Brymbo
Encyclopedia
Brymbo is a local government community
, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales
. It is a village
situated in the hilly country to the west of Wrexham
town, largely surrounded by farmland.
At the 2001 Census
, the population of the community area (including Brymbo village, along with the villages of Tanyfron
and Bwlchgwyn
and a number of rural hamlets) was 3,482. It is also the name of an electoral ward of Wrexham County Borough, whose population (including Brymbo and Tanyfron only) was 2,653 at the 2001 census.
The area was formerly heavily dependent on coal mining and steelmaking, and the Brymbo Steelworks, which operated between 1794 and 1990, was a prominent industry for the village and much of the surrounding area.
Bryn baw ("mud hill" or "dirt hill") first appears in records in 1339, although the area had clearly been occupied for centuries beforehand (see "Brymbo Man" below). At this stage Brymbo was a township
covering a considerable area and containing a number of scattered settlements, farms, commons, and "wastes", or uncultivated areas. In 1410, the burgesses of the local settlement of Holt
were granted the right to dig for coal
in the wastes of "Harwd" and Coedpoeth
; "Harwd", another early name for Brymbo, came from the English name "Harwood" ("Hare Wood") and referred to a common in one part of the township.
Sometime in the fifteenth century, landowner Edward ap Morgan ap Madoc, gentleman, built a dwelling in the township that was later to become Brymbo Hall
, the home of his descendants the Griffith family.
A survey of the Lordship of Bromfield and Yale, conducted in 1620 by John Norden
and his son, described the boundaries of the township of Brymbo, in the manor of Esclusham
, as follows:
While there was mining of coal in the area on a small scale, the late eighteenth century saw an expansion in activity, particularly after the industrialist John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson purchased Brymbo Hall and began developing its estate, mining coal and ironstone and building an ironworks which was later to become the Brymbo Steelworks. By 1821 there was a total of 41 coal pits on the Brymbo Hall estate alone. In the nineteenth century, a number of larger deep mines were sunk around the area, and the majority of the village of Brymbo was developed as accommodation for the miners and ironworkers. The village itself was constructed on and around the steep sides of Brymbo Hill with spectacular views towards the Cheshire Plain
, though the area's dramatic topography was later to cause problems when the steelworks expanded in 1956: the new parts had to be built on a vast artificial plateau of slag
from the furnaces, filling the width of the valley and burying most of the village of Lodge, whose houses were purchased and demolished.
Although the steelworks continued in production, many of the area's collieries ran into geological and financial problems by the time of the Great Depression
, and the area's last deep mine (the Plas Power pit, near Southsea) closed in 1938, though the Smelt drift mine, west of the village, closed in 1967 (many of the remaining coal deposits were extracted by open-cast mining immediately west of the steelworks during 1972-75). The steelworks itself, after several years of uncertainty, was finally to close in stages between 1990 and 1991, having a severe economic impact on the village.
of Brymbo, also based on the old township boundaries, was (as a result of the Local Government Act 1972
) replaced in 1974 by the Community of Brymbo, which includes the village itself, the smaller neighbouring village of Tanyfron, and Bwlchgwyn, in addition to the small settlements of Vron or Fron, Pen-Rhos, Four Crosses, Maes Maelor, Glascoed, and Ffrwd: these boundaries are still very similar to the township boundaries given in Norden's 1620 survey. The Community is divided into three electoral wards, Brymbo, Bwlchgwyn and Vron and is governed by Brymbo Community Council .
Brymbo was within the county of Denbighshire
until 1974, and the new county of Clwyd until 1996, when the latter was abolished. It is now within Wrexham County Borough.
due to construction work on the Wrexham and Minera Railway. A replacement, consecrated to St. Mary, was built nearby, but in 1892 a second Anglican church (St John's) was built on the original site for the use of Welsh speakers. Predictably this church was also affected by subsidence and was demolished in the 1970s; its churchyard is now a small park including the village war memorial
.
St Mary's church (built in 1872 to the designs of Thomas Henry Wyatt
) and the "Tin Chapel
" (Wesleyan or 'English' Methodist Church) remain in use. Brymbo had a large number of Nonconformist chapels, including Engedi (Calvinistic Methodist, 1820; closed 2003) Tabernacle (Welsh Baptist, 1864; closed 1987) and the Grade II listed Bryn Sion (Independent, 1861; closed 1968), all of which are now derelict or converted to other uses.
Man, dating back to the early Bronze Age
, around 1600BC. The remains were found in a burial chamber alongside a flint knife and earthenware beaker. It is believed that he was 5 feet 8 inches tall and aged between 35 and 40 years. Brymbo Man was taken to the National Museum in Cardiff until May 1998 when it was returned to Wrexham. In 2001 Manchester University produced a wax model reconstruction of the skull which can also be seen in the galleries of Wrexham Museum.
Another archaeological find was made in 2006 by workers redeveloping the site of the former steelworks - a fossil
ised forest of the petrified wood
of over 20 trees, dating from the Carboniferous Period.
The ancient earthwork Offa's Dyke
passes close to the village; a long section was formerly visible close to Brymbo Hall. In 1892, Professor Thomas McKenny Hughes
carried out the first scientific excavation of Offa's Dyke near Brymbo. The cartographer Samuel Lewis, in his Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833), recorded that a large quantity of horse bones along with horse shoes "of rude workmanship" were found beneath the dyke near Brymbo Hall, but gave no other details.
, such as the original "No. 1" blast furnace
commissioned by John Wilkinson, and associated buildings. Above the village stand the remains of Wilkinson's lead smelter, the "Bottle", next to a pond (locally known as the "Cold Pool") used to supply water to the Steelworks until 1990: in the nearby hamlet of Pen-Rhos is the Penrhos Engine House, also built by Wilkinson and now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
s on the former steelworks site, though financial difficulties have impacted on the development since plans were originally submitted. The village also has two football clubs, Brymbo F.C.
(formerly Brymbo Steelworks FC, several times winners of the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area)
), and recently-formed Miners Arms Brymbo FC.
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in 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...
. It is a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
situated in the hilly country to the west of Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
town, largely surrounded by farmland.
At the 2001 Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, the population of the community area (including Brymbo village, along with the villages of Tanyfron
Tanyfron
Tanyfron, also occasionally spelt Tan-y-fron, is a village in Wrexham County Borough in Wales. At the time of the 2001 census, the population of area Wrexham 006A, which includes Tanyfron and a number of other small settlements, was 1,347...
and 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...
and a number of rural hamlets) was 3,482. It is also the name of an electoral ward of Wrexham County Borough, whose population (including Brymbo and Tanyfron only) was 2,653 at the 2001 census.
The area was formerly heavily dependent on coal mining and steelmaking, and the Brymbo Steelworks, which operated between 1794 and 1990, was a prominent industry for the village and much of the surrounding area.
History
Brymbo, possibly from the WelshWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
Bryn baw ("mud hill" or "dirt hill") first appears in records in 1339, although the area had clearly been occupied for centuries beforehand (see "Brymbo Man" below). At this stage Brymbo was a township
Township (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
covering a considerable area and containing a number of scattered settlements, farms, commons, and "wastes", or uncultivated areas. In 1410, the burgesses of the local settlement of Holt
Holt, Wales
Holt is a medieval market town and local government community in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales. It is situated on the border with England. Holt Castle was begun by Edward I shortly after the English invasion of Wales in 1277.-Area:...
were granted the right to dig for coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
in the wastes of "Harwd" and Coedpoeth
Coedpoeth
Coedpoeth is a village and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.-History:...
; "Harwd", another early name for Brymbo, came from the English name "Harwood" ("Hare Wood") and referred to a common in one part of the township.
Sometime in the fifteenth century, landowner Edward ap Morgan ap Madoc, gentleman, built a dwelling in the township that was later to become Brymbo Hall
Brymbo Hall
Brymbo Hall, one of Britain's lost houses, was a manor house located near Brymbo outside the town of Wrexham, North Wales. The house, reputed to have been partly built to the designs of Inigo Jones, was noted as the residence of 18th-century industrialist and ironmaster John "Iron-Mad"...
, the home of his descendants the Griffith family.
A survey of the Lordship of Bromfield and Yale, conducted in 1620 by John Norden
John Norden
John Norden was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the Speculum Britanniae...
and his son, described the boundaries of the township of Brymbo, in the manor of Esclusham
Esclusham
Esclusham is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.The community includes the villages of Bersham, Rhostyllen, Aber-oer, Llwyneinion and Pentre Bychan, as well as a number of smaller settlements, the park at Erddig, and an area...
, as follows:
To the ffirst article the said Jurie doe say that the towneshipp of Brymbo, beeing part of ye said mannor, is bounded from MyneraMineraMinera is a small village, and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.The community, which in addition to Minera village includes a number of smaller hamlets such as Gwynfryn and New Brighton and large areas of farmland, had a...
by a brooke called Gwenfro, by a common there called Y Koed boeth by the south side; and from FlintshireFlintshire (historic)Flintshire , also known as the County of Flint, is one of thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county, which mostly lies on the north east coast of Wales....
by a brooke called Avon y Frith, running from a common called Nant y FrithNant-y-FfrithNant-y-Ffrith refers to a stream and the wooded valley through which it flows on the border between Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough in Wales. The stream begins in moorland to the east of Llandegla. It passes Bwlchgwyn village before entering a rather steep-sided, rocky valley...
to a rive' called KegidogRiver CegidogThe River Cegidog is a river in north-east Wales. It flows mainly through Flintshire but towards the end of its course it forms the border between Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough....
; and soe the said Kegidog running downeward a little beyond a bridge called Pont y Place Mayne vppon ye north side, and from GwersiltGwersylltGwersyllt is an urban village and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales....
by a little brooke called y Frwe, and from BroughtonBroughton, WrexhamBroughton is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has an area of 469 hectares and had a population of 6,498 in the 2001 census.-History:...
by a little brook running from a common called Harwood to a place called y Groes faen on ye east side ; and vpon ye west, from ye said common called Nant y Frith to a place vpon ye said common called Maes Maylo' or thereabouts; but ye certaine boundes of ye said towneshipp vppon ye said mountayne or common, they cannott sett downe.
While there was mining of coal in the area on a small scale, the late eighteenth century saw an expansion in activity, particularly after the industrialist John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson purchased Brymbo Hall and began developing its estate, mining coal and ironstone and building an ironworks which was later to become the Brymbo Steelworks. By 1821 there was a total of 41 coal pits on the Brymbo Hall estate alone. In the nineteenth century, a number of larger deep mines were sunk around the area, and the majority of the village of Brymbo was developed as accommodation for the miners and ironworkers. The village itself was constructed on and around the steep sides of Brymbo Hill with spectacular views towards the Cheshire Plain
Cheshire Plain
The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland situated almost entirely within the county of Cheshire in northwest England. It is bounded by the hills of North Wales to the west, and the Peak District of Derbyshire and North Staffordshire to the east and southeast...
, though the area's dramatic topography was later to cause problems when the steelworks expanded in 1956: the new parts had to be built on a vast artificial plateau of slag
Slag
Slag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to separate the metal fraction from the unwanted fraction. It can usually be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. However, slags can contain metal sulfides and metal atoms in the elemental form...
from the furnaces, filling the width of the valley and burying most of the village of Lodge, whose houses were purchased and demolished.
Although the steelworks continued in production, many of the area's collieries ran into geological and financial problems by the time of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and the area's last deep mine (the Plas Power pit, near Southsea) closed in 1938, though the Smelt drift mine, west of the village, closed in 1967 (many of the remaining coal deposits were extracted by open-cast mining immediately west of the steelworks during 1972-75). The steelworks itself, after several years of uncertainty, was finally to close in stages between 1990 and 1991, having a severe economic impact on the village.
Administrative history
In 1844, the old township of Brymbo, previously part of the ecclesiastical parish of Wrexham, became the new ecclesiastical parish of Brymbo. The corresponding civil parishCivil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Brymbo, also based on the old township boundaries, was (as a result of the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
) replaced in 1974 by the Community of Brymbo, which includes the village itself, the smaller neighbouring village of Tanyfron, and Bwlchgwyn, in addition to the small settlements of Vron or Fron, Pen-Rhos, Four Crosses, Maes Maelor, Glascoed, and Ffrwd: these boundaries are still very similar to the township boundaries given in Norden's 1620 survey. The Community is divided into three electoral wards, Brymbo, Bwlchgwyn and Vron and is governed by Brymbo Community Council .
Brymbo was within the county of Denbighshire
Denbighshire (historic)
Historic Denbighshire is one of thirteen traditional counties in Wales, a vice-county and a former administrative county, which covers an area in north east Wales...
until 1974, and the new county of Clwyd until 1996, when the latter was abolished. It is now within Wrexham County Borough.
Churches
The first church in Brymbo was St John's, consecrated in 1838; it was closed in 1869 after it was affected by subsidenceSubsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
due to construction work on the Wrexham and Minera Railway. A replacement, consecrated to St. Mary, was built nearby, but in 1892 a second Anglican church (St John's) was built on the original site for the use of Welsh speakers. Predictably this church was also affected by subsidence and was demolished in the 1970s; its churchyard is now a small park including the village war memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
.
St Mary's church (built in 1872 to the designs of Thomas Henry Wyatt
Thomas Henry Wyatt
Thomas Henry Wyatt was an Irish British architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870-73 and awarded their Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1873...
) and the "Tin Chapel
Tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacles were a type of prefabricated building made from corrugated iron developed in the mid 19th century initially in Great Britain. Corrugated iron was first used for roofing in London in 1829 by Henry Robinson Palmer and the patent sold to Richard Walker who advertised "portable...
" (Wesleyan or 'English' Methodist Church) remain in use. Brymbo had a large number of Nonconformist chapels, including Engedi (Calvinistic Methodist, 1820; closed 2003) Tabernacle (Welsh Baptist, 1864; closed 1987) and the Grade II listed Bryn Sion (Independent, 1861; closed 1968), all of which are now derelict or converted to other uses.
Archaeology
In August 1958, workmen digging a pipe trench at Cheshire View in Brymbo made an important archaeological find - a burial site containing the remains commonly referred to as Brymbo Man or Brymbo BeakerBeaker culture
The Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...
Man, dating back to the early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, around 1600BC. The remains were found in a burial chamber alongside a flint knife and earthenware beaker. It is believed that he was 5 feet 8 inches tall and aged between 35 and 40 years. Brymbo Man was taken to the National Museum in Cardiff until May 1998 when it was returned to Wrexham. In 2001 Manchester University produced a wax model reconstruction of the skull which can also be seen in the galleries of Wrexham Museum.
Another archaeological find was made in 2006 by workers redeveloping the site of the former steelworks - a fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
ised forest of the petrified wood
Petrified wood
Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree having turned completely into stone by the process of permineralization...
of over 20 trees, dating from the Carboniferous Period.
The ancient earthwork Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
passes close to the village; a long section was formerly visible close to Brymbo Hall. In 1892, Professor Thomas McKenny Hughes
Thomas McKenny Hughes
Thomas McKenny Hughes was a Welsh geologist. He was Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge University.-Private life:...
carried out the first scientific excavation of Offa's Dyke near Brymbo. The cartographer Samuel Lewis, in his Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833), recorded that a large quantity of horse bones along with horse shoes "of rude workmanship" were found beneath the dyke near Brymbo Hall, but gave no other details.
Historic buildings
While there are few very old buildings in Brymbo, it contains several structures of interest in industrial archaeologyIndustrial archaeology
Industrial archaeology, like other branches of archaeology, is the study of material culture from the past, but with a focus on industry. Strictly speaking, industrial archaeology includes sites from the earliest times to the most recent...
, such as the original "No. 1" blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
commissioned by John Wilkinson, and associated buildings. Above the village stand the remains of Wilkinson's lead smelter, the "Bottle", next to a pond (locally known as the "Cold Pool") used to supply water to the Steelworks until 1990: in the nearby hamlet of Pen-Rhos is the Penrhos Engine House, also built by Wilkinson and now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Present day
The village is currently undergoing regeneration and redevelopment works, in the form of private housing estateHousing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
s on the former steelworks site, though financial difficulties have impacted on the development since plans were originally submitted. The village also has two football clubs, Brymbo F.C.
Brymbo F.C.
Brymbo Football Club are a football club based in Tanyfron, Wrexham. They currently play in the Welsh National League Premier Division. The team - originally Brymbo Steelworks F.C...
(formerly Brymbo Steelworks FC, several times winners of the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area)
Welsh National League (Wrexham Area)
The Welsh National League is a football league in Wales and forms level 3 of the Welsh football league system in Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Gwynedd...
), and recently-formed Miners Arms Brymbo FC.