Minera ( cy, Mwynglawdd; ) is a village and

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 ...

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 ...

. It adjoins the village of

Coedpoeth Coedpoeth () is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The built-up area with Minera had a population of 5,723 in the 2011 census. Locality Coedpoeth is on a hill between the Clywedog and Gwenfro valleys, surrounded by coun ...

. The community, which in addition to Minera village includes a number of smaller hamlets such as Gwynfryn and New Brighton and large areas of farmland, had a total population of 1,608 at the 2001 census,Minera
Office for National Statistics increasing slightly to 1,617 at the 2011 Census.

History

The name Minera has an unusual source, being derived from the

low Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in ...

for "mine" or "ore".Palmer, A. N. ''A History of Ancient Tenures of Land in North Wales and the Marches'', pp.243-44 This name was recorded as early as 1339. The parallel Welsh name ''Mwynglawdd'' translates roughly as "ore mine". In common with many Welsh settlements, Minera did not develop as a compact 'village' in the English understanding of the word until the 19th century. Under the

manorial Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...

administration imposed after the mediaeval English conquest of Wales, Minera existed as a manor and

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 ...

within the Lordship of Bromfield. Unlike many of the surrounding manors, such as

Esclusham Esclusham ( cy, Esclus or ''Esclys'') is a community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The community includes the villages of Bersham, Rhostyllen, Aberoer, Llwyneinion and Pentre Bychan, as well as a number of smaller settlemen ...

Eglwyseg The Eglwyseg valley is an area to the north east of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales; it is within the boundaries of Llantysilio Community. The name also refers to a widely scattered hamlet in the valley. Formerly the old township of Eglwysegl ...

le and

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 ...

, land tenure within Minera was mostly servile, rather than free.Palmer, p.234 The history of Minera is closely related to that of its lead mines. Although earlier use, dating back perhaps as far as the Roman occupation, has been suggested, the first clear documentary evidence of the industry appears during the reign of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

, when miners from Minera were sent to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

to help develop the tin mining industry.Clwyd-Powys Metal Mines Survey
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust Extraction of lead and coal was later joined by the quarrying of silica stone and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, with three lime kilns being recorded in operation at Minera Mill in 1620.Davies, J. C
Minera
BBC North East Wales Further industrial development took place in the 19th century. The lead mines expanded under the guidance of engineer John Taylor and the

Minera Limeworks The Minera Limeworks were extensive lime quarries and kilns at Minera in Wrexham, Wales. It was located at , near the villages of Gwynfryn, Minera, and Coedpoeth and was locally referred to as ''The Calch''. History The Minera Limeworks w ...

came into operation, while a branch of the

North Wales Mineral Railway The North Wales Mineral Railway was constructed in Wales in 1844, during the early years of the Railway Mania. It was originally intended to link Chester via Wrexham to the industrial areas around Ruabon; there were branches to Brymbo and Minera ...

was built in 1844 to serve the area.

Governance

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 the same name exists. This ward stretches north to Broughton and at the 2011 Census had a population of 2,472.

Churches

There is thought to have been a "

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

" to Wrexham parish church as early as 1577: built of wood, it was successively rebuilt in 1728-33 and 1815.Minera, St Mary

GENUKI GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...

The growing population of the area meant that Minera (previously a township of the parish of Wrexham) was created as a separate

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

in 1844. In 1864-5 the old church, which had become dilapidated, was demolished and a new church built to designs by Kennedy and Rogers of Bangor, preserving the outlines and interior of the old building. Minera's first Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1804; it was originally named Minera Chapel, but in 1859, it was renamed Pen-y-Bryn.

Recent history

The lead and zinc mining industry declined in the early years of the 20th century, the mines finally closing in 1914 (the engine house of the Meadow Shaft remained standing in a derelict condition until the early 1990s, when it was restored). Despite the loss of its traditional industries the village of Minera expanded rapidly in the period after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, thanks to the construction of

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

estates. 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 Minera, whose boundaries approximated those of the old township of Minera, was replaced by the community of Minera under the terms 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 ...

; the records of the old Minera Parish Council are held in the Denbighshire Record Office.

Football

Reports exist of the short-lived Minera Rovers and Minera Victoria contesting the Welsh Amateur Cup in

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

and 1891. By 1898 another local team, Minera St Marys, had joined the Denbighshire League. Minera St Marys only lasted one season in this competition, taking on the fixtures of Cerney Swifts and finishing second from bottom. Whilst other Minera teams existed, none competed in any recognised leagues again until 1981 when Minera joined Welsh National League Wrexham Area Division 4. The team spent three seasons in Division 4 before finishing third in 1984 and gaining promotion to Welsh National League Wrexham Area Division 2 (formerly Division 3, renamed in 1984 following introduction of Premier Division). Minera stayed in this division until 1990 when they folded.

References

External links

BBC Wales mini-site.Minera Historyphotos of Minera and surrounding area on geograph
{{authority control Villages in Wrexham County Borough Communities in Wrexham County Borough The Lordship of Bromfield and Yale Wards of Wrexham County Borough