The king of England; Henry lead his army into Wales. He had the advantage of greater numbers, so Prince Owain's tactics were to raid and ambush, early Guerilla tactics, you could say.
He planted skirmishers in the thick woods overlooking the pass, still there to this day, that Henry would take. When Henry's army advanced into the densely wooded Ceiriog Valley, the Welsh defenders assailed them repeatedly from their positions of cover, killing many for now deaths on their side.
Realising the vulnerability of his army, Henry II ordered 2000 woodsmen to clear trees and widen the passage, allowing his forces to move more freely and quickly through the pass.
The woodsmen were protected by the best of Henry's army and a powerful vanguard of pikemen, but their resistance was only effective for a short period. While the woodsmen cut the trees - his forces were ambushed at the point of Offa's Dyke (which then straddled the vally floor) at the point where "The Great Oak of the Gate of the Dead" now stands, one of the oldest trees in wales. A strong force of Owain's troops emerged and assaulted Henry's vanguard, inflicting severe losses, for little loss on their side. This engagement was later known as the Battle of Crogen, and what this site overlooks.
King Henry of England came within a whisker of losing his life so the story tells, if not for the brave action of a commander in his army 'Hugh de St Clare', the Constable of Colchester Castle, who sacrificed his own life when he threw himself in front of a shaft meant for his King.
To take a quotation from the display boards:-
"You do not know the Welsh, you do know know how they fight. This is not war as you learned it. It is bloody, brutal work, with no quarter given. Let me tell you about the Battle of Crogen. The old king, Henry, led an army into Wales, the Welsh won the day, and King Henry was forced to retreat back into England. Because that's how war is waged in Wales on both sides. I've fought in Normandy, in Scotland even Ireland, and I tell you true when I say the Welsh do make the worst enemies. They do not play by your rules, they win when they are not supposed to, and they do not know when they are beaten."
The English forces disengaged and did indeed reach the Berwyn mountains but, hit hard by the Welsh armies and torrential rain, were forced to retreat from Wales altogether when Owain's forces succeeded in cutting off their supplies, thus forcing them around and avoiding this valley altogether.
The result was a decisive Welsh victory, and a blow to King Henry II as the English retreated, and lost heavy numbers, and almost their king in 1165.
With thanks to CADW and the local community for the history of this site, that up until now I had heard stories about, but now the history is in place, as it should be. Especially with a decisive Welsh-Anglo victory!