The massive Wrexham AFC history thread (The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham...)

[eastsussexred]

The Crispin connection to the land now known as The Racecourse appears to be ancient, although I have not yet been able to find its roots.
In addition, to Crispin Lane, historically, there was a field where Wrexham General station is now located, known as Crispins field, with another field known as Crispins Croft immediately behind the Yale stand, around the area of carpark in front of the club shop. Another field, known as Crispins meadow was situated further back, diagnally in-line with the corner of where the Yale Stand meets the GUS, probably now under Glwyndwr Universities car park. Further up again, at the base of Stansty Park, was a house known as Crispin Lodge, although this was built on namesake land in the early 1800's.
On the opposite side of Mold Road was another field, known as Crispins field, and somewhere, probably around the A483 roundabout, there was a tavern called The Crispin Inn, which was still in existence in the mid 1700's. There was also a Crispin smithy on Mold Road, which was still in existence in the mid 1800's.
There are no families that I can find with the name 'Crispin' in any of the old archives and so it seems most likely that the name is derived from St Crispin- the patron saint of shoemakers.
This leaves open the possibility that the name is derived from the lay brothers or abbots, associated with Valle Crucis Abbey, who were gifted the land by Madog ap Gruffyd Maelor-The Prince of Powys Fadog, in 1201, and who's inhabitants were made up of people who had been relocated from Llangwestl- Lllangollen to make way for the construction of the Cistercian abbey in 1201.
Crucis Abbey was known to have had a court (residence) for one or more of its monks in Stansty, and also a very profitable tithe barn. These barns were huge structures where the abbey would store the crops which the local comunuity would pay the abbey each year, as tithes (10% of their yearly income or crop).
The Cistecians and their lay brothers appear to have made a great success of their holdings in Stansty, as the land had previously been waterlogged moor land, such as Rhos Stansty (Rhos being the Welsh name for moor) and Rhosddu, which translates as Blackmoor, due to the moor flora and sphagnum moss turning black when particularly waterlogged.
Some of the area will allready have been drained when the Cistercians took control, as it is known that Romano Brittons had established a farmstead where the Plas Coch retail Park is now situated, sometime during the 1st-3rd Centuries AD, but the Cistercians were recorded as being particularly adept at using moorland as grazing land for livestock, and as it is also known that they industrialised their farms, by marketing wool and leather, and by becoming tanners and shoemakers, then it does seem likely that the religious aspect associated with St Crispin, as the patron saint of shoemakers, may be derived from this period. Local churches would celebrate St Crispins day through into the 19th Century, and local shoemakers were recorded as the disciples of St Crispin.
Up until the 19th Century, though, locals would also meet in taverns to celebrate St Crispins day, due to Henry V's victory at Agincourt, which also happened on St Crispins day, although when the battle took place in 1415 much of the region would have been suffering from the effects of the Glyndwr Rising, as many areas had been laid to waste and the population of Wrexham were known to have supported Owain Glyndwr, who dissapeared from the records sometime around 1415. But it does open the possibility that The Crispin Inn was built in recognition of the battle of Agincourt, although it seems most likely that the Crispin association in the region came about due to the Cistercian connection with Valle Crucis Abbey, and the monks and lay brothers who became the leather workers and shoemakers in The area around Our Racecourse in the 13th Century. But further, as Valle Crucis were know to have had a most succesful grange (an outlying farm with tithe barns belonging to the monastery) at Stansty, it seems likely that the Cistercians industry at Stansty aided Wrexham to be become a market town and hold its own fairs, which was granted to the town in 1391.

[WasanActonlad]

Another interesting read, will need to check but more than certain the Acton Hall estate was connected to Valle Crucis prior to the development of Acton Hall.

One question I have in respect of Stansty is where did the famous Westminster Rovers(Moss Valley Westminster Colliery team) of the late 19C play ?
Newspaper reports of the era state their ground was Stansty.......

One theory is , could it be Lex's ground which was indeed previously the club's training ground (and scene of the famously hushed up kidnapping of Billy Ashcroft in mid 70's).
Does anyone know when did the club start using it as their training ground, was it developed from scratch or was a pitch there already ?


NB
The above mentioned kidnapping took place aprox 75 or 76 during rag week when tech students bundled Ashcroft into a car as they were about to trot back to the racecourse after a session, when the club were telephoned to negotiate the payment of the ransom , John Neal (RIP) insisted we (poor bloody students !!!) paid the club to take him back.

[eastsussexred]

Originally Posted by eastsussexred

The Crispin connection to the land now known as The Racecourse appears to be ancient, although I have not yet been able to find its roots.
In addition, to Crispin Lane, historically, there was a field where Wrexham General station is now located, known as Crispins field, with another field known as Crispins Croft immediately behind the Yale stand, around the area of carpark in front of the club shop. Another field, known as Crispins meadow was situated further back, diagnally in-line with the corner of where the Yale Stand meets the GUS, probably now under Glwyndwr Universities car park. Further up again, at the base of Stansty Park, was a house known as Crispin Lodge, although this was built on namesake land in the early 1800's.
On the opposite side of Mold Road was another field, known as Crispins field, and somewhere, probably around the A483 roundabout, there was a tavern called The Crispin Inn, which was still in existence in the mid 1700's. There was also a Crispin smithy on Mold Road, which was still in existence in the mid 1800's.
There are no families that I can find with the name 'Crispin' in any of the old archives and so it seems most likely that the name is derived from St Crispin- the patron saint of shoemakers.
This leaves open the possibility that the name is derived from the lay brothers or abbots, associated with Valle Crucis Abbey, who were gifted the land by Madog ap Gruffyd Maelor-The Prince of Powys Fadog, in 1201, and who's inhabitants were made up of people who had been relocated from Llangwestl- Lllangollen to make way for the construction of the Cistercian abbey in 1201.
Crucis Abbey was known to have had a court (residence) for one or more of its monks in Stansty, and also a very profitable tithe barn. These barns were huge structures where the abbey would store the crops which the local comunuity would pay the abbey each year, as tithes (10% of their yearly income or crop).
The Cistecians and their lay brothers appear to have made a great success of their holdings in Stansty, as the land had previously been waterlogged moor land, such as Rhos Stansty (Rhos being the Welsh name for moor) and Rhosddu, which translates as Blackmoor, due to the moor flora and sphagnum moss turning black when particularly waterlogged.
Some of the area will allready have been drained when the Cistercians took control, as it is known that Romano Brittons had established a farmstead where the Plas Coch retail Park is now situated, sometime during the 1st-3rd Centuries AD, but the Cistercians were recorded as being particularly adept at using moorland as grazing land for livestock, and as it is also known that they industrialised their farms, by marketing wool and leather, and by becoming tanners and shoemakers, then it does seem likely that the religious aspect associated with St Crispin, as the patron saint of shoemakers, may be derived from this period. Local churches would celebrate St Crispins day through into the 19th Century, and local shoemakers were recorded as the disciples of St Crispin.
Up until the 19th Century, though, locals would also meet in taverns to celebrate St Crispins day, due to Henry V's victory at Agincourt, which also happened on St Crispins day, although when the battle took place in 1415 much of the region would have been suffering from the effects of the Glyndwr Rising, as many areas had been laid to waste and the population of Wrexham were known to have supported Owain Glyndwr, who dissapeared from the records sometime around 1415. But it does open the possibility that The Crispin Inn was built in recognition of the battle of Agincourt, although it seems most likely that the Crispin association in the region came about due to the Cistercian connection with Valle Crucis Abbey, and the monks and lay brothers who became the leather workers and shoemakers in The area around Our Racecourse in the 13th Century. But further, as Valle Crucis were know to have had a most succesful grange (an outlying farm with tithe barns belonging to the monastery) at Stansty, it seems likely that the Cistercians industry at Stansty aided Wrexham to be become a market town and hold its own fairs, which was granted to the town in 1391.

And around 40 cottages, known as Crispins Cottages, which were laid out in two rows and were situated where Wrexham General Station now stands. These were mostly demolished in the first half of the 19th Century, with the last being knocked down in the 1880's. Crispin; whoever he was, certainly had a lasting effect on the area.

[eastsussexred]

Originally Posted by WasanActonlad

Another interesting read, will need to check but more than certain the Acton Hall estate was connected to Valle Crucis prior to the development of Acton Hall.

One question I have in respect of Stansty is where did the famous Westminster Rovers(Moss Valley Westminster Colliery team) of the late 19C play ?
Newspaper reports of the era state their ground was Stansty.......

One theory is , could it be Lex's ground which was indeed previously the club's training ground (and scene of the famously hushed up kidnapping of Billy Ashcroft in mid 70's).
Does anyone know when did the club start using it as their training ground, was it developed from scratch or was a pitch there already ?


NB
The above mentioned kidnapping took place aprox 75 or 76 during rag week when tech students bundled Ashcroft into a car as they were about to trot back to the racecourse after a session, when the club were telephoned to negotiate the payment of the ransom , John Neal (RIP) insisted we (poor bloody students !!!) paid the club to take him back.

Valle Crucis also owned a grange at Acton, WAL.

I dont know too much about Westmister Rovers, so couldn't say where they played on Stansty Park; perhaps others will know?
I Did find a report from 1895, which stated 'This League game was played on the new ground of the Westminster Rovers at Gwersyllt on Saturday, and it cannot be said that the new field of play is an improvement upon either of the old grounds'. So I assume that they moved from Stansty Park, or to another pitch somewhere else on the park in 1895?

[weper red]

Great reading thanks ESR

[eastsussexred]

Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle was one of the few men of note in North Wales to oppose the King from the outset of the English Civil War.

'On 10 May 1645 Myddelton wrote asking Brereton for the loan of Sadler and his company to reinforce his own (depleted) force in the newly-established garrison of Stansty near Wrexham'
Possibly the start of a military connection, which would later be followed by associations with The Wrexham Cavalry and The Wrexham Rifle Militia during the late 18th and throughout the 19th Century, when The Volunteer Force of Royal Welsh Fusileers also established a headquarters on the Crispin Lane boundary of the course, although visiting regiments as well as local regiments would use The Racecourse as an encampment and training base throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th Century, with many different branches of the armed forces also using The Racecourse for various reasons, throughout both the first and second world wars.

[eastsussexred]

Ownership of land up to the 20th Century

The land that we now know as The Racecourse was traditionally a part of the Cornovii (Ancient Briton) tribal range, until the Romans arrived and a new Romano-British culture emerged, establishing a farmstead in the area now known as Plas Coch, sometime during the 1st-3rd Centuries A.D. with the outlying land used for agriculture.
But by the 8th Century, Anglo-Saxon invaders were pushing eastward from their new kingdom of Mercia, and most likely established a settlement on the meadows above the River Gwenfro, as the etymological origins of the name ‘Wrexham’ is believed to have evolved from the Anglo-Saxon names of ‘Wryhtel’ and ‘hamm’ meaning a water meadow within a bend of the river i.e. Wryhtel’s meadow. They also protected their new western frontier with an earthwork rampart and ditch, called Offa’s Dyke, possibly built around the 780’s, and within this boundary created another settlement, called Stansty (stan, meaning stone, and sti or sty meaning enclosure, possibly for the farming of pigs). However, the boundary was disputed and a succession of early Welsh rulers soon pushed the invaders back, forcing them to build another, more sophisticated earthwork boundary, called Wat’s Dyke, sometime during the 9th Century, possibly around the 820’s A.D. The Welsh had regained Stansty, where The Racecourse now stands, and the Mercian’s had built the new defensive line of Wat’s Dyke, which in the local area, was located just yards to the east of The Racecourse.
Then in 1066, William of Normandy defeated King Harold of England at the battle of Hastings, before sweeping across England to end Anglo Saxon rule. With England secured, William then led a campaign into South Wales in 1081, where he is believed to have founded Cardiff, and also implemented a mass Norman colonisation of the South, while appointing three of his barons to exercise control over the troublesome border regions (or Marches) of Wales. Independent of their king, each of the barons pursued a campaign of expansion and the Norman frontier of the Marches constantly changed as the kings and princes of Wales sought to push the Norman back.
By the end of the 12th Century, the manor of Stansty formed a part of the lands owned by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor (The Prince of Powys Fadog) and in 1201, Madog relocated the inhabitants of Llangwestl, near Llangollen to Lower Stansty and an area then known as Northcroft (a part of Higher Stansty) to make way for a new Cistercian Abbey, called Valle Crucis (Valley of the Cross) which was built on the site of an old wooden church, near to an ancient stone cross, now known as Eliseg’s Pillar. He also gifted the land in Stansty to the Cistercians, who then established a court (residence for monks) with a grange (a farm with outlying tithe barns) which were used to store the tithes, or taxes (usually in the form of crops) that were collected from the local community. It was recorded at the time, that all men of Stansty were answerable to the abbot of Valle Crucis, but in 1536, Henry VIII ordered a campaign of administrative and legal processes, which would come to be known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The monks of Valle Crucis were disbanded and the lands owned by the monasteries were gradually sold off.

Stansty was traditionally divided into two parts- Stansty Uchaf (Higher Stansty} and Stansty Isaf (Stansty Abbatis) or Lower Stansty, later known as Plas Coch, where The Racecourse is now situated.
David ap Meilir had bought the manor of Stansty Uchaf (higher Stansty) in 1317, which then passed on through his descendants until John Edwards (1573-1635) the son of David ap Edward, stabilized the family name, to become known as The Edwards family of Stansty. His eldest son- David Edwards then expanded the estate, which was later known as Stansty Park, into Gwersyllt, although the estate would eventually be sold to the ironmaster- Richard Thompson, who built Stansty Hall in the 1830’s.

Stansty Isaf or Stansty Abbatis (Lower Stansty) which had belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey, was sold after Henry VIII’s Dissolution Of The Monasteries, and Sir William Meredith of Stansty- a descendant of Rhodri the Great, built the red hall, which gave the area its name of Plas Coch, sometime during the 1580’s/90’s. William’s descendant- Sir William Meredith of Kent then sold The Plas Coch Estate to Sir John Wynn of Wynnstay in 1709, and the estate was then passed on through his descendants until the family sold a part of the lower section of Plas Coch, including one third of The Racecourse to Thomas Parry Jones Parry, a Wrexham solicitor, in 1897
The sale included the portion of The Racecourse where football, cricket and other athletic sports took place and where the stand, ring and paddock for the racing were located.

[eastsussexred]

Originally Posted by eastsussexred

Ownership of land up to the 20th Century

The land that we now know as The Racecourse was traditionally a part of the Cornovii (Ancient Briton) tribal range, until the Romans arrived and a new Romano-British culture emerged, establishing a farmstead in the area now known as Plas Coch, sometime during the 1st-3rd Centuries A.D. with the outlying land used for agriculture.
But by the 8th Century, Anglo-Saxon invaders were pushing eastward from their new kingdom of Mercia, and most likely established a settlement on the meadows above the River Gwenfro, as the etymological origins of the name ‘Wrexham’ is believed to have evolved from the Anglo-Saxon names of ‘Wryhtel’ and ‘hamm’ meaning a water meadow within a bend of the river i.e. Wryhtel’s meadow. They also protected their new western frontier with an earthwork rampart and ditch, called Offa’s Dyke, possibly built around the 780’s, and within this boundary created another settlement, called Stansty (stan, meaning stone, and sti or sty meaning enclosure, possibly for the farming of pigs). However, the boundary was disputed and a succession of early Welsh rulers soon pushed the invaders back, forcing them to build another, more sophisticated earthwork boundary, called Wat’s Dyke, sometime during the 9th Century, possibly around the 820’s A.D. The Welsh had regained Stansty, where The Racecourse now stands, and the Mercian’s had built the new defensive line of Wat’s Dyke, which in the local area, was located just yards to the east of The Racecourse.
Then in 1066, William of Normandy defeated King Harold of England at the battle of Hastings, before sweeping across England to end Anglo Saxon rule. With England secured, William then led a campaign into South Wales in 1081, where he is believed to have founded Cardiff, and also implemented a mass Norman colonisation of the South, while appointing three of his barons to exercise control over the troublesome border regions (or Marches) of Wales. Independent of their king, each of the barons pursued a campaign of expansion and the Norman frontier of the Marches constantly changed as the kings and princes of Wales sought to push the Norman back.
By the end of the 12th Century, the manor of Stansty formed a part of the lands owned by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor (The Prince of Powys Fadog) and in 1201, Madog relocated the inhabitants of Llangwestl, near Llangollen to Lower Stansty and an area then known as Northcroft (a part of Higher Stansty) to make way for a new Cistercian Abbey, called Valle Crucis (Valley of the Cross) which was built on the site of an old wooden church, near to an ancient stone cross, now known as Eliseg’s Pillar. He also gifted the land in Stansty to the Cistercians, who then established a court (residence for monks) with a grange (a farm with outlying tithe barns) which were used to store the tithes, or taxes (usually in the form of crops) that were collected from the local community. It was recorded at the time, that all men of Stansty were answerable to the abbot of Valle Crucis, but in 1536, Henry VIII ordered a campaign of administrative and legal processes, which would come to be known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The monks of Valle Crucis were disbanded and the lands owned by the monasteries were gradually sold off.

Stansty was traditionally divided into two parts- Stansty Uchaf (Higher Stansty} and Stansty Isaf (Stansty Abbatis) or Lower Stansty, later known as Plas Coch, where The Racecourse is now situated.
David ap Meilir had bought the manor of Stansty Uchaf (higher Stansty) in 1317, which then passed on through his descendants until John Edwards (1573-1635) the son of David ap Edward, stabilized the family name, to become known as The Edwards family of Stansty. His eldest son- David Edwards then expanded the estate, which was later known as Stansty Park, into Gwersyllt, although the estate would eventually be sold to the ironmaster- Richard Thompson, who built Stansty Hall in the 1830’s.

Stansty Isaf or Stansty Abbatis (Lower Stansty) which had belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey, was sold after Henry VIII’s Dissolution Of The Monasteries, and Sir William Meredith of Stansty- a descendant of Rhodri the Great, built the red hall, which gave the area its name of Plas Coch, sometime during the 1580’s/90’s. William’s descendant- Sir William Meredith of Kent then sold The Plas Coch Estate to Sir John Wynn of Wynnstay in 1709, and the estate was then passed on through his descendants until the family sold a part of the lower section of Plas Coch, including one third of The Racecourse to Thomas Parry Jones Parry, a Wrexham solicitor, in 1897
The sale included the portion of The Racecourse where football, cricket and other athletic sports took place and where the stand, ring and paddock for the racing were located.

typo;- anglo saxon mercians pushed westward, not eastward from Mercia

[eastsussexred]

Originally Posted by WasanActonlad

Have located a photograph of Thomas Buchanan Taylor though in later years.
In Alistair Williams 's "Old Wrexham" and Dodd's "History of Wrexham".
Its the Jubilee council photograph in 1907. T B Taylor is seated front row extreme right. In the Dodd's book he is listed as T. Buchanan Taylor.

There are reports on line in the Advertiser of Football club Athletic meetings were Buchanan Taylor appeared to win every race he entered . In the 1860's.

Originally Posted by eastsussexred

John Taylor was born the son of John and Anne in Wrexham in 1842.
He had one brother- Thomas Buchanan (b 1847) and two sisters- Francis (b 1840) and Anne (b 1845).
His father John (snr) was a town councillor and the landlord of The Swan Inn, Penybryn, where the family brewed their own ale. The family also owned horses which they kept on a field behind the public house and John (snr) served as a clerk for the ponies and riders who needed to register at The Swan Inn before attending race meetings at The Racecourse.
John Taylor (snr) was seriously injured in an accident in 1858, and a few weeks later, while he was recovering, his wife Anne also died. Subsequently, John Taylor (jnr) and his brother, Thomas Buchanan would take a more active role in the running of the business.
In the 1861 census John Taylor (jnr) was listed as the landlord of The Swan Inn, until 1868, when the licence was passed to his brother, Thomas Buchanan, who lived at the premises until The Swan Inn was sold sometime around 1871.
Thomas Buchanan would later earn much acclaim for his athletic prowess, winning many trophies during athletics events at The Racecourse, where he also received The Player of the Season Awards, twice, for Wrexham Football Club during the 1870’s; additionally, he served as the club secretary in the 1880’s through to the 90’s, although, prior to this, his older brother John Taylor (b1842) had been involved in the sporting activities at The Racecourse, where he served as a steward for the Autumn sports events and he may have been a member of The Gentlemen of Denbighshire County Cricket team who also represented North Wales against South Wales in 1867. However, of the two brothers, only John would be old enough to play for the newly formed Wrexham Football Club in their first ever game on 22nd October 1864.
Thomas Buchanan would later follow in his fathers footsteps and serve as a town councillor for many years, while John Taylor appears to have left the area and disappeared from the archives amidst a myriad of John Taylor’s’ until his obituary in The Wrexham Advertiser recorded his death in Newcastle on Tyne at the age of 54 on 17th October 1895.



Articles in The Wrexham Advertiser had earlier reported that John Taylor’s father had been a close friend of Thomas Hanmer (snr) and General Dealer- Ephraim Knibbs (snr).
All three men had associations with The Racecourse and the sons of all 3 men became founding players of Wrexham Football Club.

John Taylor
1842-1895

Thomas Buchanan Taylor- one of our earliest stars (as above) and a club secretary in the 1880's/90's. Photo (attached) taken much later in 1907.