming from everywhere.
Historic Denbighshire's county town shifted to Rhuthun in 1855. This was a remarkable feat in itself, engineered by the manoeuvrings of the aldermen and burghers of Rhuthun, who contrived to ensure Rhuthun was at the administrative & judicial forefront.
Historic Denbighshire's odd and elongated shape comes from filling the void in between the old counties of Caernarvonshire (sic) and Flintshire, both established in 1284 under the Statute of Rhuddlan. Denbighshire's large area resulted in council meetings moving around from town to town but Rhuthun was always its "capital". The formation of Clwyd in 1974 left Rhuthun as an administrative "also ran", down-graded like so many others at the time to mere "district" status.
New Denbighshire is a very different territory. In 1996, Rhuthun was again elevated in status. Or perhaps so we thought. Since then, no one actually seems to refer to any town being the "county town" in this part of the world, any more. In truth, it's sometimes difficult to pin a label on a Welsh "county town". Is Llandrindod really the county town of Powys, when both Y Drenewydd/Newtown & even Ystradgynlais are so much bigger? Is Conwy the county town of Conwy county borough? Could Torfaen ever have a town of such status? And how can Wrecsam county borough have a county town that stands aloft above all others when there aren't any others?Rhuthun retains the administrative "head office" of new Denbighshire. But when it comes to granting freedoms, the Dinbych dogs win over the Rhuthun cats. Should we feel sad? Should we know our place? Should we care? Should it make a difference?Or was the Dinbych choice simply a pragmatic one?
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Denbighshire