County Buildings
Regent Street has completely changed in the last thirty years but
one building still standing unchanged is County Buildings -the home
to Wrexham's museum.
The Militia were an important part of the armed forces in this country
from at least medieval times. By the mid 19th Century, service in the
Militia was no longer compulsory. Instead wages and a cash bounty to
new recruits kept a steady flow of men in each county's militia. In
effect the Militia were a part time army training for one month a year
and ever ready for duty throughout Britain.
The 1850s were a lively time to be alive: the country was at war
with Russia, political unrest was high with the Chartists demanding "one
man one vote", industrial unrest was ever present in mining
areas such as Moss Valley and the Rhos with the colliery owners'
lock outs and miners' strikes a regular event. In short, the Establishment
felt hard pressed and relied on the Militias to turn out and quell
dissent.
In 1854 The Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire called on the Justices
of the Peace to build a decent HQ for the Militia as he felt the Town
Hall was "insecure and unfit for the safe custody of arms." The
JPs agreed to the building of a Militia Depot with "secure and
suitable buildings and premises for the Militia Stores, and an Orderly
and Guard Room, and Magazine and a sufficient yard wherein the men
may be mustered."
The result was a building with four towers on each corner designed
to impress the locals, whether they were planning to cause trouble
or not. Initially there were even plans to dig a dry moat round the
building and install steel shutters on the windows. Perhaps in case
of a siege by the many malcontents of 19th Century Wrexham. Neither
of these plans were put into effect - perhaps the JPs had run out of
money or decided that the local populace were not that aggressive after
all. In fact the opposite was the case. As the town turned out en masse
to welcome the delivery of a Russian cannon captured in the Crimea.
The cannon was paraded through town escorted by a one legged veteran
and the Denbighshire Yeomanry Cavalry. The Militia supplied the band
and the cannon was installed outside the Militia's HQ. The HQ was also
the home for the permanent staff of the Militia and their families
such as the Sergeant Major and the Quarter Master.
In 1877 the Government decided to seriously organise its armed forces
and barracks were systematically built around the country. The Royal
Welch Fusiliers gained a new barracks in High Town and so the Militia
moved up the road.
Hardly twenty years old and the Militia building was redundant. Luckily,
Wrexham needed a new Magistrates' Court as things were getting cramped
in the old Town Hall and the Police also needed a base in the town.
In 1879 the builders moved in and converted the Militia HQ into a Police
Station and Court house. The new building was named County Buildings
and the name is still there in the stonework above the entrance to
the Museum.
The Chief Constable for Denbighshire was based in the building and
he had to deal with crises such as the Tithe Wars and near continual
industrial disputes in mining areas. The one court room was soon not
enough and in the 1890s an extra courtroom and exercise yard for the
prisoners held in the police cells were built. During the Second World
War the ARP had their depot here and their HQ was in the now demolished
Imperial Hotel diagonally opposite. By the 1970s the Police and the
Magistrates needed more space and moved out to brand new buildings
on Bodhyfryd.
Since then the building has been home to the Citizen's Advice Bureau,
the Art College and finally Wrexham County Borough Museum. If you have
any energy left after your walk, then you can see more of Wrexham's
past inside.
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