View source for Llandegla

{{Short description|Village in Denbighshire, Wales}}
{{Moresources|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                     = Wales
| welsh_name                  = 
| official_name               = Llandegla
| community_wales             = Llandegla
| unitary_wales               = [[Denbighshire]]
| lieutenancy_wales           = [[Clwyd]]
| constituency_welsh_assembly = [[Clwyd West (National Assembly for Wales constituency)|Clwyd West]]
| constituency_westminster    = [[Clwyd East (UK Parliament constituency)|Clwyd East]]
| population                  = 567
| population_ref              = (2011)
| post_town                   = [[Wrexham]]
| postcode_district           = LL11
| postcode_area               = LL
| dial_code                   = 01978
| os_grid_reference           = SJ196524
| coordinates                 = {{coord|53.063|-3.200|display=inline,title}}
| map_type                    =
| static_image_name           = St Tegla's Church - geograph.org.uk - 127765.jpg
| static_image_caption        = Church dedicated to St. Tecla 
}}

'''Llandegla''' ({{pronunciation|Llandegla.ogg|Welsh pronunciation}}) or '''Llandegla-yn-Iâl''' ({{pronunciation|LL-Q9309 (cym)-Jason.nlw-Llandegla-yn-Iâl.wav|Welsh pronunciation}}) is a village and [[Community (Wales)|community]] in the [[county]] of [[Denbighshire]] in [[Wales]]. In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]], the community had a population of 567.

== Name ==
{{Moresources|section|date=March 2022}}
The village's name is [[Welsh language|Welsh]] for the "[[llan (placename element)|Parish]] of '''Saint Tecla'''", which honours the [[patron saint]] of the [[parish church]]. This was most probably originally dedicated to a [[Welsh people|Welsh]] [[consecrated virgin|virgin]] named [[Saint Tegla|Tegla Forwyn]] ("Thecla the Virgin") – not the more famous [[Thecla]] who is known as "Tecla" in several [[Romance languages]].<ref name=sabi>Baring-Gould, Sabine &&nbsp;al. [https://archive.org/stream/livesofbritishsa04bariuoft#page/218/mode/2up ''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol.&nbsp;IV, p.&nbsp;219]. Honorable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1913.</ref> However, the Welsh saint is obscure and Llandegla's [[Gwyl Mabsant|Patronal Festival]] has been held on the feast of the foreign saint since at least the early 20th century.<ref name=sabi/>

Llandegla-yn-Iâl distinguishes the community as "St Tegla's in [[Yale (Wales)|Yale]]". Yale's own name meant the "fertile hill country";{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} it was a Welsh [[commote]] and English [[hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]]. The estate of Plas yn Iâl in the village was the seat of the Iâl family, whose most well-known member is [[Elihu Yale]], a governor of the [[British East India Company]]. Elihu made a substantial gift towards the founding of an educational institution in [[New Haven, Connecticut]] ([[United States]]). This sponsorship led to the college becoming known as [[Yale College]] and later [[Yale University]]. Yale is buried in nearby [[Wrexham]].{{cn|date=March 2022}}

== Location ==
Llandegla is located {{convert|253|m|sp=us|abbr=on}} above [[sea level]] in the upper valley of the [[River Alyn]] just off the [[A525 road]] between [[Ruthin]] and [[Wrexham]]. The boundaries of the community include both the village of Llandegla itself and the neighbouring village of Pen-y-stryt. Notably the village boundary includes [[Llandegla Forest]], or Coed Llandegla, a famous mountain biking centre, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. To the east rises the [[Nant-y-Ffrith]] stream.

== History ==
St Tecla's church is likely to have been an early-mediaeval foundation, and by the 13th century was recorded as a chapelry of [[Valle Crucis Abbey]]. The fabric of the building was, however, heavily rebuilt in 1866, probably to a design by [[John Gibson (architect)|John Gibson]].<ref name=cpat>[http://www.cpat.demon.co.uk/projects/longer/churches/denbigh/16828.htm Church of St Tecla , Llandegla], Churches of Denbighshire Survey, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust</ref>

The village was located on one of the main [[drovers' road]]s from the north-west coast of Wales to the markets of England, and the cattle trade was central to its economy. [[Thomas Pennant]] wrote that it was "noted for its vast fairs for [[Welsh Black cattle|black cattle]]", and there were formerly several inns in the village to cater for the drovers and cattle-dealers.<ref name=pennant>Pennant, T. ''Tours in Wales, Volume 2'', 1810, p. 15</ref> [[George Borrow]], in his travelogue ''Wild Wales'', recorded meeting a hog-dealer on the road above [[Eglwyseg]] taking a large herd of pigs across the mountain from "Llandeglo" towards [[Wrexham]].<ref name=borrow>Borrow, G. ''Wild Wales'', v. 2, John Murray, 1862, p. 286</ref>

As the droving trade tailed off in the later 19th century, due to the construction of the railways, many of Llandegla's residents worked in quarrying.

== Local customs and traditions ==
[[File:St. Tegla's Well, Llandegla. - geograph.org.uk - 644717.jpg|thumb|St Tecla's well. Its use was discouraged by the church after the 19th century]]
[[File:Llandegla Well 2019 (2).jpg|thumb|St Tecla's well with information board]]

Pennant recorded an odd tradition connected with St Tecla's Well, a spring in a field close to the church. Sufferers of what were known as ''Clwyf Tecla'', "St Tecla's disease", washed themselves in the well after sunset and walked round it three times, leaving an offering of fourpence, afterwards spending the night in the church.<ref name="pennant"/>

The nineteenth-century folklorist [[Elias Owen (Welsh cleric)|Elias Owen]] recorded a tale about a "wicked Ghost" which haunted the rectory at Llandegla and was eventually exorcised by a man named Griffiths from [[Graianrhyd]]. The spirit was said to have been buried in a box under a large stone in the [[River Alyn]] close to Llandegla's bridge.<ref name=owen206>Owen, E. ''Welsh folk-lore: a collection of the folk-tales and legends of North Wales'', Woodall, Minshall and Co, 1896, pp. 206–207</ref>

The village has an annual Summer Fate festival, which involves vegetable growing, and artwork competitions, as well sports races for the local children.

== Amenities ==
Natural features in the area include the [[Clwydian Range]] to the north-west of the village, [[Llandegla Forest]] to the south-east and the [[Horseshoe Pass]] to the south. The [[Offa's Dyke Path]] and [[Clwydian Way]] long-distance walking routes pass through the village. Llandegla also has a [[mountain bike]] centre located in the forest.

Notable people who have lived in the village include the author [[Edward Tegla Davies]] and the hymn-writer and poet Ehedydd Iâl ({{ne}} William Jones).

==References==
{{reflist}}

*Llandegla Millennium Action Group (2003) ''Llandegla Then and Now'', Llandegla Millennium Action Group, Llandegla.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=3&c=LL11+5YH&i=1001&m=0&enc=1&areaSearchText=llandegla&areaSearchType=16&extendedList=true&searchAreas= Llandegla Community (Parish)], National Statistics
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060116035521/http://www.coedllandegla.com/ Official Coed Llandegla Mountain Biking website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080908120322/http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/Centres/Coed_Llandegla/Coed_Llandegla.aspx Mountain Biking in Coed Llandegla – MBWales] 
* [http://www.llandeglafishery.co.uk Llandegla Fishery & Cafe] – Website 
*[https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2742044 Photos of the Llandegla area at Geograph]

{{Denbighshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Denbighshire]]