Esclusham ( cy, Esclus or ''Esclys'') is a
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
and
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
in
Wrexham County Borough
Wrexham County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam) is a county borough, with city status, in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the nort ...
,
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 ...
.
![2022 Wales Wrexham Ward Esclusham map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/2022_Wales_Wrexham_Ward_Esclusham_map.svg)
The community includes the villages 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 ...
,
Rhostyllen
Rhostyllen () is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south-west of the city of Wrexham. At the time of the 2001 census, area Wrexham 014A, which includes Rhostyllen itself, had a population of 1,383 in 599 households. ,
Aberoer
Aberoer or Aber-oer[Aber-oer, Wrexham](_blank)
Ordnance Survey () is a scatter ...
,
Llwyneinion
Llwyneinion is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is part of the community of Esclusham. Its name can be translated from the Welsh language as "Einion's Grove", although until at least the 19th century the name was more commonly writ ...
and
Pentre Bychan
Pentre Bychan, with the literal meaning of "little village", is a semi-rural hamlet in Wrexham County Borough, Wales.
Variously spelled as either one word or two (Pentre Bychan or Pentrebychan), it is situated between Rhostyllen and Johnstown ...
, as well as a number of smaller settlements, the park at
Erddig
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 ...
, and an area of the
Ruabon Moors
The Ruabon Moors are an area of upland moorland in Wales to the west of Ruabon and Wrexham. They lie partly within Wrexham County Borough and partly within Denbighshire.
In the northern part of the moors are the areas known as Minera Mountain a ...
west of Aber-oer known as
Esclusham Mountain
Esclusham Mountain ( Welsh: ''Mynydd Esclus'' or ''Mynydd Esclys'') is an area in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, United Kingdom, and is part of the Ruabon Moors. It rises to a height of 460 m (1509 feet), with the nearby spur of Cyrn-y-Brain, to ...
. The population of the community at the
2011 Census was 3,515.
History
![Bersham cottages](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Bersham_cottages.jpg)
The name is recorded as Esclesham or Esclusham as early as 1315, likely originating in a combination of the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
personal name ''Æscel'' with ''ham'', "settlement"; the name is locally pronounced with stress on the second (middle) syllable, probably due to the influence of
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...
stress patterns.
[''Nomina'', v. 11-13, 1987, 102]
The old
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
of Esclusham, within the
manor of Esclusham, was part of the historic
Marcher Lordship
A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales.
A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fran ...
of
Bromfield and Yale
The Lordship of Bromfield and Yale was formed in 1282Rogers 1992, p. viii. by the merger of the medieval commotes of Marford, Wrexham and Yale. It was part of the Welsh Marches and was within the cantref of Maelor in the former Kingdom of Powys.
...
. The ''Survey'' of topographer
John Norden
John Norden (1625) was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned (but did not complete) a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the '' Speculum Britanniae''. He was also a prolific writer ...
, carried out in 1620 within Bromfield and Yale, defined the township as follows:
..the towneshipp of Esclusham, beeing part of ye said manno', is bounden from Minera
Minera ( cy, Mwynglawdd; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It adjoins the village of Coedpoeth.
The community, which in addition to Minera village includes a number of smaller hamlets such as Gwynfryn and New Brigh ...
by a little purle of water running from the mountayne called Glas-bry, downe by the landes called Tir Kelin, and so to Clywedog vpon ye west by the landes of Hugh ap Robert ap Howell in ye manno' of Minera, and part of Glasbrie, and part of ye mountayne towardes y Groes Newydd ; but the certaine boundes vpon ye said mountayne they cannot sett downe. And from Mortyn Wallicoru'[Morton Wallicorum, present-day Johnstown] by a brooke called Holbrooke, through certaine
feildes with certaine markes knowne, to a place called Aberderryn, and from thence to a place called Penissa Maeswdd Kynelleth to a brooke called yr Avon Ddu ; and from Morton Anglicoru'[Morton Anglicorum, part of present-day ]Ruabon
Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) 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 ...
the said Avon Ddu doth bounde to ye towneshipp of Erddig, and from thence to Clywedoge, ioyning to ye towneshippe of Bersham in ye said manno'.[''Norden's Survey'', Harl. M8. 3696.]
The jurors noted that "vpon ye mountaynes and commons in and about this manno' do breed
moore cockes and growes, w'ch gentlemen of ye countrey of
Chesshire and other places do
hawke and take them at some seasons of the yeare".
The township of Esclusham Above (i.e. "above"
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to h ...
) was incorporated in the parish of Minera from 1844; in 1879 parts of Esclusham Above, Esclusham Below, and Erddig were incorporated in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of Esclusham.
[GENUKI - Wrexham]
/ref> As a result of the Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, this was itself replaced in 1974 by the Community of Esclusham, currently based in the Parish Hall, Rhostyllen.
Governance
An electoral ward in the same name exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,766 only.
Features
The community has a total area of 1656 hectares
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...
and had 3401 inhabitants at the 2001 census.[Davies, J. and Jenkins, N. (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'', University of Wales Press, 2008, p.267] Its eastern part is relatively urbanised, with the village of Rhostyllen being close to the suburbs of 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 the western, rural part of the community the land rises to the high pastureland and moorland above Fron-deg and Aber-oer known as Esclusham Mountain.
Until the early 20th century there were lead and zinc mines on the mountain, and the area was used for grouse shooting. There are several structures of interest in industrial archeology
Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, docu ...
, including the Bersham Ironworks
Bersham Ironworks were large ironworks at Bersham, near Wrexham, Wales. They are most famous for being the original working site of John Wilkinson. They were also the first site in the world to use a new way of boring holes in cannon and steam ...
and old lead workings. The Minera Caves, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
, lie beneath Esclusham Mountain: over 8 kilometres of caves connecting with the old lead workings have now been mapped.[The Caves]
, Minera Quarry Trust, accessed 24-03-10
Bersham Colliery
Bersham Colliery was a large coal mine located near Rhostyllen in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The mine accessed seams found in the Denbighshire Coalfield.
History
The Wrexham area in the 19th Century was highly industrialised. At the peak t ...
was a large coal mine in Rhostyllen which employed over 800 men.
References
{{coord, 53.03378, N, 3.0669, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB_dim:2000, display=title
Communities in Wrexham County Borough
The Lordship of Bromfield and Yale
Wards of Wrexham County Borough