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Old 25th January 2018, 23.02:12   #505-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

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Originally Posted by terrytactics View Post
What year was that photo taken ESR?
I think we got the building of the mold road angled stand to about 1948 or so. It's after that but not far away. 1950s pic??
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Old 25th January 2018, 23.04:52   #506-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

Likely it is. No NEWI, A483 or massive floodlights!
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Old 25th January 2018, 23.07:01   #507-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

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Originally Posted by jonesfach View Post
I think we got the building of the mold road angled stand to about 1948 or so. It's after that but not far away. 1950s pic??
1948. Taken by the R.A.F.
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Old 25th January 2018, 23.09:31   #508-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

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Originally Posted by Rhosymedre Red View Post
1948. Taken by the R.A.F.
Cheers RR.
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Old 29th January 2018, 18.09:43   #509-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

Wales Vs Ireland, 1906. at the Racecourse.
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/...06-1906-online
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Old 2nd February 2018, 08.49:20   #510-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

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Originally Posted by eastsussexred View Post
I hope so terrytactics.

When I first started researching the history of The Racecourse, it seemed that it was widely accepted that The Wrexham Races were started on a new course, now known as ‘Y Cae Ras’ which was developed by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn in 1807. This seems to have arisen due to the fact that Sir Watkin had a lifelong connection with equine sport, as well as being a founding member and serving officer with a local cavalry force. It is also known that he had deliberately widened Regent Street to cater for riders and their horses to parade from their stables at Eagles Meadow up to the course on race days, and he was also known to have developed or upgraded the course around this time, as well as promoting and providing financial support, and commissioning and donating silverware as prizes
The 1807 date then appears to have been widely accepted after local author- Arthur N Shone published a book in 1999 called ‘The Wrexham Races, The Forgotten Welsh Racecourse’, in which he identified an announcement in The Chester Chronicle in 1807, which advertised (what he thought was) the first race meeting on The Racecourse. Others people since, appear to have identified different newspaper announcements from the same year, which advertised The Wrexham Races ‘on the new course’, and so it appears that the term ‘the new course’ cemented the idea that The Wrexham Races first started on The Racecourse in 1807, and this date was then circulated on the internet.
Since then, however, access to historic information through online archives, has greatly improved and I soon found a newspaper advertisement for The Wrexham Races ‘on the new course’ for a three-day meeting on 6/7/8th October 1806, followed by an article in a silversmith’s magazine, which published the design of a motif on a trophy, which was presented to the winner of The Wrexham Races in 1803.
I then found a newspaper advertisement in The Chester Courant for The Wrexham Races ‘on the new course’ consisting of a four-day meeting, which commenced on 15th September 1800, followed by another article in The Chester Chronicle, dated 7/9/1792, which advertised The Wrexham Races to take place on the 17th of the same month. This article identified that the races incorporated other ancient community sports and activities, such as smock racing and pudding eating, as well being the venue for the election of a mayor, thereby suggesting that the races had evolved as part of a much older tradition of community sport and social gatherings. This article appeared to confirm another article, written by a local author- Major Charles James Apperley, who became famous as a sport and social commentator of his time, under the pseudonym ‘Nimrod’.
Apperley wrote a series of his memoirs in Fraser’s magazine in 1842, in which he recalled going to The Wrexham Races with his childhood friend, during his bachelor days, and he described the races as little more than leatherplate races; the term ‘leatherplate’ being used to highlight a more rustic event, wherein riders sought to unseat their competitors during races by any means deemed necessary, without the gentleman’s rules that would be incorporated into the so-called sport of kings that were later frequented by the gentry of the land. By extrapolating from his age at death and his year of marriage, it is found that his bachelor days at the races would relate to a period before he joined The Ancient British Light Dragoons, to serve in Ireland from 1798.
However, the format of the races appears to have changed over time, as a number of advertisements for race meetings in Wrexham had appeared in The London Evening Post, dating from as far back as January 1739. The articles advertised a two-day meeting for The Wrexham Races ‘on the new course’ for Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th April 1739, with a considerable purse of £30 for the winner of the first days meeting and a £20 purse for the winner of the second day. The following year, the same newspaper also advertised another, well organised three-day meeting ‘on the new course’ from the 8th to 10th April 1740, which also offered a purse of £30 for the winner of the first days meeting and a £20 purse for each of the winners of the following days meetings. It was also published in a book in 1845 that a horse named Black Chance was the winner of one of these meetings. The advertisements from both of these years each stipulated rules and regulations akin to those which were later adopted in races in the 19th Century, which seems to suggest that The Wrexham Races were indeed an ancient custom that stretched back deep into history, and whilst occurring at least once a year, the races seem to have been sometimes better organised, and better rewarded, than at other times, when the format appears to have reverted to a more rustic meeting, which incorporated more of the traditional community activities, as identified in the reports from the 1790’s.
While initially it had seemed that Sir Watkin Williams Wynn -the 5th Baronet (1772-1840) had been responsible for the founding of The Wrexham Races, further investigation has shown that although he may have built or upgraded The Racecourse to a better standard, as well as promoting and financially supporting the races, he wasn’t really a lover of the turf, preferring instead to spend his days hunting, whereas his predecessors, at least as far back as Sir John Wynn, were more enthusiastic regarding the sport of kings.
Sir John Wynn (1628-1719) who had inherited the Watstay (Wynnstay) Estate was believed to have bred racehorses, and it was Sir John who had bought the Plas Coch Estate (where The Racecourse is now situated) in 1709. Sir Watkin’s grandfather- the 3rd Baronet then inherited the family estates when Sir John Wynn died in 1719 and his family continued to breed horses, with the 3rd Baronet having established The Ruabon Hunt, before he died when he fell from his horse while hunting at Acton Park in 1749. But it was during his lifetime that The Wrexham Races appeared in The London Evening Post (1739/40) along with an adage that there would be cockfighting at The Three Eagles in the mornings, before the races, and as The Three Eagles was owned by the Wynn family at that time, then it seems probable that The Wrexham Races were already being funded and promoted by the 3rd Baronet in the first half of the 18th Century.
When we consider where the racing took place in Wrexham, during the 18th Century, we are told by The London Evening Post that The Wrexham Races were held on ‘the new course’ in 1739 and 1740. Likewise, we also know that the races were also held on ‘the new course’ (Y Cae Ras) in 1800. It might therefore follow that there were two different racecourse locations; unless, that is, the location remained the same (Y Cae Ras) but the course was revamped as a new course in both the 18th and 19th Centuries. The latter appears to have been the case, due to the remarkable research of Alfred Neobard Palmer.
Palmer, who is regarded as the finest Wrexham historian of his time, published a series of 10 books on the local history of the area, at the end of 19th Century. There are a number of references to The Racecourse in its current location in his books, but only in the context of the 19th Century, which in itself seems to confirm that the location of The Racecourse had never been any different, as Palmer had specifically researched the fields and Streets of Wrexham
In his work ‘The Town, Fields and Folks of Wrexham in The Times of James The First’ Alfred Palmer had translated the oldest Latin records available to him since the early medieval period and made no reference to any racecourse. His research was based on a survey for Charles- Prince of Wales by John Norden, in 1620, although Norden’s Survey did not include land which had been previously owned by Valle Crucis Abbey, such as Stansty, which was not a part of the Prince’s estate. However, his book also gave commentary on those same areas up to the 19th Century and Palmer would most certainly have made reference to a racecourse, if another course was present in the town, as he was specifically providing a social history of the town in his work. In fact, of all of the known, main, published works on the history of Wrexham, no one has ever identified, or even suggested another location for a racecourse in the town, other than its current location. Therefore, it seems logical to deduce that the current racecourse has been a venue for community and sporting activity since at least 1739. Moreover ‘The Welsh history Review’ which is an academic paper from The University of Wales, has previously identified that the Myddleton family of Chirk Castle had been paying subscriptions to race meetings at Wrexham, since before 1700, and so the history of Y Cae Ras may well be pushed back into the 17th Century, at a later date.

In addition to access to proof documents, this is a summary of the evidence that I have submitted to archives.gov.uk, to have Y Cae Ras recognised as a sports venue, which has been in existence since at least 1739.
I have also added that The Turf Hotel appears to be the oldest public house at any sport stadium in the world, and given a history of the land that the racecourse was built on, in the context of events that have significance, in terms of the birth of Wales as a nation.
Documents held at The Denbighshire Archives show that Sir John Wynn bought Redhall or 'Plas Coch' including the land now known as The Racesourse, from Roger Meredith, in 1699, and not 1709, as published elsewhere.
On 30th May 1699, Sir John entered into an agreement, then known as Lease and Release, with Roger Meredith, for an estate called Redhall (Plas Coch) in Stansty.
Lease and Release was the process that was used for transfering deeds, during the sale of land and property until property law was changed in 1841.
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File Type: jpg Sir John Wynn buys Plas Coch 30 May 1699.jpg (55.5 KB, 26 views)
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Old 24th February 2018, 17.11:26   #511-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

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The previous importance of the house or farm known as The Crispin was highlighted by a boundary line that was shown on the ordnance survey map of 1872 (attached).
At this time, there was still an ancient, 4-feet wide footpath shown on the map, which ran from the position where The Crispin had been located, all the way down to The Corn Mill at Felin Puleston.
The footpath, which was bordered with a hedge, ran along the western boundary of Wat's Dyke, most likely above the ancient ditch, with the banked up mound on the town side.
The Crispin Lane started on The Racecourse side of Mold Road, following the ancient pathway as far as the house known as The Crispin, where the footpath stopped, although the lane, which was later extended (in yellow) then continued in an arc toward Plas Coch.
Another boundary line (in blue) then ran from The Crispin, up past Plas Coch and back out onto the Mold Road. This boundary was described on the map as undefined, and it divided the lands owned by the Foulkes and Williams Wynn families, although it does not appear to have been a part of the ancient 4 feet trackway.
The lane on The Raceourse side of Mold Road seems to have taken its name from an ancient farm, called 'The Crispin', although by the middle of the 19th Century, the farm had diminished in size and was described as a cottage with stables and outbuildings. At this point, The Crispin had been taken over by the railway company, and its buildings were gradually demolished to make way for new lines, but its past importance can be seen in the ancient trackway and the fields and namesake properties that had also carried the name of Crispin, including an inn, which was still in existence in the latter half of the 17th Century.
Wat's Dyke also provided a traditional municipal boundary between the town, and land that was owned by the king, and that which had been owned by Valle Crucis Abbey, at Stansty.
As confirmed by W. Alister Williams in The Encyclopaedia of Wrexham (2010) Crispin Lane took its name from a property which was recorded in early Latin documentation as ‘Crispianus’ later known as Crispin Farm.
The farm was situated on the town side of the lane, directly opposite the corner of the kop, in an area, which was historically known as Lower Crispin (see attachment). In the mid to late 19th Century, the field on which Crispin Farm was situated, was still known as Crispin field, although the name ‘Crispianus’ seems to suggest that the farm may have been a substantial property in the distant past, as was indicated on Ogilby’s Road map of 1675 (previously posted) which shows a substantial house in the location that Crispin Farm occupied. In front of Crispin Farm, on The Racecourse side of the lane, near to the car park for the current club shop, was a field known as Crispin Croft, and at the top end of the Racecourse (between Plas Coch and Mold Road, there was an area which was still known as ‘The Crispin’ in the late 19th Century. This area was used occasionally as an assembly point for military parades in the mid to late 19th Century, although The Crispin seems likely to have previously been the location of a garrison, which was established in the area, during The English Civil War (In his book ‘ Stansty- a story of the land and its people, Quentin Dodd had also recorded that a large number of musket balls were found embedded in a number of walls in the area, most likely due to target practice).
Opposite The Crispin, at the base of Stansty Park (where the road splits between Summerhill Road and Mold Road) there had previously been a blacksmiths, known as Crispin Smithy, and in the 19th Century there was also a house, known as Crispin Lodge, which was built at the base of Crispin Meadow, in the apex where the two roads used to meet; this was the family home of the borough surveyor- John Strachan.
Further along Mold Road, on the Stansty Park side, there was a public house, known as The Crispin Inn, which, according to the 19th Century historian- Alfred Neobard Palmer, had previously been one of the houses that had been owned by the Edwards family of Stansty (The Crispin Inn was also recorded on Ogilby’s Road Map of 1675). The Edwardses are believed to have occupied the area from 1317, when their ancestor- David ap Meilir is thought to have bought, at least part of the manor of Stansty. The manor consisted of two parts- Stansty Ucha (upper Stansty) and Stansty Issa- lower Stansty, the latter of which had been gifted to the monks of Valle Crucis Abbey by The Prince of Northern Powys in 1254. But after the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid 16th Century, the two parts were reunited as one manor, and while the church retained some of the tithe rights of the land, the Edwards family continued as tenants and formed the estate, which would come to be known as Stansty Park in the latter half of the 16th Century.
According to Alfred Palmer, the name ‘Crispin’ seems to have derived from St Crispin- the patron saint of leathermaking and shoemakers, and may have been associated with an ancient guild of shoemakers, dating at least as far back as a medieval shoemaker and weaver, called John ap John of Stansty, although no guild of shoemakers was ever recorded. Moreover, as I have previously posted, the St Crispin link could possibly have been related to the leathermaking activities of the white monks of Valle Crucis Abbey and the lay farmers who became the tenants of the Abbey’s lands in Stansty. Whatever the origin of the name, it seems to be related to leathermaking and/or shoemaking in the area around The Racecourse and much of Stansty, sometime very far back in history.
As for the house called ‘Crispianus’ it seems to have been a substantial dwelling, at least into the 17th Century, and appears to have had its own fishpond, fed by a spring; hence the name ‘Springfield’, which still persists to this day. (The tradition of building and using fishponds began in the Medieval Period and were usually built by the wealthy sectors of society, including monastic institutions. They were frequently built close to castles, manors and monastic buildings, due to the risks from poaching, which was controlled by harsh laws).
Crispianus, later known as Crispin Farm, was also the end point of a trackway, which would come to be known as Crispin Lane. The trackway, which ran along the top of the western side of the ditch of Wat’s Dyke, was still visible in the 19th Century, when it was shown on maps to run from Crispin Farm all the way to Felin Puleston Corn Mill, which was built in 1582. The track was described as a 4-foot-wide footpath, which in itself indicates that in the past it had been used as a Medieval trackway for small carts, but also, as the distance between the corn mill and Crispin Farm was more than 1.5 miles, then the trackway would appear to have been an ancient right of way, as it would not have been possible to just build a trackway without obtaining a right of way from all of the different owners of the lands along the route.
The fact that the trackway stretched from Crispin Farm to Felin Puleston Corn Mill also has historical significance, as the inhabitants of the Stansty were required, by law, to mill their flour at The Kings Mill, which had been in operation since the 14th Century, and as the name suggests, was owned by the crown. The mill at Felin Puleston therefore provided an alternative, without the additional fees as determined by the crown, and so the ancient trackway is likely to have been used by the inhabitants of Stansty in order to avoid using The Kings Mill.
While the trackway ended at Crispin Farm (highlighted in yellow on the attachment) there was also an ancient right of way (highlighted in blue on the attachment) which ran from Mold Road to Plas Coch and then along the boundary of The Racecourse, down to Crispin Farm, and which divided the lands owned by the Foulkes family and the Wynn family estates. This right of way was stopped by means of a court order issued in the 1840’s, despite a petition which had been raised by the inhabitants of Stansty.

The property known as Crispianus eventually lost its influence and became known as Crispin Farm, which was gradually demolished over the years, until the mid-19th Century when all that remained was a cottage with a cow house, stables and outbuildings, and which was briefly occupied by the stationmaster of the new Wrexham, Mold and Connah’s Quay Railway from 1866, until the latter stages of the 19th Century, when the remainder of the property was also demolished.
It seems almost certain that the land that The Racecourse was built on, had bore the name of Crispin, at some point in the very distant past.
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File Type: jpg Crispin Farm and ancient right of way and trackway.jpg (240.4 KB, 34 views)

Last edited by eastsussexred; 24th February 2018 at 17.13:17..
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Old 30th March 2018, 12.22:06   #512-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

In the 1870's, the British Government had tried to buy a 99 year lease on The Racecourse for the purpose of building a military center, to add to the considerable military possessions in the town, at that time. But Sir Watkin Williams Wynn refused because the land was a part of his family's heritage and because The Racecourse was regarded as a 'recreation ground for the people of Wrexham' and 'he was disinclined to give it up for one purpose when it was required by so many'.

Hopefully, the Welsh Government will follow suit and buy the land behind the kop in order to safeguard the Racecourse.

Welsh Government exploring possibility of securing 'essential' Kop land - Wrexham.com
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Old 28th April 2018, 17.28:57   #513-0 (permalink)
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Default Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)

Sometime ago there was a discussion on RP regarding the founding of the town and place name of Wrexham i.e. whether the town was of Anglo-Saxon origin and whether the name ‘Wrexham’ is derived from the people known as ‘Wreocensæte’ or the people of Wrekin.
I have looked into this further and can find no etymological links between the place name ‘Wrexham’ and the Ancient Kingdom of Wreocensæte.


Below is a list of the earliest recorded place names relating to the town of Wrexham up to the 16th Century; -

Wristlesha’ 1161 (the letter ‘m’ was uneligible in the original text)
Wrexham 1186
wrechtessham 1200/01
Wrixham 1200-07
Wrechcessam 1222 (1295)
Wrettesham or Wrectesham 1236 (Alfred Neobard Palmer)
Gwrexam 1254
Wyrcesson 1291 (Alfred Neobard Palmer)
Gwregsam 1291 or later
Wrightesham 1294
Wrythelsham 1294
Wrechtessham 1294
Wrightlesham 1316-7 (Alfred Neobard Palmer)
Gwerexham 1366
Wrixham 1416
Wrexham 1536-39 (with a subtext that it was ‘treuly caullid’ (truly called) ‘Wrightelsham’.
Wrexham Vaure 1563/64 (most likely a corruption of the Welsh word ‘Fawr’ as in Abenbury Fawr)
Gwreksam c1570
Gwrexham 1699

When the Romans invaded Britain, much of modern-day Wales was ruled by Ancient Brittonic/Celtic tribes, including the Deceangli, who occupied most of Flintshire and the lands on the western side of the town of modern-day Wrexham; the Ordivices, who occupied mid Wales and parts of the north and south Wales, and the Cornovii who occupied Cheshire, Shropshire, North Staffordshire, north Herefordshire and the eastern parts of Flintshire, Powys and Wrexham.
Although there is plenty of evidence of wars between the native tribes and the Romans, most of the Ancient Britons were eventually subdued and assimilated under Roman law, including the Cornovii, who are believed to have had their capital base at a hill fort, called ‘Uiroconion’ (now known as Wrekin Hill, and also previously known as ‘Wrocen’). When Cornovii resistance finally ceased, the Romans established a new administrative capital (civitas) of the Cornovii, nearby, close to the end of the Roman trunk road- Watling Street, and they referred to the civitas as both ‘Viroconium Cornoviorum’ and ‘Uriconium’ (now modern-day Wroxeter).
The tribal range of the Cornovii would also come to be known as The Ancient ‘Welsh’ Kingdom of Powys and after the Romans had left Britain, the Cornovii briefly retained the capital of their Kingdom at Uriconium, whilst changing its name to Caer Guricon.
Most historians believe that Uriconium is merely a slight Latin variation of the Ancient Brythonic place name that was reconstructed from ‘Uiroconion’ to ‘Uriconium, Wrocen, Caer Guricon and ultimately to Wroxeter. Moreover, the region is also believed to have briefly given rise to a sub kingdom of Anglo-Saxon Mercia, known as The Ancient Kingdom of Wroconset, or Wreocensæte, though the sub kingdom had been fully absorbed into Mercia by King Offa in 760.
The literal meaning of Wreocensæte is ‘those dwelling at Wrocen’ or ‘the Wrekin dwellers’ relating to the area around the Wrekin.
Meanwhile, an outbreak of bubonic plague sometime around 546 and pressure from Anglo-Saxon encroachment had forced the Powysian king- Brochwel Ysgrithrog to move his capital from Caer Guricon to Pengwern, near Shrewsbury, but this region was also contested by the Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh were finally driven out of Pengwern by King Offa in 779.
Offa then expanded westwards and he and his successors consolidated Anglo-Saxon victories with a new defensive embankment and ditch, called Offa’s Dyke, which ran from the mouth of the River Dee to that of the River Wye. Within this boundary, the Mercian’s established settlements around the area that would come to be known as Wrexham, such as Gresford (Anglo-Saxon ‘Graes’ and ‘ford’ meaning ‘grassy ford’) Hoseley (Anglo-Saxon ‘Oda or Hoda’s Lea’ meaning ‘Oda’s meadow’) Sutton (Anglo-Saxon ‘sudh, soth or suo’ meaning ‘south’ and ‘ton/tun’ meaning ‘farm or homestead’) Eyton (Anglo-Saxon ‘ea’ meaning ‘river’ and ‘ton/tun’ which translates as ‘homestead on the river’) Marford (Anglo-Saxon ‘Mere or mearc’ and ‘ford’ meaning ‘boundary at a crossing of the river’) and Stansty from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘stan’ meaning ‘stone’ and ‘sti’ or ‘sty’ relating to a road, pathway or enclosure. But the area was always contested by the Welsh and by 820 the Anglo-Saxons had been pushed back, forcing them to build a new defensive barrier, called Wat’s Dyke, on the outskirts of the town of modern-day Wrexham, which is situated just to the east of Offa’s Dyke The conflicts lasted for centuries and territory frequently changed hands, but by 1039, Gruffydd ap Llewelyn- the King of Gwynedd and Powys, had extended his kingdom east and south into Flintshire and Wrexham. Thirteen years later and allied with Aelfgar of Mercia, Gruffydd’s forces raided Hereford and defeated a combined host of Saxons and Normans near Leominster. Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex and later- King Harold of England, was dispatched to Hereford to avenge the attack, by King Edward the Confessor, and eventually Harold negotiated an agreement by which, Gruffydd swore fealty to King Edward.
The close alliance between Gruffydd and King Aelfgar of Mercia had ensured security for Wales, but when Aelfgar died in 1062, Harold Godwinson attacked the troublesome Welsh ruler’s court at Rhuddlan, and although Gruffydd escaped, he was captured and killed at Snowdon in 1063. Welsh lands were again under Anglo-Saxon control and when Edward the Confessor died in January of 1066, Harold Godwinson was crowned the new king of England, although his reign would be short-lived. In September of the same year, Harold’s forces defeated an invading Viking army, led by Hardrada of Norway, at Stamford Bridge, before being forced to march to East Sussex to meet a much larger army of invading Normans, led by the cousin of Edward the Confessor- William, Duke of Normandy. Harold- the last Anglo-Saxon king of England was killed at The Battle of Hastings on 14th October and William the Conqueror was crowned the new Norman king of England, on Christmas day 1066. William the Conqueror then left his trusted nobles to expand his territory across England as far as the troublesome borderland or ‘marches’ of Wales, (The term "march" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘mearc’ which means ‘boundary’ and the Anglo-Norman ‘marche’ meaning ‘frontier’). Here, William installed three of his most favoured confidants, Hugh d’Avranches, Roger de Montgomery and William FitzOsbem, as Earls of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford respectively, with responsibilities for containing and subduing the Welsh. It was these three earldoms, which were collectively known as the Welsh Marches (Marchia Wallia), while the native Welsh lands to the west were considered as Wales proper (pura Wallia). The boundary between these two nations was then recorded in a manuscript of a ‘Great Survey’ (The Domesday Book) which was possibly commissioned by King William near to the end of his reign in 1086. It lists all of the land in England and parts of Wales, telling us who owned it prior to 1066, who owned it in 1086, and often telling us how and when it changed hands. While the town area that would come to be known as Wrexham was not recorded in the book, many other local settlements (as previously stated) were recorded. Moreover, from details within the Domesday Book, it can be ascertained that when the survey was taken, land to the western (Racecourse) side of Wat’s Dyke was governed under Welsh law, while land to eastern (town side) of the dyke was still being governed under Anglo-Saxon law.

So in terms of the history of Wrexham, there is very strong evidence to indicate that when the Normans invaded England, the Anglo-Saxons had already been pushed back by the Welsh, from Offa’s Dyke to a new border at Wat’s Dyke, but also, that Anglo-Saxon settlers were still in occupation of the land to the east of Wat’s Dyke, including the area that would come to be known as Wrexham.

The Marcher Lords then attempted to consolidate and expand their territories further into Wales, but the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys survived and began to push back the Norman advance from the end of the 11th Century, and it was during this period that the town that would come be known as Wrexham was first recorded in terms of a castle- ‘castellum de Wristlesha’ in 1161.
The timing of this record has significance as it occurs soon after the death of Madog ap Meredudd, in 1160.
Madog ap Meredudd- the last prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, had made an alliance with the Norman king- Henry II and with the Marcher Lord and 4th Earl of Chester-Ranulf de Gernon, but after Madog’s death, much of his lands were regained by his brother-in-law, Owain Gwynedd.
Owain- King of Gwynedd had previously fought and defeated the combined forces of Madog and King Henry at the Battle of Ewloe in 1150, as well as capturing the castles of Mold and Rhuddlan as he pushed eastwards from his powerbase at Anglesey. With the area that would come to be known as Wrexham again under threat from resurgent Welsh forces, King Henry II then spent a considerable sum defending the land that had previously been held by Madog ap Maredudd, including £16 18s on each of the garrisons at Castle de Wirstlesha’ and Castle de Hodeslea (Hoseley). Both castles were recorded in the court rolls of Henry II, under ‘the lands of the Earl of Chester’, in 1161. The castles are believed to have been motte and bailey timber fortifications, which were built by the Normans at Erdigg, near Wrexham, and Roft Mount, Hoseley, near Marford.


As for the etymology of the name ‘Wrexham’ as derived from the first recorded name ‘Wristlesha’ there seem to be three main theories;-

1. Like Wroxeter, Wrekin and Wrockwardine, the name is derived from ‘Wrocen’ and may relate to the Ancient Kingdom of Wreocensæte.
2. From the proto- Germanic and old Saxon word ‘wristuz’ relating to a bend or turning point and from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘ham’ meaning ‘settlement’ so that Wristlesham roughly translates as ‘a settlement at the bend in the river’ (Gwenfro). The word ‘wristuz’ also gave rise to the Middle English word ‘wrist’ which evolved after the Normans invaded in 1066.
3. ‘Wristle’ is s a mispronunciation of the Anglo-Saxon personal name ‘Wyrhta’ meaning ‘craftsman or worker’ i.e. ‘Wyrhta’s settlement’.

Of these three theories, I have not been able to find any sources that are able to provide an etymological link from ‘Wrocen’ and ‘Wrekin’ to ‘Wristlesham’ and ‘Wrexham’: that is not to say that there isn’t one, but rather that I haven’t found it or that the etymology hasn’t yet been established. Additionally, mispronunciation and translation errors appears to have been a common issue throughout the early history of the place name, as can be seen from all of the different recorded names, though it is not really surprising as the academic training of the writers is not known and it is likely that the writer would be interpreting the spelling of a place name that was transferred by word of mouth, which he may, or may not have heard before, and was unlikely to have seen the name written down,
Further interpretation of the spelling errors themselves, then suggests to me that there are three main groups of related origin;-
a. Wristlesham, Wrythelsham, Wrightesham and Wrightlesham are all spelling errors of the place name ‘Wrightelesham’ (as described in texts from 1536-39) from the Anglo-Saxon name ‘Wyrhta’s ham’. The Anglo-Saxon personal name ‘Wyrhta’ gave rise to the surname ‘Wright’ and its original Anglo-Saxon meaning was also carried forward in words such as wheelwright, wainwright, shipwright and playwright, so that Wyrhta’s ham (an Anglo-Saxon craftsman’s settlement) became Wrightelsham.
b. Wrechtessham, Wrechcessam, Wrixham and Wrectesham are all corruptions of the place name ‘Wrexham’.
c. Gwrexam, Gwregsam, Gwerexham, Gwreksam and Gwrexham are all derivatives and/or spelling errors of early Welsh translations, which invariably added the prefix ‘G’.

The leap from ‘Wrightelsham’ to ‘Wrexham’ is much easier to explain in etymological terms, and particularly considering the conflicts in The Welsh Marches when the name ‘Wrexham’ was first recorded in 1161.
When the Normans invaded, William the Conqueror had left his trusted barons to deal with the troublesome Welsh, but under Norman law, all conquered possession and lands remained under the ownership of the king. In both law and commerce, William the Conqueror- the King of England, was styled ‘W.Rex’ and thus, ‘Wyrhta’s settlement/ham’ which had briefly evolved into ‘Wrightelsham’ was subsequently changed to ‘W.Rex’ham- a settlement that belonged to the king, sometime before William died in 1087.
The town of Wrexham would appear to be of Anglo-Saxon origin, with the etymology of the name ‘Wrexham’ being of Anglo-Saxon and Norman (Middle English) conception.

Last edited by eastsussexred; 28th April 2018 at 17.33:04..
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