Bersham
Encyclopedia
Bersham is a small Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s of the county borough of Wrexham
Wrexham (county borough)
Wrexham is a county borough centred on the town of Wrexham in north-east Wales. The county borough has a population of 130,200 inhabitants. Just under half of the population live either within the town of Wrexham or its surrounding conurbation of urban villages. The remainder living to the south...
that lies next to the River Clywedog
River Clywedog
The River Clywedog in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales has always been the lifeblood of the area, watering crops and livestock since early times, powering corn mills and driving industrial machinery...
. Wrexham owes a large amount of its original industrial heritage to Bersham, but despite this the village still retains a rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
feeling.
Historical significance
The village holds special importance for economic historians, for not only did it house the workshops of the skilled Davies brothersDavies brothers of Wrexham
The Davies brothers of Wrexham, 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 churchyards around the England-Wales border.The family consisted of...
, it was one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. This is the place where British iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
making began in 1670, where smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
iron ore with coke began in 1721, and where John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson (industrialist)
John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson was an English industrialist who pioneered the use and manufacture of cast iron and cast-iron goods in the Industrial Revolution.-Early life:...
, the 'Iron Mad' pioneer of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, set up shop in 1761. For many years the area was one of the most important iron manufacturing centres in the world. The Bersham Ironworks Museum
Bersham Ironworks
Bersham Ironworks were large ironworks at Bersham, near Wrexham, North Wales. They are most famous for being the original working site of John Wilkinson...
tells the story of the man who bored cannon for the American War of Independence and cylinders for James Watt's revolutionary steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
that changed the face of the world.
Bersham Colliery, the last working coal mine in the former Denbighshire Coalfield
Denbighshire Coalfield
The Denbighshire Coalfield in north-east Wales is one of the smaller British coalfields. It extends from near Caergwrle in the north, southwards through Wrexham, Ruabon and Rhosllanerchrugog to Chirk in the south. A small part extends into Shropshire around Oswestry...
, was not actually in the village of Bersham but situated nearby in the village of Rhostyllen
Rhostyllen
Rhostyllen is a village in Wrexham county borough in Wales, south-west of the town of Wrexham. At the time of the 2001 census, area Wrexham 014A, which includes Rhostyllen itself, had a population of 1,383 in 599 households...
, it closed in 1986. The collapse of a shaft from the colliery in the 1970s seriously affected the structural security of the nearby Erddig House
Erddig
Erddig Hall is a National Trust property on the outskirts of Wrexham, Wales. Located south of Wrexham town centre, it was built in 1684–1687 for Joshua Edisbury, the high sheriff of Denbighshire and was designed by Thomas Webb....
allowing compensation of £120,000 to be claimed by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
against the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
.
Plas Power Woods
Plas Power Woods comprise 33.7ha of woodland running along the River ClywedogRiver Clywedog
The River Clywedog in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales has always been the lifeblood of the area, watering crops and livestock since early times, powering corn mills and driving industrial machinery...
between Coedpoeth
Coedpoeth
Coedpoeth is a village and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.-History:...
and Bersham, and stretches to the Nant Mill
Nant Mill
Nant Mill is a country park in the county of Wrexham, North East Wales. It is managed by Wrexham County Borough and named after a historic corn mill located at the site. It forms part of the Clywedog Trail and includes a visitor centre and two woods, Nant Wood and Plas Power from which Offa's Dyke...
Wood situated upstream to the east on the Clywedog Trail
Clywedog Trail
The Clywedog Trail is a footpath close to Wrexham in Wales. Starting at the Minera Lead Mines and running to King's Mills it follows the course of the River Clywedog. It is a haven for walking, relaxation and enjoying the peace of the wildlife...
. The vast majority of the woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
is ancient woodland
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
although some parts were replanted with conifers and, locally, with beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
and/or sycamore
Sycamore Maple
Acer pseudoplatanus, the sycamore maple, is a species of maple native to central Europe and southwestern Asia, from France east to Ukraine, and south in mountains to northern Spain, northern Turkey, and the Caucasus. It is not related to other trees called sycamore or plane tree in the Platanus...
as late as the 1960s. The Woodland Trust is gradually restoring the native broadleave woodland character of the plantation areas.
Several features of historical importance are present; a section of Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
runs across the Clywedog Valley through Plas Power Woods. Several Listed structures are also present including Plas Power Park wall, an ornate cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
bridge and railings and the Western Weir
Weir
A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...
, Nant Bridge, Bersham Lodge and Caeau Wier.
Bersham Church and the FitzHugh family
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the heart of the village. The church was founded and built by Thomas Lloyd FitzHugh in 1875. His wife Emily Mary from Charlecote in Warwickshire took a great interest in the building and is the reason why the architect and organ builder were both from that county. It was originally built without a bell tower; however, one was added some years later. When Captain Godfrey FitzHugh was killed on active service in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in 1917 his widow Ethel had the bells installed in his memory. They consist of a carillon of eight bells operated by hand and are still in use today.