Cefn Mawr () is a village in the

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, ...

of Cefn within

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 ...

, Wales. Its name translates as "big ridge".Mills, D. ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', OUP, p.104 The population in 2001 was 6,669, increasing to 7,051 in 2011. The community of Cefn comprises the villages of Cefn Mawr, Cefn-bychan ("little ridge"), Acrefair, Penybryn, Newbridge, Plas Madoc and

Rhosymedre Rhosymedre () is a village within the community of Cefn, in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The Anglican church, which was consecrated in 1837, is dedicated to St John the Evangelist, and is part of the Diocese of St Asaph. Former vicars inclu ...

and is situated on the northern slopes of the Dee Valley.

History

Cefn Mawr was part of the ancient parish of Ruabon and the area was known as ''Cristionydd Cynrig'' (or ''Cristioneth Kenrick'' in English). In 1844, most of Cristionydd Cynrig, together with the neighbouring township of ''Coed Cristionydd'' became part of the new parish of Rhosymedre.Rhosymedre, St John

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 ...

Cefn railway station served the village from 1848 to 1960.

Industry

Cefn Mawr was formerly heavily industrialised, with large deposits of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, and

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

dominated the area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Iron was worked at several blast furnaces and forges throughout the area and coal was mined at pits in Cefn, Plas Kynaston and Dolydd. Stone was cut at quarries above Cefn Mawr. Much of the mineral wealth of the area was exported by canal over the

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; cy, Traphont Ddŵr Pontcysyllte) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use ...

on the Shropshire Union Canal, until the railway reached Ruabon in 1855. In 1867 Robert Ferdinand Graesser, an industrial chemist from Obermosel in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, established a chemical works at Plas Kynaston to extract paraffin oil and

paraffin wax Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to ...

from the local shale. The company later expanded into the production of

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psorias ...

, and carbolic acid (

phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it ...

). The site soon became the world's leading producer of phenol. In 1919 the US chemical company

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

entered into a partnership with Graesser's chemical works to produce

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now u ...

, salicylic acid,

aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...

, and later

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...

processing chemicals. The site was later operated by Flexsys, a subsidiary of Solutia, but production ceased in 2010. With the closure of the nearby

Air Products and Chemicals Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is an American international corporation whose principal business is selling gases and chemicals for industrial uses. Air Products' headquarters is in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pen ...

site at Acrefair, manufacturing in the village has almost disappeared. A large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

store was opened in March 2012 on the former site of the village football team, Cefn Druids. After buying this land, Tesco agreed to contribute to the construction of the new football ground located half a mile (1 km) away near the neighbouring village of Rhosymedre.

Notable residents

Miles Thomas (William) Miles Webster Thomas, Baron Thomas DFC (2 March 1897 – 8 February 1980),BOAC was born here. *

Peter Halliday Peter Halliday (2 June 1924 – 18 February 2012) was a Welsh actor. Early life The son of an auctioneer and estate agent, Halliday was brought up in Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, and attended Oswestry School in Shropshire. On leaving school h ...

(1924-2012) Actor well known for various appearances in British television series Doctor Who was born here. *

Gareth Valentine Gareth Valentine (born 22 November 1956) is a Welsh composer, arranger, conductor and musical director. He has worked extensively in London's West End on musical productions and also conducted orchestras worldwide including the BBC Concert Orches ...

(1956-) Musical Director, Composer in London's West End and worldwide lived here 1956–1975.

Leisure and education

Tŷ Mawr Country Park is located in the area, and features the Cefn Viaduct, built by

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

in 1848 to carry the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway across the valley of the River Dee. The village has two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s: an English, Cefn Mawr County Primary School, and a Welsh, Ysgol Min Y Ddol. There is also a public library. The community has 3 Football Teams Cefn Druids, Cefn Albion and Cefn Mawr Rangers F.C.

References

External links

BBC mini-site for Cefn Mawr

180 Degree Panoramic View of Tŷ Mawr Country Park (BBC)
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Monsanto websitephotos of Cefn Mawr and surrounding area on geograph
{{authority control Villages in Wrexham County Borough