page_title: River Dee, Wales
section_title: Natural course
hierarchical_section_title: River Dee, Wales / Catchment / Natural course
caption_attribution_description: English: Railway Bridge, River Dee, Chester, UK. The railway bridge across the tidal River Dee west of Chester city centre, between the Roodee and Curzon Park. The level of the river can vary significantly at this point. This photograph was taken at high tide.
context_page_description: The River Dee is a river in the United Kingdom. It flows through parts of both Wales and England, forming part of the border between the two countries.
  The river rises in Snowdonia, Wales, flows east via Chester, England, and discharges to the sea in an estuary between Wales and the Wirral Peninsula in England. It has a total length of 110 km.
context_section_description: The River Dee has its source on the slopes of Dduallt above Llanuwchllyn in the mountains of Snowdonia in Meirionydd, Gwynedd, Wales. Between its source and Bala Lake the river is known by its Welsh name, Afon Dyfrdwy. Legend tells that the waters of the river pass through Bala Lake and emerge undiluted and unmixed at the outflow. On leaving Bala the river meets its confluence with Afon Tryweryn and passes through the Bala sluice gates, part of the Dee Regulation System protecting communities further downstream from severe flooding. Skirting the village of Llanfor, the path of the river takes it past Llandderfel and under the Grade II listed Pont Fawr bridge. The river trends generally east-southeast through the Vale of Edeyrnion, shadowed by the B4401 Bala to Cynwyd road. Leaving Gwynedd and entering Denbighshire the Dee flows beneath other historic bridges at Llandrillo and Cynwyd before arriving at the town of Corwen. From here the river passes the Iron Age hillfort of Caer Drewyn and enters the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB. Through its forested valley the course takes it through Carrog, Glyndyfrdwy and Llantysilio, with the Llangollen Railway following the river on its route between Llangollen and Corwen.
  At Berwyn the river passes over the manmade Horseshoe Falls, before picking up speed on a downhill gradient past the Chain Bridge Hotel and its historic pedestrian bridge. First built in 1814, and later refurbished by Henry Robertson in 1870, it was considered a marvel of early suspension bridge design. In 1928 the original bridge was destroyed by severe flooding and was rebuilt in its current form from original parts in 1929. The course of the river then takes it through Llangollen and under its 16th-century, Grade I listed bridge. The bridge is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument and considered one of the Seven Wonders of Wales. On leaving Llangollen the river continues east, generally skirting the outcropping Karstic limestone exposures of Eglwyseg Rocks (Welsh: Creigiau Eglwyseg). Overlooking the river here is the medieval Castell Dinas Brân, a ruined fortress abandoned by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey in 1282. The river then enters Wrexham County Borough, passing south of Trevor and under Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, of 1805, which carries the Llangollen Canal 120 feet (37 m) overhead.
  Less than a mile east of the aqueduct at Cefn Mawr, the river is crossed by the Cefn Mawr Viaduct, built in 1848 by Thomas Brassey and carries the Shrewsbury to Chester railway line across the Dee. Beyond this point the river forms the boundary between Wrexham County Borough in Wales and Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. Passing Chirk and the confluence with the River Ceiriog, the river begins to trace gentle meanders on the level ground at the beginning of the Cheshire Plain. The course continues past Erbistock on the Welsh side, and the 5th-century earthwork of Wat's Dyke on the English, before passing wholly into Wales at Overton bridge. A couple more miles downstream is Bangor-on-Dee, known for its Racecourse. Until 1974 this area was part of an exclave of historic Flintshire known as English Maelor (Welsh: Maelor Saesneg). The Dee continues to meander past Worthenbury where it is joined by the River Clywedog. At this point the border between Wrexham and Cheshire West and Chester follows the course of the river. It passes the Cheshire village of Crewe by Farndon, before cutting between Holt in Wales and Farndon in England beneath the 14th-century, Grade I listed Farndon Bridge.
  One of the major tributaries of the Dee, the River Alyn (Afon Alun) crosses the Carboniferous Limestone from Halkyn Mountain and runs down through the Loggerheads area before making its confluence north of Holt. Throughout the length of the Alyn there are numerous swallow holes and caverns and during the summer months long stretches of the river bed run dry. These caves include Ogof Hesp Alyn and Ogof Hen Ffynhonnau. A significant part of this lost flow reemerges in the Milwr Tunnel, a manmade tunnel, entering the west ba
caption: Railway bridge in Chester, spanning the river between Curzon Park and the Roodee. Photo taken at high tide.
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