Eryrys is a village in Denbighshire

Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, located at approximate grid reference SJ203578, five miles south of Mold

Mold, Flintshire

Mold is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council, and was also the county town of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996...

. The village is built on the limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 formation of Bryn Alyn

Bryn Alyn

Bryn Alyn is a hill and Site of Special Scientific Interest in Denbighshire, North Wales, and forms part of the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Bryn Alyn lies to the east of the River Alyn, with the valley of Dyffryn Alyn separating it from the main range of the Clwydian hills...

 and many limestone outcrops

Limestone pavement

A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling block of paving...

 can be seen close by. At 350m above sea level, Eryrys is one of a number of villages with a valid claim to be the highest in Wales; others include Bwlchgwyn

Bwlchgwyn

Bwlchgwyn is a village in Wrexham county borough, Wales, on the A525 road, west of the town of Wrexham and south-east of the town of Ruthin. Bwlchgwyn is part of the community of Brymbo...

, Wrexham (335m, but has a still-active church, which Eryrys does not), and Garn-yr-Erw, Torfaen

Torfaen

Torfaen is a county borough in Wales within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It was originally formed in 1974 as a district of the county of Gwent and in 1996 it was reconstituted as a unitary authority.-Education:...

 (390m, but has no church or pub).

A number of sources suggested that the name is derived from the Welsh Erw Yrys, or the "acre (erw) of Gyrys", sometimes linked with the "Hen Gyrys o Iâl" indetified as the author of early Welsh collections of proverbs.

There are several limestone quarries close to the village, some now closed but others still actively serving the local cement industry. Eryrys was formerly a lead-mining community, with the remains of several mines still visible nearby, although lead-mining in the area ceased in the late 19th century. The land around Eryrys is now primarily used for sheep-grazing, with also some dairy farming. Eryrys lies on the edge of the Clwydian Range

Clwydian Range

The Clwydian Range is a series of hills and mountains in north east Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, with the highest point being the popular Moel Famau...

 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...

and many walking routes go through or around the village.