All walks › Wrexham and Flintshire
Wrexham and FlintshireGreenfield Valley and St Winefride’s Well
Valley of ruined mills and abbey remains running down to the Dee, with a holy well at the top that has drawn pilgrims for thirteen centuries without a break.
- Distance
- 3.1 mi / 5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 45
- Ascent
- 130 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Shape
- Circular
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
Walk down the valley from the well past the mill ponds and the abbey to the estuary, returning by the same path. Mostly surfaced.
Worth knowing
- St Winefride’s Well is the oldest continuously visited pilgrimage site in Britain and still has a bathing pool.
- Basingwerk Abbey at the bottom of the valley is free and substantial.
- The valley powered a string of copper and cotton mills; the ponds that drove them are still there.
What you’ll see
The well and its chapel, Basingwerk Abbey, mill ruins and ponds, and the Dee estuary.
Background
The well has been a place of pilgrimage since the seventh century and continued through the Reformation, which is almost unique in Britain.