The tiny settlement of Gwaenysgor is quite something.  Situated on the edge of a limestone plateau overlooking Prestatyn and the Irish Sea, the views along the coastline are utterly breathtaking.  Indeed, the village seems more remote than it actually is, given the built-up coastal towns it overlooks.

 

The history of Gwaenysgor is truly ancient.  It resides within a landscape that has been traced to the Mesolithic, and finds of flint and pottery in the near vicinity suggest the possibility that this was the site of Neolithic gatherings, possibly the equivalent of the causewayed enclosures found largely in England but rarely in Wales.  If Neolithic peoples did in fact meet on this promontory, they more than likely did so because it was an easily recognisable waypoint...that, or for the same reason people do today, the astonishing views.

 

The recorded history of Gwaenysgor begins with the Domesday Book of 1086, which records the settlement as, ‘Wenescol’, and tells of a manor and a ruined church.  It is reasonable then, to suggest an early medieval foundation of the village we see today.  The Norwich Taxation of 1254 records the name as, ‘Gwenescor, and this is curious, since an English translation of the name reads as, ‘moorland by a fort’.  Said fort, however, has failed to be identified, though the various lumps, bumps and finds may have led to the possibly erroneous belief that such a vantage point would have been taken advantage of, as other sites undoubtedly were.

 

As for other sites of interest in the village, St Mary’s Church deserves examination, and Ty-isaf and Ty-uchaf are original 17th century builds.

 

At Gwaenysgor, one can experience the same thrill of landscape as did our ancestors some 6000 years ago.

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