The border village and civil parish of St Martin's is in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England

England

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...

, just north of Oswestry

Oswestry

Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....

 and east of Chirk

Chirk

Chirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....

.

History

The ancient Parish of St Martin's was made up of the townships of Ifton, Wiggington, Bronygarth

Bronygarth

Bronygarth is a small village in the Ceiriog Valley near Oswestry in Shropshire, England at .- History :Bronygarth lies on Offa's Dyke, the massive earthwork constructed in the late 8th century by Offa, King of Mercia, as a boundary between Saxon Mercia and Celtic Wales. The section of the dyke...

and Weston Rhyn

Weston Rhyn

Weston Rhyn is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Chirk, in Wales, and Oswestry, in England....

. Each of these townships bordered 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...

, with the River Ceiriog

River Ceiriog

The River Ceiriog is a river in north east Wales. It is a tributary of the River Dee. It rises on the south east slopes of Moel Fferna in the Berwyn Mountains, and flows through the Ceiriog Valley in Wrexham County Borough. It flows below Chirk Castle and the town of Chirk, where the Chirk...

 and the River Dee

River Dee, Wales

The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....

 forming the border. However, in 1870, the townships of Weston Rhyn and Bronygarth were formed into the new Parish of Weston Rhyn.

The church at St Martin's is dedicated to St Martin of Tours and the parish was part of the Welsh Diocese of St Asaph

Diocese of St Asaph

The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop.-Geography:The Anglican Diocese of St Asaph in the north-east corner of Wales stretches from the borders of Chester in the east, to the Conwy valley in the west, to Bala in the south-west, and...

 until 1922 when it was transferred to the English Diocese of Lichfield

Diocese of Lichfield

The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England...

.

The area was, for centuries, under the influence of nearby Chirk Castle

Chirk Castle

Chirk Castle is a castle located at Chirk, Wrexham, Wales.The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the Ceiriog Valley...

 and, later, the Trevor

Baron Trevor

Baron Trevor is a title that has been created three times. It was created first in 1662 in the Peerage of Ireland along with the viscountcy of Dungannon...

 family of Brynkinallt in Chirk.

Community groups

Ifton Band - Although the precise origins of the band are lost in the mists of time, records start around 1915 when coal miners where coming into the region from existing mines in Staffordshire to operate the 'Gertrude Mine', which was named after the mine managers wife. The mine was renamed Ifton Colliery, which was an off-shoot of Black Park Colliery.
There was a tradition that collieries had their own brass band, and a few enthusiastic Ifton miners got together to form themselves into a brass band for entertainment.

Transport

Around the 16th century, a bridge was built across the River Ceiriog at Pontfaen as part of the 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 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...

 highway. Later the A5, the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-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...

-Holyhead

Holyhead

Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....

 trunk road was constructed by Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

 through the parish of St Martin's, crossing into Wales via the bridge at Chirk Bank.

The Glyn Valley Tramway

Glyn Valley Tramway

The Glyn Valley Tramway was a narrow gauge railway that connected Chirk with Glyn Ceiriog in Denbighshire , Wales. The gauge of the line was...

 ran from Chirk

Chirk

Chirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....

 through Pontfaen into the Ceiriog Valley

Ceiriog Valley

The Ceiriog Valley or Dyffryn Ceiriog is the valley of the River Ceiriog in north-east Wales. It is also the name of a ward of the County Borough of Wrexham Until 1974 the valley was part of the traditional county of Denbighshire; then it became part of the short-lived county of Clwyd, which was...

.

In the 19th century a canal was constructed through St Martin's Moor by Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

 linking the industrial areas around Ruabon

Ruabon

Ruabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....

 to the canal network. This now forms part of the Llangollen Canal

Llangollen Canal

The Llangollen Canal is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire....

.

By 1848 the 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 Ruabon

Ruabon

Ruabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....

 railway line had been extended south to 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...

, but only one station, Preesgweene (later known as ), was built in St Martin's parish. Later however, branch lines were built to link the collieries in the area to the main rail network.

Industry

Although predominantly an agricultural area, coal was mined in St Martin's for several centuries. The collieries at Ifton, Chirk Bank, Quinta, Trehowell, Moreton Hall and Preesgweene were, geologically, an extension of the Denbighshire

Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...

 coalfield. Coal production ceased in the area with the closure of the last remaining colliery in the area at Ifton in 1968. Ifton was the largest colliery in Shropshire and its workings crossed the border into Wales, linking up to the coal seams of the former collieries at Brynkinallt and Black Park.

There could potentially be a new, fairly large industrial estate built at St Martin's.

Notable People

Edward Francis Williams

Edward Francis Williams

Edward Francis Williams, Baron Francis-Williams , known as Frank Williams, was a British newspaper editor....

, Editor of the Daily Herald

Daily Herald

The Daily Herald was a British newspaper, published in London from 1912 to 1964 . It ceased publication when it was relaunched as The Sun.- Origins :...

 & Governor of the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

External links