New Broughton ( standard ; sometimes ; ) is a former industrial village located in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, North

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

. It is part of the wider Broughton local

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

community, and is situated between

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

(to the North) and Caego (to the South). Still widely regarded a working-class area, in recent years, new housing estates have been built and attracted more middle-class families, who tend to live just outside the village, on the hill.

Description

New Broughton lies on the north‐facing slopes of the Gwenfro valley, two kilometres south-west of

city centre and contiguous with the settlements of

and Caego. Administratively it forms the eastern half of the Broughton community and is represented on Wrexham County Borough Council within the Bryn Cefn electoral division. The population was 3,173, according to the 2001 census, increasing to 3,448 at the 2011 Census. Small-area population estimates for 2022 give 3,402 residents across the adjoining Lower Super Output Areas New Broughton 1 and 2, with 76 per cent of homes owner-occupied and 19 per cent of adults holding Level 4 qualifications or higher. The village took shape after 1875–77 when the Old Broughton Coal Company sank Plas Power Colliery on Gatewen Road. Regarded as an advanced pit, it pioneered underground electricity generation and at peak in 1910 employed 1,099 men; output ceased in 1938 when workable reserves were exhausted. A second shaft complex, Gatewen Colliery, was sunk nearby in 1874, opening in 1877 under the Broughton & Plas Power Coal Company. Its workings extended beneath Erddig Park, closing in 1932; the

headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's Human head, head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protective clothing, protection against t ...

was later reused at Bersham Colliery. Rows of red-brick terraces were laid out off Victoria Road and Railway Terrace to house miners, giving the settlement its dense linear plan. Since the pits shut, former

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...

land has been reclaimed for housing: planning consent in 2008 allowed 140 dwellings on the Gatewen site, while smaller estates now step up Bryn Eglwys hill. Community facilities centre on Ysgol Penrhyn New Broughton Primary School, inspected by Estyn in 2017 and judged 'adequate' for current performance but 'good' for wellbeing; the 2024 roll stood at 276 pupils.

References

{{Wrexham Villages in Wrexham County Borough