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Cerrigydrudion b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Cerrigydrudion and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Cerrigydrudion, Denbighshire. About 10 miles from Corwen on the road to Betws-y-coed and Llanrwst, the village of Cerrigydrudion lies by-passed by the main highway. Although as small in his day as it is now, the village was mentioned by Daniel Paterson among the places of interest to be observed by the stage-coach traveller in the early years of the 19^th century. Within ½ mile of it, says he, is the famous Citadel of the Druids, whither Caractacus retired after his defeat at Caer Caradoc. He refers to the Caer Caradoc shown on Ordnance Survey maps to the South East of Cerrigydrudion on a spur of hill 1,367 ft high, but known otherwise as Pen-y-gaer. This should not be confused with the Caer Caradoc that lies near Cardington in Shropshire, just over the Welsh border, above the Roman road and between Wenlock Edge and the Long Mynd. This latter Fort of Caradoc is usually accepted as the place where the champion of British resistance to the final advance of the Romans suffered his defeat. Tacitus, the Roman historian, who was no friend of imperialism for its own sake, records how in A.D. 50, as we know the year, the command of the invading forces was given to the brilliant Ostorius Scapula. Caratacos (as the British ruler appears to have been actually named), son of a kingly race, was the only native prince to defend the country to the last. He was pursued to the Welsh border and, either near Cardington or on the edge of Radnor Forest, he chose a hill-top to make his stand. After considerable difficulty, the Romans stormed the hill, and Caratacos was taken to Rome in chains, but still with so defiant a bearing that Rome felt conquered by his spirit. The ancient camp near Cardington may antedate Caratacos by generations, though as a defensive site it would have offered him a position of strength. The Caer Caradoc near Cerrigydrudion is said to have been the place where he fled to seek refuge with the local rulers. But it was from here that Cartismandua, Queen of this part of Wales, betrayed him to the pursuing Roman power. It is a hill-fort of the customary type, ditched and mounded and certainly marking the site of a Celtic encampment. It extends across 6 acres and more. The view from it is over the gentler parts of Denbighshire where Foci Goch (2,004 ft) stretches its broad back towards Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake).

The village has a pleasant inn, an old church. and almshouses dated 1717. The name Cerrigydrudion did not have, as Paterson thought, any connection with Druids. “Drudion” can mean heroes; and the tale of Caratacos inclines one to think that so it must be meant. But “drudion” can also mean starlings: and the charm and peace of the place and the haunt of bird-song above the moors makes that interpretation equally apt.

Nearby towns: Bala, Betws-y-Coed, Corwen, Denbigh, Llanrwst, Ruthin

Nearby villages: Bettws Gwerfil Goch, Capel Garmon, Carrog, Clawdd-Newydd, Clocaenog, Cyffylliog, Cynwyd, Derwen, Efenechtyd, Frongoch, Gwyddelwern, Gwytherin, Llandderfel, Llanddoged, Llandrillo, Llanelidan, Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, Llanfor, Llangwm, Llanrhaiadr, Llanycil, Nantglyn, Pale, Pentrefoelas, Rug

Have you decided to visit Cerrigydrudion or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

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• a Cerrigydrudion self-catering establishment, or
• other Cerrigydrudion accommodation