Wrexham FC football club, culture

Wrexham > Introduction

Wrexham is a large town situated in North Wales.

History

Evidence of human activity in the Wrexham area have been found as far back as 8000 years ago. However the first known settlement was known as Wristleham Castle, which was a motte and bailey located in what is now known as Erddig Park, in 1161. 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).

In the 18th century Wrexham was known for its leather industry. There were skinners and tanners in the town. The horns from cattle were used to make things like combs and buttons. There was also a nail making industry in Wrexham.

In the mid-18th century Wrexham was no more than a small market town with a population of perhaps 2,000. However in the late 18th century Wrexham grew rapidly as it became one of the pioneers of the industrial revolution.

In the late 18th century Wrexham was transformed by the coming of the industrial revolution. It began when the famous entrepreneur John Wilkinson (1728-1808) known as ‘Iron Mad Wilkinson’ opened Bersham Ironworks in 1762. In 1793 he opened a smelting plant at Brymbo.

Wrexham gained its first newspaper in 1848. The Market Hall was built in 1848, and in 1863 a volunteer fire brigade was founded.

It was home to a large number of breweries and tanning became one of Wrexham’s main industries, due to its history as a market town. In the mid 19th century Wrexham was granted borough status.

Recent History

In the latter half of the twentieth century, 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. Many residents were anxious to sell their homes and move to areas with better employment prospects, however buyers were uninterested in an area where there was little prospect of employment. Many people were caught in a negative equity trap. Wrexham was suffering from the same problems as much of industrialised Britain and saw little investment in the 1970s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) intervened to improve Wrexham’s situation: it funded a major dual carriageway, the A483, bypassing Wrexham town centre 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. The town centre was regenerated and attracted a growing number of high street chains. However, the biggest breakthrough was the Wrexham Industrial Estate, previously used in the Second World War became home to many manufacturing and technology businesses. There are currently over 250 businesses on the Wrexham Industrial Estate and in the surrounding area. A dual carriageway from the main A483 was extended halfway to the Estate in 2003, and is expected to reach it by 2011.

Current developments and regeneration

Recent years have seen a large amount of redevelopment in Wrexham’s town centre. The creation and re-development of civic and public areas such as Queens Square, Belle Vue Park and Llwyn Isaf have improved the area dramatically. New shopping areas have been created at Henblas Square and Island Green and major development is currently taking place at Eagles Meadow - a fairly large area of land between St. Giles and the inner ring road. The development when completed will increase Wrexham’s retail area by over 400,000 sq feet and house a large range of high quality retail outlets, bars, restaurants, cinema, bowling alley and new apartments. It will include public areas and an iconic bridge to connect the development with the old High Street. The housing boom is also being felt in Wrexham.

The central area has seen a number conversions and new build apartment complexes. Apartments have been built on a large area off Mold Road (close to the football ground) and are planned for Salop Road (close to Eagles Meadow), and close to the Island Green shopping complex. Outside of the town centre new build estates are being developed in Brymbo (former steelworks site).

Wrexham Western Gateway site (Ruthin Road) and Mold Road. Plans are due to be unveiled (Summer 2007) of the next stage in the development of Wrexham Technology Park as one of the country’s first sustainable business centres - the development is expected to increase the size of the Park by more than a third before 2012.

Plans have been unveiled for a £17m waste processing centre for Wrexham which will help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. It is believed the centre will be built on Wrexham’s industrial estate and run by the Spanish-owned Waste Recycling Group. Plans for a recycling centre in Wrexham have been approved, but the permission granted to Waste Recycling Group is subject to several conditions including measures to off-set the effects on wildlife.

The bid for city status

Wrexham is the largest settlement in North Wales, and has applied for city status several times, most recently in 2002 as part of the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Other Welsh applicants were Aberystwyth, Machynlleth, Newtown, Newport and St Asaph. The local authority cited the following claims as to why Wrexham should be granted city status:

• The town is the largest urban area north of the Brecon Beacons
• Despite not having a Protestant cathedral (part of the historic criteria for city status), it is home to one of only three Catholic cathedrals in Wales
• It is the centre for education, culture, retail, industry and business in North Wales
• It has the largest catchment (in terms of area) of any other major Welsh settlement
• The town has a long and proud history of industry, including coal mining, steelmaking, brewing and tanning.
• It has recently transformed from an historic market town and industrial hub into a forward thinking business and manufacturing centre (including one of the largest industrial estates in Europe)
• The population of the conurbation surrounding the town is over 100,000 people

In the end, the Welsh award was given to Newport in South Wales, however the borough still holds out hope of gaining the status in the near future.

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