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Wrexham (Welsh: Wrecsam) is an industrial town in north-east Wales. It is the administrative centre of the county borough of Wrexham. The town itself has a population of 43,000 and the surrounding county borough has a population of 129,300.

History

Prehistoric and Roman times

There is evidence of prehistoric activity in the Wrexham area. Evidence of occupation during Roman times was found during the construction of the Plas Coch Retail Park outside the town centre.

Middle Ages

Wrexham is not mentioned in the Domesday Book; the first mention of it comes in 1161 by which time there was a Norman motte and bailey castle at 'Wristlesham', however, being well to the east of Offa's Dyke, there has probably been a settlement there since Saxon times.

The town became part of the county of Denbighshire when it was created in 1536. Wrexham was divided into two distinct townships, Wrexham Regis (which was under the control of the King) and Wrexham Abbot (generally the older parts of the town, which originally belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey at nearby Llangollen).

During the English Civil War, Wrexham was on the side of the Royalists as most Welsh gentry supported the king, even though local landowner Sir Thomas Myddelton, owner of Chirk castle gave his support to Parliament. Wrexham became the main town in the area and grew wealthy with its markets.

Nineteenth and Twentieth Century

Wrexham was formerly one of the most industrialised areas in Wales. One of its main industries was brewing and there were several large breweries in the town, together with many smaller breweries situated at the back of local inns. Some of the more famous old breweries were the Albion, Cambrian, Eagle, Island Green, Soames and Willow. However, the most famous was the Wrexham Lager brewery which was built between 1881 and 1882 in Central Road. This was the first brewery to be built in the United Kingdom to produce lager beer. Another major producer, Border Breweries, was formed in 1931 by a merger of several of the existing smaller breweries. All commercial brewing in Wrexham has now ceased.

Bricks were produced in Abenbury, on the outskirts of Wrexham. The brickworks was sited on both sides of the Abenbury Road.

Although coal mining was an important industry in the area, and provided employment for large numbers of Wrexham people, most of the mines were situated well outside the town. All of these mines are now closed.

One legacy of Wrexham's industrial past was the Wrexham area's large and complex network of railways, the main branch being the Wrexham and Minera Branch, which supported the steelworks at nearby Brymbo Steel Mill and the Minera Limeworks. The rail network was torn up in the 1960s (and the Minera Branch in the early 1970s). Wrexham began a period of depression: the many coal mines closed first, followed by the brickworks and other industries, and finally the steelworks (which had its own railway branch up until closure) in the 1980s. Wrexham faced an economic crisis: with residents anxious to sell their homes and move to areas with better employment prospects, but buyers were uninterested in an area where there was little employment. Many people were caught in a negative equity trap.

Present day

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Wrexham
Wrexham County Borough
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) intervened to improve Wrexham's situation: it funded a major dual carriageway called the A483 bypassing Wrexham and connecting it with Chester and Shrewsbury, which in turn had connections with other big cities such as Manchester and Liverpool. It also funded shops and reclaimed areas environmentally damaged by the coal industry. BHS, McDonalds, Game, Burger King, HMV, KFC and other major retail chains came to Wrexham, improving the area's employment prospects. The biggest breakthrough was the Wrexham Industrial Estate, home to many manufacturing businesses including Kellogg's, JCB, Duracell and Pirelli. There are also a number of other large industrial estates with companies such as Sharp, Brother and Flexsys. The dual carriageway was extended halfway to the Estate in 2003, and is expected to reach it by 2011.

The high land prices in the town mean that apartments and flats within the town centre have been built. This is leading to large apartment blocks being built in and around the town centre.

In June 2003, the Caia Park estate in Wrexham was hit by riots, when local youths attacked several Iraqi Kurds living in the area, under the misconception that they had been given preferential treatment due to their status as asylum seekers. Police were brought in to the estate, and petrol bombs and other missiles were hurled at them, causing a major riot.

Another recent, but less dangerous conflict was the opposition to the sale of the Nine Acre Field, a small playing field being sold by the local council to boost education funds.

City status

Wrexham is now the largest settlement in North Wales, and has been nominated for city status several times, most recently in 2002 as part of the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, along with Aberystwyth, Machynlleth, Newtown, Newport and St Asaph. In the end, Wrexham lost out to Newport. Wrexham county borough is among the smallest local authorities in north Wales. Although several attempts have been made to enlarge the local authority, other towns, such as Llangollen have rejected it, as there is a lot of "town rivalry" with neighbouring towns and cities, particularly Chester.

Culture

Arts

Wrexham hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1888, 1912, 1933 and 1977, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1876. Wrexham has several theatres, including the Grove Park Theatre, and the Hippodrome, though the latter has now closed. There is a multi-screen Odeon cinema in the Plas Coch retail park, just outside the town centre.

Media

Wrexham's newspapers include the free The Wrexham Mail, the The Wrexham Evening Leader, the "Big Leader": the weekly broadsheet Wrexham Leader. Two radio stations, MFM 103.4 and Classic Gold Marcher, serve the town. The BBC and ITV Wales also have bureaux in the town for their regional news services.

Religion

St Giles' Church is the parish church of Wrexham and includes a colourful ceiling of flying musical angels, two early eagle lecterns, a window by the artist Edward Burne-Jones and the Royal Welch Fusiliers chapel. In the graveyard is the tomb of Elihu Yale who was the benefactor of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA and after whom Yale College Wrexham is named. The tower of St. Giles is claimed as one of the 'Seven Wonders of Wales' and the tower of Yale University reflects its design. The Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows, in Regent Street, is the main church of the Diocese of Wrexham, which extends over all of the north of Wales. Wrexham also has a number of non-denominational chapels and Churches scattered about the town. The main Methodist church is in Brynyffynon, off Regent Street. Up until the 1970's the town was full of Welsh non-denominational Chapels and the attendance of these was far in excess of that of the Anglican Church in the town.

Shopping

There are a number of retail areas, both in the town centre, such as Henblas Square and Island Green, and in out-of-town retail parks. BHS, Marks & Spencer, Game, Burger King, HMV, KFC and other major retail chains all have stores in the town, and further retail development is planned in the future.

Sport

The town has a professional football team, Wrexham A.F.C., which competes in the Football League. However the club's future is far from assured, partly due to the club's £1m+ debt to the Inland Revenue, and because of the desire of property owner Alex Hamilton, owner of the club, to knock down the club's Racecourse ground and replace it with a shopping development. Things have recently improved for Wrexham FC after Judges ruled Hamilton must return ownership of the ground to the club itself.

The ground also serves as the secondary home of the Llanelli Scarlets, one of the four Welsh professional rugby sides that compete in the Celtic League. They play, on average, two games per season there.

Education

Wrexham has a number of primary and secondary schools. Recently, three of the largest secondary schools, St David's School, Ysgol Bryn Offa and The Groves High School were merged to create two larger "superschools", Ysgol Clywedog and Rhosnesni High. Wrexham will also be home to the first shared faith school in Wales in the form of St Joseph's. Yale College is the main post-16 education facility. Wrexham is also home to the newest University of Wales college, the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (NEWI).

Politics

Wrexham County Borough Council elects a mayor who serves for one year. The current mayor of Wrexham is Councillor Michael Edwards. Wrexham Council's website, is one of the leading council websites in the country. People who live under the jurisdiction of Wrexham County Borough Council are able to pay taxes, debts and other fees through the website. They can also access many other services, such as reporting crimes, submitting planning applications and applying for permits.

The Wrexham constituency elects members to the UK Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. The constituency includes both the town and some of its outlying villages such as Gwersyllt, Llay, Marford and Rossett.

The UK Parliament constituency of Wrexham has long been a safe seat for the Labour Party. The current Member of Parliament is Ian Lucas.

The Assembly Member for the National Assembly for Wales constituency of Wrexham is John Marek, who has represented Wrexham in the Assembly since 1999, where he is also Deputy Presiding Officer of the Assembly. Before this he was the Wrexham Member of Parliament from 1983. He felt forced to leave the Labour Party in 2003 when he was deselected as their candidate while still in office. He has however proved he has strong personal support by increasing his majority as an Independent in the 2003 Assembly elections. Marek founded Forward Wales after his win and has attracted disenchanted members from New Labour. Forward Wales stood candidates in the UK General Election in 2005, but did rather badly considering their promising showing in the local elections in 2004.

Transport

Wrexham has various links to the transport network, with two railway stations and a large bus station. Wrexham General station provides direct rail services to Chester, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bangor and Holyhead while Wrexham Central station provides direct rail services to Hawarden, Shotton and Merseyside via the Borderlands Line.

A recent focus on road transport by the council has improved the bus travel in the Wrexham area, with most buses being low-floor and slightly elevated bus stops to allow people easier access to buses. A new bus terminal in Wrexham has been built. It is the largest in north Wales, featuring indoor shops and ambient music, along with a staffed information booth. The bus station serves local, regional and long-distance bus services.

Future plans

Wrexham has many major plans for the future. These include the building of the Central Retail park, a retail park build on the site of the old Wrexham Lager brewery. This will include such shops as SCS Furniture, Dunelm Mill and PC World (retailer). As of May 2006, most of the site is completed.

The WDA (Welsh Development Agency) (now disbanded), had earmarked Wrexham as a potential transport hub. The UK capital of culture for 2008, Liverpool, has also donated £100,000 to a study of electrification of the Wrexham to Bidston line, and a possible rail link to the North Wales coast line. This will open new rail links to the East and the urban area of Liverpool.

With house prices rising rapidly in this area, the council has made many plans for massive suburban housing estates to be built. One near Ysgol Clywedog will include a small shopping centre and another primary school. The other major one is planned for the ex-steel mill community of Brymbo, which will include many more houses, a new community centre, and a small suburban shopping centre. New plans for a large scale dry ski slope have been accepted on a £7 million budget. The site will be on the old Gresford mine site. The plans were accepted in late 2005 and they include the UK's first Ski jump.

On 30 January 2006, it was announced that a new railway company, named the Wrexham Shropshire and Marylebone Railway (WSMR), had been formed. It plans to run a fast or high speed rail service from Wrexham, through Shrewsbury to London's Marylebone station. The announcement made it unclear as to whether it will use locomotive hauled trains or high speed DMU trains, but it was mentioned that the line to Shrewsbury may need infrastructural upgrades to handle high speed trains.

Famous Former Residents

External links

Towns in Wrexham county borough | Traditional county of Denbighshire | Welsh market towns | Towns of the Welsh Marches | Wrexham

Wrecsam | Wrexham | Wrexham

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Wrexham".

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