Industrial Heritage in Wrexham County Borough

Introduction

Bersham Mill, Bersham

Bersham Colliery No.2 Headframe, Rhostyllen

Bersham Colliery Winding Engine House, Rhostyllen

Caeau Bridge, Bersham

Caeau Weir

Former Border Brewery Chimney, Wrexham

East Weir on River Clywedog, Wrexham

Former Island Green Brewery, Wrexham

Octagonal Building at Bersham Ironworks Site, Bersham

Walker Fan House at Former Wynnstay Colliery, Ruabon

Vertical Winding Engine House at Former Wynnstay Colliery, Ruabon

Introduction

The Industrial Revolution transformed British society during the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth as the majority of the working population shifted from agricultural to industrial occupations. Indeed the Industrial Revolution may be regarded as a single force by which society was reconstructed in order to feed and employ a population that was increasing with increasing prodigious rapidity. This period changed the face of Wales as much as of any part of Britain.

It was in Wrexham and its region (which includes both Bersham and Cefn Mawr) that the impact was great and dramatic. With the development of coal mining and iron manufacture in the C18 and later introduction of brewing, Wrexham itself changed from a county market town and social centre into a thriving industrial township.

This exhibition looks at examples of industrial heritage such as the empire of the ironmaster John Wilkinson at Bersham, a celebrated shrine of industrial archaeology and the Bersham Colliery at Rhostyllen; the last mine of the Wrexham coal field to remain in operation. Its No.2 Head Frame is listed Grade II* as a rare surviving colliery structure.

Wrexham town has a legacy of interesting structures associated with a long history of brewing (and tanning). The former Island Green brewery including former malthouse and former border brewery chimney (both Grade II) stand out as reminders of our rich past and history.

Bersham Mill, Bersham >>

Wrexham Heritage

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