Temple Row () is an historic street in

Wrexham city centre Wrexham city centre is the administrative, cultural and historic city centre of Wrexham, in North Wales and is the area enclosed by the inner ring road of the city. It is the largest shopping area in north and mid Wales, and the administrative c ...

, North Wales. It goes along the border of the churchyard of St Giles' Church. The street contains the listed and part of the listed churchgates of St Giles. On St Giles' eastern side, it is parallel with Yorke Street where it was bounded by residences which were demolished in 1967.

Description

The Overton Arcade connects to the street, as does College Street. It was previously known as ''Temple-place''. Temple Row is considered part of Wrexham's historic medieval core due to it being adjacent to St Giles' Church. It is not exactly known why the street got its name, due to a lack of a

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

. The name may have been connected to Wrexham's historical small Jewish community. Temple Row also extends to the eastern boundary of the churchyard of St Giles, where it is parallel to Yorke Street. Here below the churchyard, was once a row of large

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

blocks on a grassy bank, that served as a residential area at the rear of Yorke Street. These residences backed onto the borders of the churchyard and Yorke Street, with it said churchwardens complained in the 19th century that residents hanged their clothes on the churchyard railings to dry. These properties which backed onto Yorke Street, as well as the Temple Row street itself, were demolished in 1967 to allow for an increase in traffic flow on Yorke Street, which was an

A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...

through central Wrexham at the time. The building on the corner of Temple Row and Church Street was proposed to be demolished in the 1970s. It averted demolition and was instead renovated. It is claimed the street's terraced houses have alleged entrances in their cellars to underground walkways which are said to lead to St Giles' Church.

Listed buildings

No. 6

is a Grade II listed building on Temple Row. It was previously listed as . It is part of an irregular terrace which borders the churchyard of St Giles' Church, and encloses the plots located to the rear of buildings located along

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

. It was built as a house but now is used as a shop. The building originally formed part of 3–4 Church Street, and is still connected to that building on its first floor. When it was part of 3–4 Church Street it was (re-)built by Samuel Edwards in 1757. Its exterior is lined out render, possibly over brickwork, and it has a slate roof. It is two storeys tall, and has an inserted shop front on its left. Internally its interior plan was modified from its original design.

Churchyard gates

The main entrance to the churchyard of St Giles' Church is bounded by wrought iron gates. Erected in 1720, the churchyard gates were made by the

Davies brothers of Bersham The Davies brothers of Bersham, near Wrexham in north Wales, were a family of smiths active in the 18th century. They were particularly known for their high-quality work in wrought iron, of which several examples still survive in country homes and ...

, with the gates also restored in and 1900. Sometime after 1821, the gates were slightly moved from their original location. The gates are principally aligned with the north-west door of the church and with Church Street. While the iron gates are bounded by side arches over Temple Row and towards College Street. The gates are double gates and centrally arches, while the side gates are also arched and of a lower height. There are wrought iron gate piers either side of the main and side gates, they have hollow square sections, highly enriched, with leaf and flower-detailed overthrow.

References

{{Wrexham Wrexham Streets in Wales