Gresford
Encyclopedia
Gresford is a village and a local government community
, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales
.
According to the 2001 Census, the population of the community, which also includes the village of Marford
, was 5,334.
The former Gresford Colliery
was the site of the Gresford disaster
, one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters, when 266 men died in an underground explosion on 22 September 1934.
/Welsh border, the settlement existed at the time of the compilation of the Domesday book
, when it was recorded as "Gretford". The name, having an English origin, was later recorded as "Gresworth", "Cresford" and "Grefford", but documentary evidence shows that the place was clearly locally referred to as "Gresford" throughout its history, even under Welsh administration, and the other names merely represent alternative spellings. The Welsh form "Gresfordd", from y groesfordd ("the crossroads"), seems to have been the creation of imaginative Welsh genealogists of the fifteenth century and later.
In common with many of the towns and villages of the border lands, or Marches
, Gresford has gone through periods of both English and Welsh dominance. The whole area was resettled by Welsh aligned to Owain Gwynedd
in 1170-1203. At this time the bishopric
was transferred from that of St. Werburgh's Chester
to St. Asaph, and the vicars of the village were Welsh with patronymic
names (for example, Morud ap Gwarius, who became vicar in 1284).
It is possible, however, that settlement existed on the site from quite an early date, as a Roman
altar was found within the church in 1908. The altar is likely to depict Nemesis
(Nemesi); this and the unearthing of a Roman coin
hoard
nearby-dating 150-300, is possible evidence of a settlement. There is also a stand of yew tree
s in the churchyard
, the oldest dating to A.D. 500 — long before Anglo-Saxon
settlement.
Approaching Gresford from the Wrexham direction, on the left hand side of the road, there was a tree known as 'The Cross Tree', and alongside this there is the base of an ancient stone cross. This tree was removed after 1984, and has since been replaced with a young tree.
Until the late 19th century, the parish
boundary encompassed a large area, including the township
s of Burton, Llay
, Rossett
and Gwersyllt
, as well as several townships later included in Isycoed
. The bells of the parish church
, All Saints' Church
are one of the traditional Seven Wonders of Wales
. Gresford Church dates to 1492 and is a large building considering the size of what the population would have been in the present day boundaries of the parish. The base of the church tower has earlier remnants of a previous building and an earlier roofline of a former transept can be detected in the tower. The colour of the stone is quite distinctive, and is typical of the Wrexham area. It is a sandy brown Millstone Grit
, locally referred to as "Cefn" stone.
, between the Shrewsbury
and Chester Railway (later the GWR Birkenhead-Paddington line) and the old main road between Wrexham and Chester. The first coal was produced from June, 1911, with full production reached before the outbreak of World War I
. The coal was renowned in the area as being of very good quality and hot burning.
Gresford Colliery was the site of one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters. The Gresford Disaster
occurred on 22 September 1934, when 266 men died following an underground explosion. The bodies of only 11 of the miners underground at the time of the explosion were recovered. The headgear wheel is preserved and forms part of the Gresford Disaster Memorial, along with a plaque. The disaster is commemorated in the hymn tune
"Gresford", which is also known as "The Miners' Hymn", written by Robert Saint of Hebburn
, himself also a miner. This tune has been played regularly by many colliery brass band
s over the years and is found on a number of recordings, and is also played at the annual Miners Picnics around the North of England
, especially at the Durham Miners' Gala
.
The colliery lasted until 1973 when it was closed due to geological problems.
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...
.
According to the 2001 Census, the population of the community, which also includes the village of Marford
Marford
Marford, near Wrexham, is a village in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales. It has been described as "a delightful Gothick estate village" and several of its cottages have been listed by Cadw....
, was 5,334.
The former Gresford Colliery
Gresford Colliery
Gresford Colliery was a coal mine located a mile from the North Wales village of Gresford, near Wrexham, Wales.-Sinking:The Gresford coalfield runs from Point of Ayr, on the Flintshire coast, down to the Shropshire border. Although coal mining records date back to the 15th Century, it was not...
was the site of the Gresford disaster
Gresford Disaster
The Gresford Disaster was one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters and mining accidents. It occurred on September 22, 1934 at Gresford Colliery near Wrexham, in north-east Wales, when 266 men died. Only eleven bodies were ever recovered from the mine....
, one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters, when 266 men died in an underground explosion on 22 September 1934.
History
Located close to the EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
/Welsh border, the settlement existed at the time of the compilation of the Domesday book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, when it was recorded as "Gretford". The name, having an English origin, was later recorded as "Gresworth", "Cresford" and "Grefford", but documentary evidence shows that the place was clearly locally referred to as "Gresford" throughout its history, even under Welsh administration, and the other names merely represent alternative spellings. The Welsh form "Gresfordd", from y groesfordd ("the crossroads"), seems to have been the creation of imaginative Welsh genealogists of the fifteenth century and later.
In common with many of the towns and villages of the border lands, or Marches
Marches
A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
, Gresford has gone through periods of both English and Welsh dominance. The whole area was resettled by Welsh aligned to Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...
in 1170-1203. At this time the bishopric
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
was transferred from that of St. Werburgh's Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
to St. Asaph, and the vicars of the village were Welsh with patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
names (for example, Morud ap Gwarius, who became vicar in 1284).
It is possible, however, that settlement existed on the site from quite an early date, as a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
altar was found within the church in 1908. The altar is likely to depict Nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...
(Nemesi); this and the unearthing of a Roman coin
Roman currency
The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...
hoard
Hoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...
nearby-dating 150-300, is possible evidence of a settlement. There is also a stand of yew tree
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...
s in the churchyard
Churchyard
A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
, the oldest dating to A.D. 500 — long before Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
settlement.
Approaching Gresford from the Wrexham direction, on the left hand side of the road, there was a tree known as 'The Cross Tree', and alongside this there is the base of an ancient stone cross. This tree was removed after 1984, and has since been replaced with a young tree.
Until the late 19th century, the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
boundary encompassed a large area, including the 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 Burton, Llay
Llay
Llay is a village and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales....
, Rossett
Rossett
Rossett is a village and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.At the time of the 2001 Census, Rossett community had a total population of 3,336 people.-Geography:Rossett is geographically located near to the Welsh and English...
and Gwersyllt
Gwersyllt
Gwersyllt is an urban village and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales....
, as well as several townships later included in 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...
. The bells of the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
, All Saints' Church
All Saints' Church, Gresford
All Saints' Church stands in the former coal mining village of Gresford in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The bells of the parish church of All Saints is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales...
are one of the traditional Seven Wonders of Wales
Seven Wonders of Wales
The Seven Wonders of Wales is a traditional list of notable landmarks in North Wales, commemorated in an anonymously written rhyme:The seven wonders comprise:...
. Gresford Church dates to 1492 and is a large building considering the size of what the population would have been in the present day boundaries of the parish. The base of the church tower has earlier remnants of a previous building and an earlier roofline of a former transept can be detected in the tower. The colour of the stone is quite distinctive, and is typical of the Wrexham area. It is a sandy brown Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
, locally referred to as "Cefn" stone.
Gresford colliery
Henry Dennis and his son, Henry Dyke Dennis, began sinking a coal mine near Gresford in 1888, taking four years for the two mile deep shafts to be completed. The coalmine was located on the edge of the Alyn ValleyRiver Alyn
The River Alyn is a tributary of the River Dee. The River Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, between the Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
and Chester Railway (later the GWR Birkenhead-Paddington line) and the old main road between Wrexham and Chester. The first coal was produced from June, 1911, with full production reached before the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The coal was renowned in the area as being of very good quality and hot burning.
Gresford Colliery was the site of one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters. The Gresford Disaster
Gresford Disaster
The Gresford Disaster was one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters and mining accidents. It occurred on September 22, 1934 at Gresford Colliery near Wrexham, in north-east Wales, when 266 men died. Only eleven bodies were ever recovered from the mine....
occurred on 22 September 1934, when 266 men died following an underground explosion. The bodies of only 11 of the miners underground at the time of the explosion were recovered. The headgear wheel is preserved and forms part of the Gresford Disaster Memorial, along with a plaque. The disaster is commemorated in the hymn tune
Hymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm , and no refrain or chorus....
"Gresford", which is also known as "The Miners' Hymn", written by Robert Saint of Hebburn
Hebburn
Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay...
, himself also a miner. This tune has been played regularly by many colliery brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
s over the years and is found on a number of recordings, and is also played at the annual Miners Picnics around the North of England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
, especially at the Durham Miners' Gala
Durham Miners' Gala
The Durham Miners' Gala is a large annual gathering held on the second Saturday in July in the city of Durham, England. It is associated with the coal mining heritage of the Durham Coalfield, which stretched throughout the traditional County of Durham. It is also locally called "The Big Meeting"...
.
The colliery lasted until 1973 when it was closed due to geological problems.
Transport
The stone-built Gresford railway station, on the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway was midway up the notorious Gresford Bank. The bank was so steep that a refuge siding was required at the station in the event of engines having to leave some of their load behind to get up the hill. Banking engines were also used on occasions. Gresford railway station was demoted to Gresford Halt, for Llay, from 1956 and was closed altogether from 1964.See also
- Gresford Disaster
- List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll
- East Gresford, New South Wales is a village in New South Wales, Australia.