Borras
Encyclopedia
Borras is an area to the north-east of Wrexham
, Wales. It is part of the community
of Holt.
The nearby residential area of Borras Park
is named after Borras but is part of the community of Acton, Wrexham
.
flint tools have been found adjacent to Borras Farm. A Neolithic
Axe head was also found near Bryn-Gryfydd and a hoard of Bronze Age
metalwork.
During the Middle Ages
, according to the Wrexham historian Alfred N. Palmer
, Borras (then called Borrasham) formed two township
s of the mesne manor of Isycoed
, itself one of the manors of the marcher lordship of Bromfield; the townships were known as Borrasham Hwfa and Borrasham Riffri. It is known that an extensive farmed rabbit
warren
was in existence in the area at the time. Palmer noted that the name Borrasham was also written Burras or Borras (possibly from the Old English beorgas, "burial-mounds"), and that the latter forms came to be used for the township in order to avoid confusion with Bersham
.
Borras Hall is an early 17th century former manor house
. It is believed that it replaced an early 13th century house on the same site. In 1988 Madoc's lead seal
was discovered at Burras Hall that dated to the 13th century and is believed to be the seal of the lords of Borras and Erlas who built Plas ym Mwras in about 1200. The seal was sent to Cardiff
for verification and has never been seen since, on inquiring as to the whereabouts of the seal Cardiff stated that they only have a copy of the seal. The Hall was owned by the Brereton Family until 1789, when it was sold to a Mr Twigg for £40,000.00 and then later sold to Baron Kenyon
for £24,000.00.
Nearby Borras Head House also dates to the 17th century and was also purchased by Lord Kenyon in 1803.
/ Royal Air Force
based at Shotwick
(later RAF Sealand
) and Hooton Park
.
In the 1940s the area was again pressed into World War II service for training flights. Three grass runways of approximately 550-660 yards existed. The main period of construction at the site took place between December 1940 and June 1941.
The airfield was closed after World War II
and on 22 October 1959 was sold to United Gravel Company a subsidiary of Alfred McAlpine
. In the 1970s quarrying operations commenced in the area.
and would have sounded the four minute warning
alarm in the event of nuclear war and warned the population of Wrexham in the event of approaching radioactive fallout. The building was manned by up to 120 volunteers who trained on a weekly basis and wore a Royal Air Force style uniform. After the breakup of the communist bloc in 1989, the Royal Observer Corps was disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. However, the nuclear bunker remained and was purchased by R Jones (K-Klass
) of Tyn-Twll Farm in the early 1990s and converted to a recording studio
. Between the ROC vacating the premises in September 1991 and its new use as a recording studio, the building was under preparation for use as the Home Office
North Wales Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ) although it is unlikely it was ever actually activated as such, given the short timescale.
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...
, Wales. It is part of the community
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....
of Holt.
The nearby residential area of Borras Park
Borras Park
Borras Park is an electoral division in the community of Acton in Wrexham County Borough. The area derived its name from the nearby area of Borras.At the time of the 2001 Census, the population was 2,517 in 1,065 households.-Sport:...
is named after Borras but is part of the community of Acton, Wrexham
Acton, Wrexham
Acton is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of the Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It lies in the north-eastern part of the market town of Wrexham...
.
Early history
Although no human occupation sites have been found, the area of Borras has revealed some of the earliest traces of habitation in the area. A number of MesolithicMesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
flint tools have been found adjacent to Borras Farm. A Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
Axe head was also found near Bryn-Gryfydd and a hoard of 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...
metalwork.
During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, according to the Wrexham historian Alfred N. Palmer
Alfred Neobard Palmer
Alfred Neobard Palmer was a chemist and local historian. He published several books concerning the local history of Wrexham and north Wales.-Biography:...
, Borras (then called Borrasham) formed two 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...
s of the mesne manor of Isycoed
Isycoed
Isycoed is a local government community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales.It lies around 5 miles to the east of Wrexham on the border with England.There is a primary school in Bowling Bank, and a late-Georgian church, dedicated to St...
, itself one of the manors of the marcher lordship of Bromfield; the townships were known as Borrasham Hwfa and Borrasham Riffri. It is known that an extensive farmed rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
warren
Warren (domestic)
A domestic warren is an artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. It evolved from the Anglo-Norman concept of free warren, which had been, essentially, the equivalent of a hunting license for a given woodland.-Architecture of the...
was in existence in the area at the time. Palmer noted that the name Borrasham was also written Burras or Borras (possibly from the Old English beorgas, "burial-mounds"), and that the latter forms came to be used for the township in order to avoid confusion with Bersham
Bersham
Bersham is a small Welsh village in the suburbs of the county borough of Wrexham that lies next to the River Clywedog. Wrexham owes a large amount of its original industrial heritage to Bersham, but despite this the village still retains a rural feeling....
.
Borras Hall is an early 17th century former manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
. It is believed that it replaced an early 13th century house on the same site. In 1988 Madoc's lead seal
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
was discovered at Burras Hall that dated to the 13th century and is believed to be the seal of the lords of Borras and Erlas who built Plas ym Mwras in about 1200. The seal was sent to Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
for verification and has never been seen since, on inquiring as to the whereabouts of the seal Cardiff stated that they only have a copy of the seal. The Hall was owned by the Brereton Family until 1789, when it was sold to a Mr Twigg for £40,000.00 and then later sold to Baron Kenyon
Baron Kenyon
Lord Kenyon, Baron of Gredington, in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1788 for the lawyer and judge Sir Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baronet. He served as Master of the Rolls and as Lord Chief Justice of England. Kenyon had already been created a Baronet, of...
for £24,000.00.
Nearby Borras Head House also dates to the 17th century and was also purchased by Lord Kenyon in 1803.
Airfield
During the period 1917 - 1920 fields at Borras Lodge were used by Nos. 4 and 51 Training Squadrons/Schools of the Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
/ Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
based at Shotwick
Shotwick
Shotwick is a village and civil parish on the Wirral Peninsula in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...
(later RAF Sealand
RAF Sealand
RAF Sealand was a former Royal Air Force station in Flintshire, north Wales and operated between 1916 and 2006.Under defence cuts announced in 2004 RAF Sealand was completely closed in April 2006. All remaining RAF units were moved to RAF Leeming...
) and Hooton Park
Hooton Park
RAF Hooton Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, was a Royal Air Force station originally built for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a training aerodrome for pilots in World War I. During the early/mid 1930s, it was one of the two airfields handling scheduled services for the Merseyside...
.
In the 1940s the area was again pressed into World War II service for training flights. Three grass runways of approximately 550-660 yards existed. The main period of construction at the site took place between December 1940 and June 1941.
The airfield was closed after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and on 22 October 1959 was sold to United Gravel Company a subsidiary of Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in London. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll...
. In the 1970s quarrying operations commenced in the area.
Bunker
Between 1962 and 1992 there was a hardened nuclear bunker, built at Borras for No 17 Group Royal Observer Corps North Wales, who provided the field force in Western Area of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring OrganisationUnited Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation
The United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation was a British civilian organisation operating between 1957 and 1992 to provide the authorities with data about nuclear explosions and forecasts of likely fallout profiles across the country in the event of war.The UKWMO was established and...
and would have sounded the four minute warning
Four minute warning
The four minute warning was a public alert system conceived by the British Government during the Cold War and operated between 1953 and 1992 when the system was dismantled after the cold war ended...
alarm in the event of nuclear war and warned the population of Wrexham in the event of approaching radioactive fallout. The building was manned by up to 120 volunteers who trained on a weekly basis and wore a Royal Air Force style uniform. After the breakup of the communist bloc in 1989, the Royal Observer Corps was disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. However, the nuclear bunker remained and was purchased by R Jones (K-Klass
K-Klass
K-Klass are a house music group from Wrexham, North Wales. The members are Andy Williams, Carl Thomas, Russ Morgan, and Paul Roberts. K-Klass signed with Deconstruction Records, and later to Parlophone.-Career:...
) of Tyn-Twll Farm in the early 1990s and converted to a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
. Between the ROC vacating the premises in September 1991 and its new use as a recording studio, the building was under preparation for use as the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
North Wales Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ) although it is unlikely it was ever actually activated as such, given the short timescale.