The Davies brothers of

Bersham Bersham ( cy, Y Bers) is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, that lies next to the River Clywedog, and is in the community of Esclusham. Bersham was historically a major industrial centre of the area, but despite this the village sti ...

, near

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in north

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, were a family of

smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

s active in the 18th century. They were particularly known for their high-quality work in

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

, of which several examples still survive in country homes and churchyards around the England-Wales border.

Biography

The family consisted of Hugh or Huw Davies (d. 1702) and his sons Robert (1675–1748) and John (1682–1755), who would both go on to be highly regarded smiths; there were also another two sons, Huw and Thomas, and six daughters, Anne, Magdalen, Jane, Sarah, Elinor, and Margaret.Davies family of Bersham
Welsh Biography Online They worked at the Croes Foel forge in

, near Wrexham. Robert – generally considered the most talented of the family – may have studied under the great French wrought iron smith

Jean Tijou Jean Tijou () was a French Huguenot ironworker. He is known solely through his work in England, where he worked on several of the key English Baroque buildings. Very little is known of his biography. He arrived in England in c. 1689 and enjoyed ...

.Hilling, J. ''The historic architecture of Wales: an introduction'', University of Wales Press, 1976, p.125. The brothers were also have said to have worked with Robert Bakewell of Derby. The will of Hugh Sr., dated 13 June 1702 and proved at

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

in 1703, left a

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

in Bersham to his wife Eleanor and then to his son Robert along with £7 10s., "for which he is to instruct my son Thomas in the trade and science of a smith which he the said Robert now professeth".Myddleton, W. M. ''Chirk Castle Accounts, 1666–1753'', Manchester UP, 1931, p.144 Several examples of work known to be by Robert and John survive, as well as a handful of items attributed to their father. Some of these are of exceptionally high quality; a screen and gates known as the "White Gates", at Leeswood Hall,

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, has been described as one of the finest of its type in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and has been attributed to the Davies brothers on the basis of distinctive fretwork patterns shared with other of their designs.Ayrton & Silcock, ''Wrought Iron and Its Decorative Use'', Courier Dover Publications, 2003, p.112. . The Leeswood gates have also been suggested as the work of Bakewell.

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

described the Davies brothers' work as "miraculous".Pevsner, N. & Nairn, I. ''Surrey: v.21 of the Buildings of England'', Penguin Books, 1962, p.363

Works by the Davies family

The following are linked to the Davies brothers by documentary evidence: *Gates at

Chirk Castle Chirk Castle ( cy, Castell y Waun) is a Grade I listed castle located in Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. History The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward ...

(1719) *

St Giles' Church, Wrexham St Giles' Parish Church ( cy, Eglwys San Silyn) is the parish church of Wrexham, Wales. The church is recognised as one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Wales and is a Grade I listed building, described by Sir Simon Jenkin ...

, gates (1720) by Robert Davies, and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

gates and choir rail attributed to Hugh Davies (late seventeenth century)Ayrton & Silcock, p.62 *Gates of St Peter's Church, Ruthin (1727) *Gate of

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

Parish Church (1738)

Works attributed to Davies family

*Gates formerly at Stansty Park, now at

Erddig Hall Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ac ...

. Robert Davies is known to have made gates for Erddig, but they were removed during a subsequent remodelling of the park by

William Emes William Emes (1729 or 1730–13 March 1803) was an English landscape gardener. Biography Details of his early life are not known but in 1756 he was appointed head gardener to Sir Nathaniel Curzon at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. He left this post ...

.Erddig
,

COFLEIN The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectura ...

*The White Gates and Black Gates, Leeswood HallThe White Gates are still in-situ, but the Black Gates were removed by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

in 1986 and set up near the entrance to the mansion of Tower, near

Nercwys Nercwys is a rural village and community in Flintshire, Wales, which is surrounded by open countryside. The community population taken at the 2011 census was 585. The older, Anglicised spelling of Nerquis can sometimes be found. It has a small ...

. The two sets of gates were locally known as "Heaven and Hell" *The

Golden Gates, Eaton Hall The Golden Gates at Eaton Hall (Cheshire), Eaton Hall, Cheshire, England, stand at the eastern end of Belgrave Avenue (). The gates with their Overthrow (structure), overthrow, the screens at their sides and the associated wing lodges are recorde ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

*Gates of St Mary's Church, Eccleston, from now-demolished Emral Hall near Wrexham *Gates at Gwysaney Hall, near

Sychdyn Sychdyn or Soughton (meaning ''South Town'') is a village in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated on the A5119 road, and is just over 1000 yards (1 km) north of the county town of Mold. In 1086, the village was listed in Domesday Book as a s ...

*Gates now at Cholmondeley Castle *Gates of

Hawkstone Hall Hawkstone Hall is a early 18th-century country mansion near Hodnet, Shropshire, England which was more recently occupied as the pastoral centre of a religious organisation for many years. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a wedd ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

*Gates and railings at the now-demolished Carden Hall; the gates have now been removedMatthews, K
Carden Hall and other parkland buildings
, accessed 15-09-10 *The main gates of St Oswald's Church, Malpas were formerly attributed to the brothers, but are now considered to be of a later date.Ayrton & Silcock, pp.115–117 A smaller gate in the churchyard is however thought to be the work of their father Hugh.Ayrton & Silcock, p.64

Gallery

Image:Golden Gates at Eaton Hall Cheshire.JPG, The "Golden Gates", Eaton Hall Image:Erddig Hall gates - scan01.png, Gates of Erddig, originally at Stansty Park Image:Church Gates, St Giles Parish Church, Wrexham - geograph.org.uk - 653013.jpg, Robert Davies' gates for St Giles, Wrexham Image:Gates of St Mary the Virgin Parish Church - geograph.org.uk - 1595737.jpg, The former gates of Emral Hall, now located at St Mary, Eccleston, Cheshire

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies Brothers Of Wrexham Welsh artists British blacksmiths History of Wrexham County Borough Organisations based in Wrexham County Borough