gollen
churchyard.

[Illustration: RUINS OF VALLE-CRUCIS ABBEY.]

Within this famous valley are the ruins of Valle-Crucis Abbey, the most
picturesque abbey ruin in North Wales. An adjacent stone cross gave it
the name six hundred years ago, when it was built by the great Madoc for
the Cistercian monks. The ruins in some parts are now availed of for
farm-houses. Fine ash trees bend over the ruined arches, ivy climbs the
clustered columns, and the lancet windows with their delicate tracery
are much admired. The remains consist of the church, abbot's lodgings,
refectory, and dormitory. The church was cruciform, and is now nearly
roofless, though the east and west ends and the southern transept are
tolerably perfect, so that much of the abbey remains. It was occupied by
the Cistercians, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The ancient
cross, of which the remains are still standing near by, is Eliseg's
Pillar, erected in the seventh century as a memorial of that Welsh
prince. It was one of the earliest lettered stones in Britain, standing
originally about twelve feet high. From this cross came the name of
Valle Crucis, which in the thirteenth century was given to the famous
abbey. The great Madoc, who lived in the neighboring castle of Dinas
Bran, built this abbey to atone for a life of violence. The ruins of his
castle stand on a hill elevated about one thousand feet above the Dee.
Bran in Welsh means _crow_, so that the English know it as Crow Castle.
From its ruins there is a beautiful view over the Valley of Llangollen.
Farther down the valley is the mansion of Wynnstay, in the midst of a
large and richly wooded park, a circle of eight miles enclosing the
superb domain, within which are herds of fallow-deer and many noble
trees. The old mansion was burnt in 1858, and an imposing structure in
Renaissance now occupies the site. Fine paintings adorn the walls by
renowned artists, and the Dee foams over its rocky bed in a sequestered
dell near the mansion. Memorial columns and tablets in the park mark
notable men and events in the Wynn family, the chief being the Waterloo
Tower, ninety feet high. Far away down the valley a noble aqueduct by
Telford carries the Ellesmere Canal over the Dee--the Pont
Cysylltau--supported on eighteen piers of masonry at an elevation of one
hundred and twenty-one feet, while a mile below is the still more
imposing viaduct carrying the Great Western Railway across.

[Illustration: WYNNSTAY.]