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In more recent centuries, Castell Dinas Bran was recognized for its dramatic placement high above the Welsh valleys. Painters, like Turner and Wilson, captured the essence of the place on canvas. Wordsworth also visited Dinas Bran, lamenting the castle's fate as follows:

"Relics of kings, wreck of forgotten wars, To the winds abandoned and the prying stars."

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Dinas Bran Castle

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View West

Eglwyseg Limestone Cliffs.

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Llangollen Town

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Dinas Bran Castle

View East

Llangollen Canal

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Llangollen Canal

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But it wasn’t always that grand – it began life as a small cottage with three windows, until it was acquired by Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby. These ‘Ladies of Llangollen’ were independent women, history buffs and, quite possibly, the 18th century’s first lesbian power couple!

Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831) met in 1768 when Sarah was a teenager and Eleanor was in her late twenties. Both were members of wealthy families from the Irish aristocracy and both were determined not to be married off, the usual fate for women of their social station at the time.

They were so committed to their freedom that 10 years later they attempted to flee the country together, disguised as men. The escape was thwarted by their families but – after some discussion – the two women were allowed to leave Ireland for Wales. There, they travelled around for a while before settling down and ‘retiring’ in Llangollen in 1780 (now aged 25 and 41), where they would live as a couple for nearly fifty years with their servant Mary Carryl and a series of dogs named Sappho.

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