Holly Bush Inn Tourist Information for Pontcysyllte & The Cefn

Welcome to the Cefn Mawr Tourist Information Centre for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Cefn Viaduct at the centre of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site.

We are in The Holly Bush Inn at Cefn Square in the village of Cefn Mawr, which is at the centre of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site and we would be glad to meet and welcome you. The Holly Bush Inn is unique in that it is built from the stone rubble produced from the construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in the late 1700’s and also from the Cefn Viaduct in the 1840’s.  So, this really is a most appropriate building for tourist information on this central section of the World Heritage Site.

 

Address:  Aqueduct & Viaduct Tourist Information, The Holly Bush Inn, Cefn Square, No 1 Hill Street, Cefn Mawr, Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site, Wrexham, LL14 3AE.

 

Tel:  01978 449 814   E-mail:  ionacsjones@hotmail.com

 

Google Maps

 

The construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which crosses the River Dee, commenced in 1795 and was completed in 1805.  The Aqueduct piers were built with Cefn Sandstone and due to the magnitude of the project, a large amount of spoil was resultant.  Some of the spoil was then used for the building of the oldest section of the Holly Bush Inn.  Come and find out the fascinating history of how and why the aqueduct was built.

Cefn Mawr & Pontcysyllte Visitor Guide
This printable guide shows all the main attractions around Cefn Mawr at the center of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site. It is an interactive document which will link into all the relevant websites for our area. Come along and enjoy a couple of days exploring the Cefn & Cefn Mawr and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and stay on the log stay Free Parking at the Windbore Gate.
Cefn Mawr Pontcysyllte Visitor Guide.pd[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [4.8 MB]
Cefn Mawr & Pontcysyllte Visitor Map
This printable map shows all the main attractions at the Cefn & Cefn Mawr in the center of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site with the central long stay Free Parking area of Windborne Gate.
Cefn Mawr Pontcysyllte WBG Map.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.8 MB]
Cefn Mawr Heritage Village Free Parking Map
This handy little printable map shows all the parking areas around the historic village centre of Cefn Mawr
Cefn Mawr Free Parking.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [966.5 KB]

The Cefn Viaduct, also crossing the River Dee, was built from Cefn Sandstone in the late 1840’s.  The Viaduct carries the Shrewsbury to Chester Railway line and eventually became a part of the Great Weston Railway.  The second oldest part of the Holly Bush Inn is built from the stone spoil left over from quarrying for the Viaduct.  The location of The Holly Bush Inn and Tourist Information Service provides an ideal viewpoint for the Cefn Viaduct, the lower Vale of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site and the Dee Valley.

Cefn Mawr and The Holly Bush Inn Aqueduct & Viaduct Tourist Information is central to a host of Tourist Attractions for the area at the centre of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site:

 

  • Cefn Mawr Heritage Village, the centre of the Cefn and heart of the community that built both the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Cefn Viaduct. The village centre is unspoilt by chain store retail outlets and retains original mom and pop shops carefully restored in partnership with the Townscape Heritage Initiative.
     
  • The Cefn Mawr Heritage Museum, our very own small community museum showing the industrial history of our community.
     
  • The Clwyd Family History Society, find out about your relations here with the friendly staff that will be pleased to help. 
     
  • The Cefn Mawr Heritage Trail, explore the early industrial heritage of our community between the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Cefn Viaduct linking the aqueduct and Ty Mawr Country Park.
     
  • The Pubs of Cefn Mawr, our community has a host of historical pubs all dating back to the mid 1800’s or earlier. They are all genuine historical public houses with their own unique history in our community, so never mind the real ale trail, here is the real pub trail.
     
  • Cefn Druids, the oldest football club in Wales has their stadium at Rock Park in Cefn Mawr.
     
  • Tany Cut Woods, ancient woodland on the banks of the River Dee opposite Ty Mawr next to the Llangollen Canal
     
  • Ty Mawr Country Park, a wonderful place for the whole family on the banks of the River Dee adjacent to the mighty Cefn Viaduct. Come and see all the animals and join in the fun.
     
  • The Plas Kynaston Canal, see the ex-Monsanto Chemical Works site where we could reinstate the Plas Kynaston Canal for it full length brining the inland waterway network into the heart of our community and provide much needed mooring capacity north of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
     
  • Jessops Tramway, this important historical tramway marks the transition from plateways to edge rail technology in the early 1800’s.
     
  • Plas Madoc Leisure Centre, one of the top sports venues in North East Wales and the swimming pool is fantastic for the kids, they love it.
     
  • Windborne Gateway Interchange Parking, large FREE PARKING in this central location to the whole area that is easy to access, 500mts to the aqueduct and 500mts into Cefn Mawr Village Centre.
     
  • Village Centre Parking, a map showing where the parking facilities are in the village centre.

The entrance to Ty Mawr Country Park with Froncysyllte village in the distance on the far side of the River Dee Valley.

Plas Madoc and the leisure pool.

Crane Street in Cefn Mawr looking towards the Crane.

The Cefn Mawr Community Museum in the George Edwards Hall, Cefn Mawr.

The Clwyd Family History Society

Cefn Druids Rock Stadium

The Mill Inn on Mill Lane was once the home of William “Merlin” Hazledine. William Hazeldine once lived here while he owned and operated the Plas Kynaston Iron Foundry in Cefn Mawr where he made the iron castings for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct as seen today. This is just one of a host of historic pubs surrounding the aqueduct.

Jessops Tramway on Crane Street Cefn Mawr 1900

Jessops Tramway on Crane Street in 2016, come and see Jessop’s Tramway and find out how we are trying to get this reopened to connect our village centre to the aqueduct so that we can run regular horse drawn hackney services between the two.

The start of the former Plas Kynaston Canal that we would like to reinstate back through the former Monsanto Chemical works to reunite our village with the inland waterway network.

The former Plas Kynaston Canal leading into Cefn Mawr

The Aqueduct Inn, Froncysyllte on the London to Holly Head Road first engineered by Thomas Telford, also the engineer responsible for the construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.