Moel Famau
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Coordinates: 53°9′49.7″N 3°15′14.59″W / 53.163806°N 3.2540528°W
| Moel Famau | |
|---|---|
Feb2004.jpg) The summit of Moel Famau, showing the Jubilee Tower |
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| Elevation | 555 m (1818 ft) |
| Location | Clwydian Range,  Wales |
| Prominence | c. 272 m |
| Parent peak | Moel y Gamelin |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 116 |
| Listing | Marilyn, Council top |
| Translation | Hill of the Mothers (Welsh) |
| Pronunciation | Welsh: [ˈmɔil ˈvamai] |
Moel Famau is a hill and country park in Wales. Its peak straddles the border between the counties of Denbighshire and Flintshire.
The park is an important part of the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The heather provides food and shelter for wildlife, such as Red Grouse, European Stonechat and Eurasian Curlew.
The park covers an area over 2000 acres (8 km²) and is managed by Denbighshire Countryside Service. The service improves the heather moorland, dry stone walls and access paths and provides information and facilities for visitors. Forestry Enterprise manage the neighbouring forest as a sustainable conifer plantation for timber production and tourism.
From the summit of Moel Famau, on a clear day, it is possible to see the Isle of Man, and much of the North West of England such as Liverpool, Manchester, Winter Hill, Blackpool Tower and Cumbria.
The hill was home to a superlambanana for much of August 2008. The Highest SuperLamBanana was decorated by local residents and was sponsored by Denbighshire County Council.[1]
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[edit] Jubilee Tower
The Jubilee Tower on the peak of Moel Famau was a tower built to commemorate the golden jubilee of George III in 1810. A storm in 1862 reduced the impressive Egyptian-style monument to the base that can be seen today. The remains of the tower are at the highest point in the park, and indeed the whole of the Clwydian Range, at 554 m (1818 ft).
The tower was designed by Thomas Harrison of Chester. It was to be an Egyptian styled obelisk, built in three stages. The foundation stone was laid in 1810 by George Kenyon, 2nd Baron Kenyon, but the tower was never completed. A storm in 1862 blew the incomplete tower down, and to make it safe, the tower was then demolished, apart from the unsheltered base. The large rubble was removed from the site, and the smaller rocks taken by farmers for local dry stone walls.
The Jubilee Tower is located at grid reference SJ161626, at the heart of the Moel Famau country park.
[edit] Access
The peak of Moel Famau is most often reached by a well-maintained path from a car park at Bwlch Penbarras, 2 km away. The Offa's Dyke Path also traverses the hill and country park.
[edit] External links
- Moel Famau country park
- Moel Famau News
- Computer generated summit panoramas Moel Famau index
- Photo of the summit
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Moel Famau and surrounding area
[edit] References
- ^ "Superlambanana". Denbighshire Free Press. 2008-07-11. http://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/encore/Superlambanana.4269726.jp. Retrieved on 2008-09-01.
