Willington Worthenbury ( cy, Willington Wrddymbre) is a
community in
Wrexham County Borough,
Wales, and is situated near the
England–Wales border.
It has an area of 2,146
hectares and a population of 730 (
2001 census), increasing to 827 at the 2011 census. It contains the villages of Worthenbury and Tallarn Green.
It is located on the eastern side of the
River Dee in the
English Maelor area which was formerly part of the historic county of
Flintshire. It has the lowest proportion of
Welsh language speakers of all the communities in Wrexham county borough, with 88.81% having no knowledge of Welsh according to the 2001 census.
Worthenbury
Settlement at Worthenbury may have begun as early as the tenth century. The name Worthenbury may stem from the Saxon name for a stronghold 'burgh', indicating that a fortification may have been situated there. In 1086, when the
Domesday Book was compiled, Worthenbury was listed as a relatively small settlement and it was within the hundred of Duddeston and the county of
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 ...
.
There has been a
parish church in the village since at least 1388. The current building was built in 1739; it is dedicated to Saint
Deiniol and has many
Georgian features. South of the village lay Emral Hall, home to the influential
Puleston
Puleston is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Dennis E. Puleston (1940–1978), American archaeologist and ecologist
*Dennis Puleston (1905–2001), British-born American environmentalist, adventurer and designer
* Hamlet Pulest ...
family until 1936 when it was demolished.
Tallarn Green
Tallarn Green also has a small church, completed in 1873 and dedicated to
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
. The famous poet
R. S. Thomas
Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest ( Church of Wales) noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introduc ...
was
curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
here in the 1940s. The churchyard contains the
war grave of a
Manchester Regiment soldier of
World War I.
CWGC Casualty record.
The word "green" in the name of the village indicates an area of grassy
common land.
References
*Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust.
Maelor Saesneg: The Settlement Landscape'. Accessed 5 June 2008.
*Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna & Lynch, Peredur I. (2008) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'', University of Wales Press, Cardiff.
*Roberts, Vic (2004)
Worthenbury', Genuki. Accessed 5 June 2008.
*Wrexham County Borough Council.
'. Accessed 5 June 2008.
History of Flintshire
Communities in Wrexham County Borough
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