As you stand at the front doors of the Red Lion and look out over the village a calm peace comes over you. Just take the time to stop for a minute and you can sense the history and the legend around you.

It is a pleasant feeling.

The church of Saints Asaph and Cyndeyrn is a stone’s throw from where you stand. They both probably stood very close to where you stand now. Cyndeyrn was known as Mungo in Scotland, and more widely as Kentigern throughout Prydain Hen. The far grander Cathedral Church of Saints Asaph and Cynderyn is 9 ½ miles away, and where Asaph’s bones eventually ended up after resting here for seven hundred years.

The internet tells us;

The name Llanasa is a shortened form of Llanasaph, which means "Church of Saint Asaph".

More broadly, "Llan" is a common prefix in Welsh place names and generally signifies "church" or "enclosure". This refers to the sacred, often enclosed land around a church where early Christian converts settled. The village and the Church of SS Asaph and Cyndeyrn in Llanasa were named after Saint Asaph, who, according to tradition, founded the original church there. Cynderyn also known as Kentigern, and fondly known as Mungo (dear one) in Scotland. Mungo's bones lie beneath the cathedral named after him in Glasgow.

Young Asaph was kicking around the local lanes circa 575. Firmly in the Dark Ages - a time of myth and a time of wonder. The time of Arthur. Almost 1500 years ago. Asaph was a Celtic or British saint and a part of the incredible ‘Oes y Sentiau’ or Age of Saints. The flowering of Christianity throughout Wales, Cornwall, Ireland and the Northwest of Britain. These holy women and men were canonized before the arrival of Rome, before the Catholic church and before the influence of the Pope. More than a thousand unarmed Celtic monks were slaughtered at the Battle of Chester circa 606 CE by 'Saint' Augustine and his Saxon henchman Aethelfrith. Some might say the Catholic church was rotten from the start as they effectively ended the ‘Age of Saints’. The North Wales Pilgrim’s Trail celebrates these firebrand Celtic Saints who left their footprint with so many place names and legends. Many of the churches on the trail have had a holy building on the site since the sixth century, before the arrival of these Roman Catholics. We start at Holywell with Saints Winefried and Beuno, and end with Saint Cadfan and magical Bardsey, and his ‘island of 20,000 saints’. The simple Celtic Christian spiritual aura makes the trail unique and very special. A number of the churches were built where even older Gods held sway. At the 5th century church of Saint Digain at Llangyrnw, with its four thousand-year-old Yew tree and primeval stones the Welsh were worshipping on the Pilgrim’s Way long before the arrival of the Saints. On each section of the bewitching walk you sit amongst the ancients.

In November 1369 Owain Glyndwr’s father Gruffudd Fychan II was buried at Llanasa church St. Asaph and St. Cyndeyrn. According to Wikipedia (Under Gruffudd Fychan II) Owain’s mother was Eleanor Plantagenet, great, great-granddaughter of Edward Longshanks, the Hammer of the Scots. In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Owain is portrayed as a powerful and mystical Welsh warrior and a noble gentleman, known for his bravery, eloquence, and affability. He is described as a gentleman deeply versed in Welsh legends and prophecies, possessing valorous qualities that border on the magical, with his military skills attributed to "strange concealments" and mystical powers.

Owain’s aunt was grandmother to Owen Tudor who gave the dynasty its name.

Gruffudd’s home was on the present-day site of ‘Hen Blas’. This translates as Old ‘Court’, ‘Palace’ or ‘Hall’ depending on the context. Oddly the present building was built as a home for two unmarried sisters of the local wealthy Morgan family of nearby Golden Grove in 1645, according to the Llanasa Conservation Website. The Morgans were proudly Royalist, and therefore Roman Catholic. The sisters refused to accept the Roman faith and were cast out of the family home at Golden Grove.

The long-standing local estate agency Jones Peckover (established 1880) however maintain it was built for the marriage of a Morgan to a Mostyn, the other significant local landowner. Rather than suggesting a religious intolerance they advocate a more traditional union.

The Jacobean Renaissance vernacular building is striking from the road but gives no hint of the views across the cwm behind. From landscaped gardens the hillside rapidly falls away and Hen Blas dominates the small valley as you approach down the hill along the Pilgrim’s Way from Trelogan.

Owain’s father was only 39 when he died at Hen Blas, and Owain himself but 15.

A mystical verse attributed to Gruffudd is inscribed into the building written in the Hen Gymraeg.

‘I grew trees round thee to get thee ready for me’.

Owain’s story is the stuff of legends. Owain disappeared after the failed rebellion in1412. Despite enormous rewards being offered he was neither captured nor betrayed. His father, Gruffudd Fychan II’s resting place is the closest memorial we have to the warrior Welshman. According to Wikipedia the Welsh relatives of Glyndwr continued to live in the area throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

The rebel Merediths and Tudors were punished severely, some with execution and some confiscation of land for their part in the insurrection. It would be another seventy years before the Welsh finished the job. By force of arms the Welsh army beat the English army at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, and the Welsh flag flew high above England and Wales, and the Glyndwrs’ cousin Henry Tudor was king.

In the 15th century our parish church was renovated and in the 16th Elis Gruffydd, of Llanasa parish completed his ‘massive’ world history ‘Cronicl Oes y Byd’. On my mother's side of the family, the Munnerly’s were active locally, and on the Wirral and the wealthier ones contributing to St. Winefride’s Well.

Edward Morgan of ‘Goldgreave (also called ‘Gwylgre’, or ‘Golden Grove)’ came to national prominence on the 21st April 1610. Edward, dressed for the occasion in a white satin suit. He then ‘ran through’ perhaps multiple times with a sword of John Egerton of a prominent Cheshire family, in the “most documented duel in early modern England.” The altercation took place in Highgate, at the edge of Hampstead Heath. Later in the century, the Morgans were on the receiving end of violence in the middle of the century when Captain William Morgan, Royalist hero, was buried in a red cap, where he fell on the north side of Llyn Helyg around 1650. A long forgotten violent confrontation. His grave is still there to be seen.

Llyn Helyg, Willows Lake, is a beguiling place, a freshwater lake hidden behind the trees on the road from Trelawnyd to Lloc. I would speculate the spring used to create the lake in the 16th century would have been of significance in ancient times. The waters of the Llyn Helyg wind their way past gloomy Marian Mills and cascade dramatically over the waterfall at Dyserth.

Llanasa had its very own witch trial in 1655. In his book ‘Supernatural Clwyd - The folk Tales of North East Wales’ Richard Holland states the accusation took place at the Red Lion. Corpse lights and curses.

William Griffith accused Dorothy Griffith (different families). Marsh Corpse lights had led him to an alehouse and he had had various visions. Scant to be sure. A full trial ensued. The community stepped up for Dorothy and there were many pledges as to her being of good character. It was countered that the allegations were malicious. A result of long-standing enmity between the families. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t recorded and it is believed she was acquitted.

Before the 18th century Chester was the pre-eminent port in the North West. Before the River Dee silted and Liverpool rose to be the busiest port in the British Empire. In the 11th and 12th centuries Chester served as the base for royal expeditions to Ireland. A steady stream of ships would navigate the ever-shifting sands off Talacre. It was common for drowned sailors to wash up on the shore. It is not hard to imagine slipping from high in the rigging to the swirling sea below. Difficult enough in good weather, never mind about storms. Even after the lighthouse was built in 1776, besides the ubiquitous drownings, there were many wrecks. Many were buried in Llanasa parish church.

Hen Blas

At the start of the nineteenth century, the Red Lion Inn stepped out from the fog of history. On doing my research this popped up. My mother’s family makes an appearance again. Munnerlyn is a common form of Munnerly along with Munnerley.

Elizabeth Munnerlyn (c. 1810–1878): Elizabeth Munnerlyn is a key figure in the history of the Red Lion Inn in Llanasa, Flintshire. Born around 1810 in Llanasa, she was the daughter of John Munnerlyn, a butcher, and Elizabeth (possibly Elizabeth Hughes). She married Edward Jones (b. c. 1808), and they ran the Red Lion Inn as landlords. By 1851, Elizabeth was widowed and listed as a publican at the Red Lion, managing the inn with her children, including Mary Jones (b. c. 1837), who later took over as licensee. Elizabeth’s role as a publican highlights the involvement of women in running community establishments in 19th-century Flintshire. Her death in 1878 marked the end of her tenure, but her daughter continued the family’s association with the inn. [Source: Local historical records and census data, as referenced in discussions on Llanasa’s history]

Much as I have tried, I can’t find another reference so it may be AI getting things mixed up. It’s a little bit too much of a coincidence. Possibly another Red Lion. I would also hope my family are not to be bookends for the Red Lion’s existence.

A lifeboat was stationed in the parish of Llanasa at Point of Ayr. On a midwinter’s morning, the 4th January 1857 - all volunteers reflecting the trades of the day – ‘miners, labourers, gardeners, shopkeepers, coachmen and sawyers’ launched into the New Year High tides and heavy seas. Several ships were in trouble after the night of storms. If you head west out of the Red Lion along the road to Gwaenysgor, then take a right, heading north on the next footpath you meet, you can follow the path over the mountains and descend on Voel y Nant Telegraph Station, and its far-reaching views. This had been built 16 years before in 1841. The privately owned Telegraph Station communicated to a Belfast schooner, The Temperance, had run aground off Pensarn. The powerful telescope normally operated for commercial use was always available in times of distress. The Point of Ayr lifeboat under full sail capsized off Rhyl. Two or three of the desperate crew could be seen from the shore grasping onto the capsized vessel for some twenty minutes before fatigue took them. John Ellis, Robert Williams, Robert Roberts, David Davies, Richard Davies, Thomas Roberts, John Bleddyn, Thomas Owen, Edward Roberts, Edward Philips, Joseph Davies, John Sherlock and Robert Beck. Robert Beck had been awarded the Silver Medal six years before for going out 60 times on a rescue. Robert Beck saved so many lives. All heroes – all volunteers. A memorial tablet is in the wall of St. Asaph and St. Cyndeyrn for us to remember. Seven of these thirteen brave men are buried in the church yard.

If you are walking about the parish and you encounter a lingering ‘bwgan’, and you find you can smell thyme but see none, you could well be near the site of the evil burial of two murdered children. They were hidden in the sinisterly named Black Garden and the thyme masked the crime. The Reverend Elias Owen, the school inspector for the diocese of St. Asaph recorded the story from a local resident, John Roberts, who had encountered the thyme himself. The tradition was related to Evans by the 99-year-old lady blacksmith, Mally Evans y Gof, around 1866.

The tomb of ‘An Unknown Engineer’ in the Llanasa church yard from the sinking of the SS Apapa by torpedo off Anglesey in November 1917 is especially poignant. The account I found was very moving and sad. Mr. Harigan's love was so strong for his wife, that they passed into the 'Great Unknown' together. It is worth mentioning those who served with the merchant marine had a hard time. Even in the 1980s people shouted at my ex-wife’s grandfather in the street in Ellesmere Port because he hadn’t ‘fought’. You could see it filled an elderly man with shame and sadness. The British ‘merchant seaman’ was a mandated essential service. As an island, Britain was dependent on imports for survival and to fuel its war machine. Merchant mariners braved tremendous dangers to transport food, fuel, raw materials, arms, and troops across the globe, primarily through the U-boat infested Atlantic. Without the Merchant Navy, the country's war effort would have collapsed. It is fitting that this merchant seaman - ‘An Unknown Engineer’ is commemorated in the Llanasa church yard.

The first decades of the twentieth century witnessed the ‘Great War’ and Llanasa sadly lost fathers, brothers and sons on the killing fields of Belgium and France.

They are commemorated at the Llanasa crossroads, next to the Lychgate. Willaim Barnett (19) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Thomas Barton (30) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Roger N. Cartwright (31) US Army 23rd Infantry, Robert E. Davies (31) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Peter T. Edwards (19) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Robert Parry Evans (21) Royal Horse Artillery, James Evans (21) Cheshire Regiment, Ceiriog Hughes (20) Royal Field Artillery, Edward Hughes (22) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Daniel Jones (29) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Edward Jones (26) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Llewellyn Jones (19) Welsh Guards, Thomas W. Jones (36) Royal Engineers, James A Maclean (?) (‘Cannot trace family’)(? Regiment), Wilfred C. Morris (?) (Berar Infantry – Indian Regiment), James Osborne (?) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Alfred Parry (23) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Jesse H. Roberts (?) Kings - Liverpool, Robert J. Roberts (17) South Wales Borderers, Owen Taylor (29) Manchester Regiment, W. Maldwyn Williams (19) Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

It would be amiss not to remember my own relatives who fought. My Great Grandfather Harold Platt, a private in the Manchester Regiment, was mustard gassed at Ypres, and invalided out of the war. He was thereafter prone to coughing fits and died in his fifties. His brother Reg was also at Ypres. My great, great grandmother Florence would not believe he was dead as his body was never found. She believed there had been a mistake. She was forever hoping he would walk through the door. A white cross at the Menin Gate, Ypres, commemorates Uncle Reg.

On a lighter note, an interesting story in July 1989 local newspaper ‘The Visitor’ is the report of Albert the ghost haunting the Red Lion. With the amount of history flowing through the village, Albert doesn’t seem up to much. The veracity of the story, and the description of the Red Lion as a 17th century coaching inn may be wishful thinking.

In the early seventies, as a boy, my mother and my sisters used to walk along the lanes from Gwaenysgor and over the hill to Gronant. Several spring times I camped with the 3rd Prestatyn Scout troupe in the field along the road beneath Golden Grove. Special magical times doing all the many things scouts do in the woods bivouacking, wood craft, playing ‘Foxes and Hounds’ and ‘Capture the Flag’. The aroma of the wild garlic transports me to that time in an instant. Llanasa is a special place, as it is for many people.

As I write this in 2025, Llanasa has a wide range of residents from geographical locales near and far. The names listed on the memorials; their relatives proudly are hereabouts. As there have been for almost two hundred years in this area a number of holiday homes, from the industrial metropolises of the Northwest of the UK. People looking to escape the miserableness and sickness of city life for sublime and tranquil Llanasa. This was always border country. Indeed, with Offa’s Dyke to the west of us, for hundreds of years this was England. Owain Glyndwr’s father buried across the way gives Llanasa a Welsh pedigree second to none.

These Marcher lands give the area a sharpness, an edge, that can be felt to this day, and it is all the better for it.

Written by Jimmy Platt, Landlord,
Red Lion Inn, Llanasa

Sources;

Edward Morgan – Anatomy of a Duel in Jacobean England: gentry Honour, Violence and the Law

Captain William Morgan – Curious Clwyd

Dorothy Griffith - Supernatural Clwyd – Richard Holland

Dorothy Griffith – Curious Clwyd

The Temperance – Curious Clwyd

Llanasa Conservation Society website

Bye-gones relating to Wales and the border counties – Sept 30th, 1891

Albert the Ghost - The Rhyl and Prestatyn Visitor July 20th 1989

Wikipedia

Sketch of Owain Glyndwr by William Blake

Sepulchral Slab - Llanasa Conservation Society website

Photographs by Jimmy Platt