Ruthin (Rhuthun) is Denbighshire's county town, sitting a few miles south of Denbigh in the Vale of Clwyd. Its name comes from the Welsh rhudd (red) and din (fort), a reference to the red sandstone on which the town stands. A wooden fort occupied the site until 1277, when Edward I had it rebuilt in stone; the castle was then granted to Reginald de Grey, who laid out the town itself. A charter followed in 1282, along with a market and the founding of St Peter's Church — and Ruthin's market, remarkably, has run continuously since the 13th century.
The heart of the town is St Peter's Square, said to contain more listed buildings than any other market town in North Wales. Its centrepiece is a striking black-and-white, timber-framed courthouse traditionally dated to 1401, though tree-ring dating suggests it was actually built slightly later, around 1421. The building of a new court house here is usually read as evidence of the town's recovery after the destruction wrought by Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion in the early 1400s.
Ruthin Castle itself, begun by Reginald de Grey in 1277, now operates as a hotel, though its grounds remain open to explore. Between the castle, the square and the tangle of medieval streets around them, Ruthin makes an easy and rewarding half-day trip from Denbigh.
Ruthin has served as the county town of Denbighshire for centuries, its hilltop position and surviving castle reflecting a similar Edwardian-era foundation story to Denbigh's own. The town's timber-framed buildings around St Peter's Square, some dating back to the 15th century, make it one of the best-preserved historic townscapes in North East Wales, and its twice-weekly market continues a tradition stretching back to its medieval charter.
Ruthin Gaol, a well-preserved Victorian prison now open to visitors, offers an atmospheric and occasionally unsettling look at 19th-century justice, while Nantclwyd y Dre, reputed to be the oldest timber-framed town house in Wales, gives an insight into domestic life across several centuries. Just eight miles from Denbigh, Ruthin makes for an easy and rewarding half-day trip.