Ruabon

Coordinates: 52°59′10″N 3°02′20″W / 52.986°N 3.039°W / 52.986; -3.039
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the community and village in Wales. For the locality in Western Australia, see Ruabon, Western Australia.

Ruabon
  • 2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSJ303438
Community
  • Ruabon
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWREXHAM
Postcode districtLL14
Dialling code01978
PoliceNorth Wales
FireNorth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Wrexham
52°59′10″N 3°02′20″W / 52.986°N 3.039°W / 52.986; -3.039

Ruabon (Welsh: Rhiwabon; pronounced [r̥ɪʊˈɑːbɔn]) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from Rhiw Fabon, rhiw being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and Fabon being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church name, of earlier, Celtic origin. An older English spelling, Rhuabon, can sometimes be seen.

In 2001, more than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales, with 13.6% having some ability in Welsh.[2]

Early history

There is evidence that a settlement existed in Ruabon in the

BC. In 1917, the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow were discovered on the playing fields of Ruabon Grammar School; they contained human remains, a flint arrowhead
and a bronze axe.

Overlooking Ruabon, the Gardden (Welsh: Caer Ddin) is an ancient hillfort surrounded by circular ditches, dating back to the Iron Age.[3]

The old parish

Pontcysyllte bridge and aqueduct near Ruabon, early 19th century
The clock and tower of St Mary's Parish Church

The ancient parish of Ruabon was made up of the townships of Ruabon (which also included the hamlets of Belan, Bodylltyn, Hafod and Rhuddallt), Cristionydd Cynrig (also known as Y Dref Fawr or Cristionydd Kenrick in English), Coed Cristionydd, Cristionydd Fechan (also known as Y Dref Fechan or Dynhinlle Uchaf), Dinhinlle Isaf; Morton Anglicorum (the “English Morton” or Morton Below the Dyke) and Morton Wallichorum (the “Welsh Morton” or Morton Above the Dyke).

In 1844, Coed Cristionydd and part of Cristionydd Cynrig became part of the new parish of

Rhosllannerchrugog
. Later in 1879, Dynhinlle Uchaf and the remainder of Cristionydd Cynrig became the new parish of Penycae.

Ruabon is within the historic county of Denbighshire and, between 1889 and 1974, was administered by Denbighshire County Council. From 1974 until 1996, it was administered as part of Clwyd. From 1996, it has been administered as part of the County Borough of Wrexham.

Wild Wales

In the 1850s the English writer George Borrow toured Wales and wrote an account of his journey in the book Wild Wales:

“Rhiwabon … a large village about halfway between
edifices
, from which proceeded thundering sounds, and puffs of smoke. A woman passed me going towards Rhiwabon; I pointed to the ridge and asked its name; I spoke English. The woman shook her head and replied "Dim Saesneg" (English: "No English"). "This is as it should be", said I to myself; "I now feel I AM in Wales."

The Wynns of Wynnstay

The Williams-Wynn family were major landowners in north and mid-Wales and also across the English border. For centuries they had a great influence on the political, cultural, social and literary life of Wales. Although the family-owned several houses throughout Wales, the seat of the family was at Wynnstay in Ruabon. The fifth baronet became so powerful that he was given the unofficial title of "The Prince IN Wales".

Wynnstay had passed into the possession of the Wynn family (as they were then known) through marriage. The estate, originally known simply as Rhiwabon, was owned by the Eyton family who later changed its name to "Watstay". On inheriting the estate, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn took on the additional surname of Wynn and commissioned the building of a new mansion, to be known as Wynnstay, to replace the original building.

The Wynnstay Arms Hotel with the arms of the Williams-Wynn family on the hanging sign

The arms of the Williams-Wynn family show an eagle with the Welsh motto "Eryr Eryrod Eryri" which translates into English as "The Eagle of Eagles of the Land of Eagles", the "Land of Eagles" being Snowdonia and reflecting the family's origins in that part of Wales.

One of Wales’ greatest

harpists was under the patronage of the Williams-Wynns. John Parry (“John Parry Ddall, Rhiwabon”) was born in about 1710 on Pen Llyn and was blind from birth. He lived on the Wynnstay estate but spent much of his time at the family's London home where he performed on the Welsh triple harp
for London's cultural elite.

Parts of the grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown and the park was regarded as one of the largest and most important in Wales, containing several important monuments: a column by James Wyatt, erected in 1790 as a memorial to the fourth baronet; the Nant y Belan Tower and the Waterloo Tower.

In 1858, the ‘old’ Wynnstay was destroyed by fire, with many valuable manuscripts being lost.

Second World War the hall and part of the park became the headquarters for the Royal Engineers Survey, a specialist branch of the RE responsible for providing training for sappers who staffed the mobile Map Production units which were part of all British Army operations. RE Survey moved out in 1946. There was also a fire in the stables adjoining the hall during the same War while the hall was used as billeting
for officers.

Owing to heavy

death duties, the Williams-Wynns moved from Wynnstay to nearby Plas Belan, a house in the estate grounds, and finally left Ruabon forever in 1948, severing a link with Ruabon of over two centuries. Lady Daisy Williams-Wynn continued to live at Belan for much longer than 1948. Much of the estate was put up for sale and the house became a private school, Lindisfarne College (which took its name from the island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland
although it had no connection with the island). The school itself closed in bankruptcy in 1994 and the house was converted into luxury flats.

The organ at Wynnstay was built by John Snetzler in 1774 for Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn's London home in St James's Square but was moved to Wynnstay in 1863. During the sale of Wynnstay and its contents, the organ, and many other treasures, were acquired for the nation and are now displayed at the National Museum in Cardiff.

The woodlands within the estate were taken over by the Forestry Commission and the trees were felled and replaced by conifers. Further destruction took place when parts of the estate grounds were built over during the construction of the Ruabon bypass.

Industry

Iron works, coal mines and chemical works

The Ruabon area was once heavily industrialised with large deposits of

Hafod Colliery underground. Bersham Colliery
closed in December 1986.

Iron was worked at Ruabon, Acrefair, Cefn Mawr and Plas Madoc, and zinc at Wynn Hall. One of the main companies was the British Iron Company and their successors, the New British Iron Company, who operated ironworks and collieries at Acrefair from 1825 to 1887. In 1867 Robert Graesser, an industrial chemist from Obermosel in Saxony, Germany, established a chemical works at Plas Kynaston in Cefn Mawr to extract paraffin oil and wax from the local shale. This was the start of the long association between the chemical industry and Cefn Mawr.

Much of the mineral wealth of the area was exported by canal over the

Monsanto, their first venture in Europe, but in 1995 it was sold and renamed Flexys, a specialist in chemicals and additives for the rubber industry. The site was later operated as Solutia[4]
but closed in 2010.

Brick and clay works

At Afongoch there were three clay companies very close together:

At Hafod, the Cornish engineer Henry Dennis founded a clay works next to the Hafod Colliery. The Dennis Company became world-famous for its tiles and still operates today.

At Cinders, the "Wynnstay Brickworks" was to the right of the Ruabon–Overton road near Cinders Farm. It produced bricks, tiles and drainage pipes for the Wynnstay estate.

Other large brickworks existed at Pant-yr-Ochain, Rhos, Acrefair, Trefor and Newbridge.

Railways

London Marylebone. The railway here was also the junction to the now-closed Ruabon–Barmouth line, along sections of which now run the Llangollen Railway, Bala Lake Railway and the Mawddach Trail
, now a cycle track.

Until the 1960s, most of the local industries were connected to one or other of the main lines, or to the

Rhosllannerchrugog
.

SS Ruabon

The

German U-boat U-20 on 2 May 1916. The ship was torpedoed about 160 miles/258 km W by S of the island of Ushant in Brittany en route from Seville, Spain to Troon, Scotland
. The ship was owned by John Cory & Sons of Cardiff.

Offa's Dyke

Substantial remains of

Celtic
Wales.

Traces of an earlier dyke, Wat's Dyke, can be seen on the eastern side of Ruabon. It would be several centuries before the lands to the east of Offa's Dyke would be returned to Wales.

Governance

electoral wards
covering Ruabon, the Ruabon electoral ward (left), and Penycae and Ruabon South (right).

Ruabon is also the name of an

electoral ward to Wrexham County Borough Council, though the ward only covers the northern part of the community. The southern part of the community (including the south of the Ruabon village) is covered by the Penycae and Ruabon South ward.[5]
Each ward elects a county councillor.

Education

Ruabon's first school was the Endowed Grammar School, founded in the early 17th century close to the church. This school later became the Ruabon Grammar School and eventually moved to the outskirts of Ruabon, near Mill Farm. Ruabon Grammar School provided education for boys in the parishes of both Ruabon and Erbistock for several centuries.

In 1922 a girls'

Comprehensive School
.

The Ruabon National School, a Church of England foundation, was built on Overton Road in the late 1840s. It later became St Mary's Church in Wales School and was completely rebuilt on the same site in 1976.

To cope with an expanding population another school was provided by Denbighshire Education Committee on Maes y Llan and opened in 1912. This later became Ysgol Maes y Llan. It was always known as the Council School.

Lindisfarne College, an independent school, moved from Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex to Wynnstay in 1950. The school closed, through bankruptcy, in 1994.

Modern day

The village is home to pubs, small shops and a post office on its high street. A late 17th century prison or lockup still exists next to the Vaults public house. These were common in rural areas in the 18th and 19th centuries often next to public houses where miscreants were detained while awaiting transport to the nearest town.

Capital & Centric Plc for a new supermarket on the disused site, potentially creating 300 jobs for the area.[7][needs update] Ruabon is served by the A483
trunk road which bypasses the settlement just to the east.

Notable people

Sir Watkin Williams, 3rd Bt of Llanforda
See Category:People from Ruabon
Mark Hughes, 2015

Sport

  • lawn tennis
  • Llewelyn Kenrick (1847–1933), the "Father of Welsh football", born in Wynn Hall
  • Brothers David Thomson (1847-1876) and George Thomson (1853-1937), Wales international footballers
  • Alfred Payne (1849-1927), cricketer, died at Pen-y-Nant
  • Charles Taylor
    (1863–1915), Royal Navy officer and rugby union player, killed in WWI
  • Ted Hughes (1876-??), footballer with over 150 club caps and 14 for Wales
  • Lloyd Davies (1877–1957), footballer with 345 club caps and 16 for Wales
  • Mark Hughes (born 1963), football manager and former player with 606 club caps and 72 for Wales

See also

References

  1. ^ "Community population 2011". Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  2. ^ 2001 Census
  3. ^ Hillfort
  4. ^ "Ruabon Works – Flexys site with links to Solutia". Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  6. ^ "The Round House, Ruabon – Wrexham History". Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  7. ^ Boyd, Andrew (31 January 2012). "New supermarket could create up to 300 jobs". The Leader. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Wynn, Sir John" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 873.
  9. ^ "Williams-Wynn, Sir Watkin" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 686.
  10. Williamson, George Charles (1911). "Downman, John" . Encyclopædia Britannica
    . Vol. 8 (11th ed.). pp. 459–460.
  11. ^ "British Listed Buildings". Retrieved 4 May 2011.

Sources

  • A. N. Palmer, The History of the Parish of Ruabon
  • George Borrow, Wild Wales, 1862
  • G. G. Lerry, Collieries of Denbighshire, 1968
  • T. W. Pritchard, Remembering Ruabon – Cofio Rhiwabon, 2000
  • National Museum of Wales

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ruabon.
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