Geography of Wales

Wales is located on a peninsula in central-west Britain. Its area, the size of Wales, is about 20,779 km² (8,023 square miles - about the same size as Massachusetts, Slovenia or El Salvador). It is about 274 km (170 miles) north-south and 97 km (60 miles) east-west. Wales is bordered by England to the east (The modern border between Wales and England is highly arbitrary; it was largely defined in the 16th century, based on medieval feudal boundaries) and by sea in the other three directions: the Môr Hafren (Bristol Channel) to the south, St. George’s Channel to the west, and the Irish Sea to the north. Altogether, Wales has over 1,200km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several islands off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Ynys Môn (Anglesey) in the northwest.

The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff (Caerdydd), Swansea (Abertawe) and Newport (Casnewydd) and surrounding areas. It also has another significant population in the north-east around Wrexham.

Snowdonia: in North Wales

Much of Wales' diverse landscape is mountainous, particularly in the north and central regions. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia (Eryri), and include Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), which, at 1085 m (3,560 ft) is the highest peak in Wales. The 14 (or possibly 15) Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s. The Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) are in the south (Highest point Pen-y-Fan 886m (2,907ft)) and the Cambrian Mountains are in mid-Wales. Wales has three National Parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire Coast. It also has four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These areas include Anglesey, the Clwydian Range, the Gower Peninsula and the Wye Valley. The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the whole of the United Kingdom to be named as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956.

The Seven Wonders of Wales is a list in verse of seven geographic and cultural landmarks in Wales probably composed in the late eighteenth century under the influence of tourism from England. All the "wonders" are in north Wales: Snowdon (the highest mountain), the Gresford bells (the peal of bells in the medieval church of All Saints at Gresford), the Llangollen bridge (built in 1347 over the River Dee, Afon Dyfrdwy); St Winefride Well (a pilgrimage site at Holywell, Treffynnon) in Flintshire; the Wrexham (Wrecsam) steeple (16th century tower of St. Giles Church in Wrexham), the Overton yew trees (ancient yew trees in the church of St Mary at Overton-on-Dee) and Pistyll Rhaeadr. Translated as the spring of the waterfall, the impressive cascade, at 74 metres (240 feet) is the highest in Wales and is taller than Niagara Falls. It is also the most difficult of the seven wonders to reach. The wonders are part of the rhyme:

Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,

Snowdon's mountain without its people,

Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells,

Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.

Just four miles uphill from Flint is Holywell (Treffynnon), the town of the Holy Well (one of the Sacred Places of Wales). The well itself, originally formed from a mountain spring, is housed below the town on the side of a steep hill in the shrine of St. Winifride (Gwenffrwd or Gwenfrewi), regarded as the finest surviving example of a medieval holy well in Britain. The legend of St. Winifred is responsible for the erection of the present shrine on a site chosen originally chosen by St. Beuno for a chapel. When a local chieftain named Caradoc tried to attack Beuno's niece Gwenffrwd, she ran to the chapel for sanctuary, but she failed to reach the doors and her pursuer cut off her head in his rage. The head rolled down the hillside, a spring miraculously appearing where it came to rest in a deep hollow. Beuno reattached Gwenffrwd's head, and she lived to become an abbess and later, a saint. Caradoc, meanwhile, fell dead under the saint's curse.

At Overton, St. Mary's Church dates only to the 13th century, though there may have been a small Christian oratory on the site as early as the seventh century. One of the oldest features of the church is a Norman circle cross built into the western pillar of the Nave. On another pillar by the pulpit is an unusual brass processional cross that was brought back from Abyssinia by British soldiers in the 19th century. Rescued from a scrap pile in that unfortunate country, the inscribed cross may date to the sixth century. Some of the 21 famous yew trees in the churchyard date back at least to the 12th century, when the first stone church was erected.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26