This film is part of Free

Highlights of Historical Denbigh

Two eager 'visitors' are up early in the morning, as the milkman arrives, to tour Denbigh's principle points of interest which include a cockpit and Dr Johnson's memorial.

Amateur film 1950 16 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales

Overview

Denbigh's Amateur Film Society seeks to highlight the points of interest that their "old world town" holds. Using the device of two 'visitors' who, up with the lark and the milkman, eagerly start on a tour of the town, the viewer is shown the circular, thatched cockpit in the yard of the Hawk and Buckle Inn (removed to St Fagan's National History Museum in 1965), St Hilary's Tower, St Marcella's Church, castle and abbey ruins and the memorial to literary giant Dr Samuel Johnson.

Johnson's friend, Mrs Thrale, was born in Wales, at Bodvel Hall, Pwllheli and was a member of the influential Salusbury family. Johnson visited Wales several times in her company and on one occasion lodged at a small cottage on the banks of the River Ystrad, near Denbigh. Colonel John Myddleton of Gwaenynog Hall (a Denbigh mansion later owned by an uncle of Beatrix Potter's and in which she stayed) sought to commemorate the great man's visit by erecting a monument, comprising an urn on a plinth, which Johnson was not impressed by, protesting that it looked too much like an attempt to bury him alive.