Tanyfron
Encyclopedia
Tanyfron, also occasionally spelt Tan-y-fron, is a village in Wrexham County Borough in Wales
. At the time of the 2001 census
, the population of area Wrexham 006A, which includes Tanyfron and a number of other small settlements, was 1,347. The village is part of the local government Community
of Brymbo
and is in the Vron electoral ward.
; it was purchased in 1840 by the surveyor and engineer William Low. The initial small settlement of miners' houses, called Vron (an anglicised version of the Welsh
word fron, "hillside", "slope"), was joined in the 1890s by a larger village to the east called Tan-y-fron ("under the hillside"). Most of the residents worked in the collieries at Vron or Plas Power, or in the nearby Brymbo Steelworks.
A church dedicated to St. Alban was opened in 1897 as a "chapel of ease" for the parish church at Southsea. There were also formerly two nonconformist chapels, Mynydd Seion (Wesleyan, built in 1896) and Cana (Congregationalist).
The colliery was served by two railways, a spur of the Great Western Railway
's Wrexham and Minera Branch
and a branch of the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway
. The embankment of the latter is now a footpath still known locally as "the Line".
The Vron Colliery suffered financial problems throughout its history and was eventually closed in 1930; the colliery spoil tips, known locally as the "Bonc" (from the Welsh word for "hillock"), were finally cleared in the late 1980s. The major local employer, the Steelworks, expanded across the hillside to Tanyfron in 1976, but closed in 1990 with serious economic effects for the village.
Harold Tudor (1908-1988), the British Council
official credited with starting the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, was born in Tanyfron, where his parents lived on St Alban's Road.
As of 2010, St Albans church has been closed, and has been put up for sale by the Church in Wales
.
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...
. At the time of the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, the population of area Wrexham 006A, which includes Tanyfron and a number of other small settlements, was 1,347. The village is part of the local government Community
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
of Brymbo
Brymbo
Brymbo is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is a village situated in the hilly country to the west of Wrexham town, largely surrounded by farmland....
and is in the Vron electoral ward.
History
Tanyfron developed largely in order to provide accommodation for the families of miners. The shafts of the Vron Colliery, immediately to the west of today's village and named for the adjacent Vron Farm, were first sunk in 1806 by Rogers of CoedpoethCoedpoeth
Coedpoeth is a village and a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.-History:...
; it was purchased in 1840 by the surveyor and engineer William Low. The initial small settlement of miners' houses, called Vron (an anglicised version of the Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
word fron, "hillside", "slope"), was joined in the 1890s by a larger village to the east called Tan-y-fron ("under the hillside"). Most of the residents worked in the collieries at Vron or Plas Power, or in the nearby Brymbo Steelworks.
A church dedicated to St. Alban was opened in 1897 as a "chapel of ease" for the parish church at Southsea. There were also formerly two nonconformist chapels, Mynydd Seion (Wesleyan, built in 1896) and Cana (Congregationalist).
The colliery was served by two railways, a spur of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
's Wrexham and Minera Branch
Wrexham and Minera Branch
The Wrexham and Minera Railway or Wrexham and Minera Branch was a railway line in North Wales between the town of Wrexham, the village of Brymbo where it served the Brymbo Steelworks, and the lead mines and limeworks at Minera. A further branch ran from Brymbo to Coed Talon, where it connected with...
and a branch of the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway
Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway
The Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway was incorporated on 7 August 1862 to build a line from Wrexham to Buckley.-Overview:The Buckley Railway had already been incorporated on 14 June 1860 to build a line from that town to a junction with the London and North Western Railway Chester-Holyhead...
. The embankment of the latter is now a footpath still known locally as "the Line".
The Vron Colliery suffered financial problems throughout its history and was eventually closed in 1930; the colliery spoil tips, known locally as the "Bonc" (from the Welsh word for "hillock"), were finally cleared in the late 1980s. The major local employer, the Steelworks, expanded across the hillside to Tanyfron in 1976, but closed in 1990 with serious economic effects for the village.
Harold Tudor (1908-1988), the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
official credited with starting the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, was born in Tanyfron, where his parents lived on St Alban's Road.
The village today
Tanyfron still has both a small primary school and St. Albans church. Some housing development has taken place in the village, and in the village of Fron, during the 1990s and after. This led to protests in 2006 when the former school playing field was sold off for residential development.As of 2010, St Albans church has been closed, and has been put up for sale by the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
.