Situated on the River Dee in Denbighshire, Wales, and with World Heritage Site status, Llangollen is a beautiful small town that attracts a high number of visitors and tourists. The Four Great Highways project – so named because of the 'four highways' that are the Llangollen Canal, the historic railway line, the River Dee and Thomas Telford’s historic London to Holyhead Road – delivered landscape works to help promote access and placemaking enhancements to the town, as part of the Clwyd South Levelling Up Fund programme.
The project included new wayfinding and interpretation to aid in place legibility and to highlight the many historical and natural places to visit. All interventions are delivered in both Welsh (prioritising the national language) and in English, and include many levels of information and narrative, including:
• Wayfinding to aid in navigation around Llangollen and to direct visitors to the many attractions in and around the town.
• Interpretation describes the history and heritage of Llangollen along with more contemporary narratives of today.
• Children's activities to keep the youngsters (and young-at-heart!) amused while exploring the town. The story of Bendigeidfran that appears on the north side of the bridge totem uses an illustration by one of the children from Ysgol Dinas Brân Secondary School following a competition run with the art department.
• Artworks from local and regional artists create a layer of creativity.
• Down the sides QR codes for quick online access to tourist information, more in-depth information about the interpretation, and links and credits to all contributors to the project.
In addition groundwork bronze 'breadcrumb' wayfinding roundels are installed around the town and use archive and historical images to the places they are directing. Also six large 'bronze pavers' are located in places that describe something of Llangollen's history.
The project was installed in full in October 2024.
Client: Cyngor Sir Ddinbych / Denbighshire County Council
Landscape Architects: The Urbanists
Project Management, Civil and Structural Engineering: Burroughs
Fabrication and Installation: Standard 8
