Historic SiteFlintshireCadw4.6
Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
Cadw lists no designated parking. Flintshire County Council's rural walks booklet notes limited roadside parking at Maen Achwyfan and in Whitford, and a visitor found space for a few cars close by; nothing is published about charges, so the status is recorded as unknown. From the kissing gate on the lane a permissive grass path of about 40 m leads to the railed enclosure; grazing animals may be in the neighbouring fields.
Driving pin: Cadw's own arrival point at the field gate on the lane, 44 m north of its marker on the cross. By road: 1 mile west-north-west of Whitford, off the A5151, 5 miles north-west of Holywell. By rail: Prestatyn, 9.7 km. National Cycle Network route 5 passes the site.
Maen Achwyfan Cross, Croes Maen Achwyfan, is the art of the Vikings in stone: a particularly fine early Christian cross standing 11 feet high alone in a field a mile west of Whitford, probably raised in the late 10th century to commemorate a person or event. Fashioned from a single stone, it has a circular head resembling a wheel on a slightly tapering shaft, and is covered from top to bottom with intricate, well-preserved carvings of interlacing designs and stylised human and animal figures. For a Christian monument it has interesting Viking roots: its design was heavily influenced by the Viking sea raiders active in this part of Wales. It stands in a small railed enclosure reached by a permissive path of about 40 metres through a kissing gate from the lane. Reviewers call it breathtaking, under-rated and remarkably well preserved, a special trip for enthusiasts, with room for a few cars on the lane. Flintshire's Whitford rural walk passes the cross.
Open all year during reasonable daylight hours; no admission charge. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather.
Terrain level 3, moderate: a kissing gate and a short grass field path that may be slippery or muddy, with grazing cattle or farm animals possible; the cross stands inside a railing. No facilities. Drones are not permitted.
Dogs: Flintshire's rural walks booklet, whose Whitford walk passes the cross, asks for dogs on a short lead near livestock, with lots of sheep and cattle and several stiles on that walk.
Photo: Maen Achwyfan, the tall disc-headed carved cross standing in its railed enclosure in a green field near Whitford. Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maen_Achwyfan_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6852922.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dogs, with restrictions
8 km (5 miles), about 3 hours, moderate with several stiles and mud, circular from Whitford church via the Pennant Walk and the Pharos; the route turns along the road past Maen Achwyfan in its field on the left; limited roadside parking in Whitford and at the cross; nearest pub The Rock at Lloc. Free; booklet dated 2013.
