Pont Carrog is a mighty bridge. The River Dee is spoiled with them, it’s true. But Carrog, little Carrog in this valley of such heart hollowing beauty, has a Dee bridge of such wonder and magnificence, that it fairly takes the breath away. What business you may ask does Carrog have in owning such a wonder? It’s a fair question, I suppose, but how to answer? Well, we used to twist wonder into the practical - it’s just what we did. Endeavours of stone and steel made beautiful. We are an Island of eyes alight artisans, with dreams of delights dancing behind our eyes - passion that fashioned such wonders as Pont Carrog. Just a bridge. That’s all. A bridge built to cross a river. A practical thing made astonishing.
There had been a ford here,(1) a little further on from the current bridge for many years - centuries perhaps. But the Dee in spate is a fearsome thing, as its destruction of the old church of St Ffraid at the beginning of the 17th century can dramatically testify to,[2] and a bridge of strength was needed. Nothing is known of the architect, as if such works were so customary as to be something of a shrug, but we have a date - 1661. The year can be seen inscribed in a road facing stone on the east face of the parapet. In style, it is similar to several of the other bridges that cross the Dee, especially Pont Dyfrdwy in Cynwyd - five mighty arches, including two flood arches and cutwaters, all of slate rubble.
A walk along the southern bank of the Dee to the west of the bridge provides a wonderful view of both the bridge and village itself. And if you’re lucky, very lucky, you may even come across an otter or two playing on the banks - they didn’t seem to mind my company, as I stood nearby, flummoxed, wild eyed and deeply humbled.
Footnote
​
1. There was, perhaps even a wooden bridge. When timbers were found downstream of the current bridge in 1893, and again in the 1960s, the immediate thought was that they were from the old church washed away by the Dee at the beginning of the 17th century. But others believed that they were, in fact, the remains of a wooden bridge pre-dating the current Pont Carrog.
2. There was, or perhaps still is, a local verse in circulation which remembers the destruction, said to have been written by a Thomas Evans of Hendreforfydd, and was written at the time of the event.
Dyfrdwy, Dyfrdwy fawr ei naid
Aeth ag Eglwys Llansanffriad
Y Llyfrau bendigedig
A'r Gwppan Arian hefyd
Which roughly translates as:
Dee, Dee great leap,
He took Llansantffraid Church,
The blessed books,
And the silver cup too
​
Further Reading
Rev. D. R. Thomas, A History of the Diocese of St Asaph, London, (1874)
​
​
​