Llanasa: Historic Buildings and Paths

A stay in Llanasa offers a chance to explore local history and outdoor activities through specific buildings and paths. Llanasa lies within the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape and is designated a Conservation Area. Historic landmarks include the Church of St Asaph and St Kentigern, Golden Grove and Llanasa Village Hall. Gyrn Castle adds a landscaped estate with lakes, woodland and gardens to this architectural history.

Church and Historic Buildings

The Church of St Asaph and St Kentigern is recorded in the Domesday Book; its site is considered early medieval. The present aisled church was built in the 15th century in the Perpendicular style. Its east windows contain 16th-century stained glass. The churchyard also contains a chest tomb for Sir Piers Mostyn, dating from 1605. The church brings together several different periods: the early history of the site, the construction of the present church and the later addition of the windows.

Golden Grove is a listed house in the Community of Llanasa and is designated a Grade I listed building. Edward Morgan built it in 1578. A sundial stands at Golden Grove; “1590” is engraved on its natural stone base. The house and sundial provide two clearly dated reference points in early modern history, though the dates do not refer to the same phase of construction.

Llanasa Village Hall has a different architectural history. It was built in 1857–1858 as a National School and opened in 1859. The school later became a church hall and then the village hall. This succession of uses makes the building a different historic reference point from the church and the houses: its story centres on the transformation from a school into a building used by the community.

Gyrn Castle lies in a wooded valley east of Llanasa. John Douglas, a cotton manufacturer from Holywell, rebuilt it between 1817 and 1824. The grounds of Gyrn Castle are designated as a picturesque 19th-century landscape of historic interest. They include a circular walk around several lakes and woodland, as well as a rock garden and a terraced garden. Gyrn Castle therefore makes it possible to distinguish the building’s history from the design of its grounds: the rebuilding is associated with a person and a period, while the paths, water features and gardens form part of the landscape.

Landscape and Paths

For walkers, the official walk from Gwaenysgor to Llanasa gives two possible starting points: the Gwaenysgor viewpoint car park or Llanasa. Both places are therefore named as starting points for this walk. The North Wales Cycle Path, also referred to here as Sustrans Route 5, runs near Llanasa. Llanasa is popular with walkers, horse riders and cyclists. These details provide different kinds of orientation: two possible starting points are described for the walk, while the cycle path is located in relation to the village.

Discover more destinations: Whitford, Buckley, Northop, Flint, Deeside, Hope, Flint Mountain, Halkyn.

For the wider travel overview: Flintshire.