Denbigh's town walls run for almost two-thirds of a mile around the old medieval borough, built from 1282 alongside the castle as Edward I secured his new English town. The eastern section, defended by the Countess Tower and the Goblin Tower, is particularly well preserved, and long stretches of the circuit can still be walked today, with sweeping views over the Vale of Clwyd and the Clwydian hills beyond.
The walls were built as part of the same construction campaign as the castle itself, enclosing a new English borough that was deliberately kept separate from the existing Welsh community below the hill — a pattern repeated at several of Edward I's new towns across North Wales. Two great gatehouses, Burgess Gate and the Exchequer Gate, controlled access into the walled town, and Burgess Gate in particular survives as one of the best-preserved medieval town gates in Wales.
Like the castle, the walls suffered damage during the Civil War siege of 1646 and the subsequent slighting ordered by Parliament, though enough survives to give a strong sense of the scale and ambition of Denbigh's original medieval defences. Today the walls are a Grade I listed monument in the care of Cadw, and walking their surviving circuit remains one of the best free things to do in Denbigh.
Telephone: +44 1745 813385
Admission: Adults £4.00, Reduced rate £2.80. Family Ticket £10.80 (2 adults, up to 3 children under 16).
Three or seven day explorer passes give free admission to over 120 historic sites in the care of Cadw — cadw.gov.wales.
Opening hours: Summer (1 Apr–31 Oct) 10.00–17.00. Winter (1 Nov–31 Mar): Mon–Thu 10.00am–4.00pm, open and unstaffed, free admission; Fri & Sat 10.00–4.00pm; Sun 11.00–4.00pm. Closed 24, 25, 26 December and 1 January. Last admission half an hour before closing.
