The King's Mill Bersham IornworksModern HistoryHope Street Wrexham Town CenterRegenerationSocial conditions in Wrexham

Wrexham History

Evidence of human activity in the Wrexham area has been found as far back as 8,000 years ago. However the first known settlement was known as Wristleham Castle, a motte and bailey located in what is now known as Erddig Park, established in 1161. King Edward I of England is on record as having briefly stayed at Wrexham during his expedition to suppress the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294. The town became part of the county of Denbighshire when it was created in 1536. Wrexham was divided into two distinct townships, Wrexham Regis (which was under the control of the King) and Wrexham Abbot (generally the older parts of the town, which originally belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey at nearby Llangollen).

The King's Mill
In the 18th century Wrexham was known for its leather industry. There were skinners and tanners in the town. The horns from cattle were used to make such items as combs and buttons. There was also a nail-making industry in Wrexham.
In the mid-18th century Wrexham was no more than a small market town with a population of perhaps 2,000. However, in the late 18th century Wrexham grew rapidly as it became one of the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution.

Bersham Ironworks as it stands today
The Industrial Revolution began in Wrexham in 1762 when the entrepreneur John Wilkinson (1728–1808) known as 'Iron Mad Wilkinson' opened Bersham Ironworks. In 1793 he opened a smelting plant at Brymbo.

Wrexham gained its first newspaper in 1848. The Market Hall was built in 1848, and in 1863 a volunteer fire brigade was founded. Wrexham was also home to a large number of breweries, and tanning became one of Wrexham's main industries. In the mid 19th century Wrexham was granted borough status.

Modern history

Hope Street, Wrexham town centre.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, Wrexham began a period of depression: the many coal mines closed first, followed by the brickworks and other industries, and finally Brymbo Steelworks in September 1990. Wrexham faced an economic crisis. Many residents were anxious to sell their homes and move to areas with better employment prospects, however buyers were uninterested in an area where there was little prospect of employment. Many people were caught in a negative equity trap. Wrexham was suffering from the same problems as much of industrialised Britain and saw little investment in the 1970s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) intervened: it funded a major dual carriageway, the A483, bypassing Wrexham town centre and connecting it with nearby Chester and Shrewsbury, which in turn had connections with other big cities such as Manchester and Liverpool. The WDA also funded shops and reclaimed areas environmentally damaged by the coal industry. The town centre was regenerated and attracted a number of high street chains. However, the biggest breakthrough was the Wrexham Industrial Estate, previously used in the Second World War, which became home to many manufacturing and technology businesses. There are currently over 250 businesses on the Wrexham Industrial Estate and in the surrounding area. A dual carriageway from the main A483 was extended halfway to the Estate in 2003, and is expected to reach it by 2011.

Regeneration
Recent years have seen a large amount of redevelopment in Wrexham's town centre. The creation and re-development of civic and public areas such as Queens Square, Belle Vue Park and Llwyn Isaf have improved the area dramatically. New shopping areas have been created at Henblas Square and Island Green with the newest development at Eagles Meadow (a fairly large area of land between St. Giles and the inner ring road) which opened on 31 October 2008. The development increases Wrexham's retail area by over 400,000 sq ft (40,000 m2) and houses retail outlets, bars, restaurants, cinema (from spring 2009), a bowling alley and new apartments. It includes public areas and an "iconic" bridge to connect the development with the old High Street.

The central area has seen a number of conversions and new-build apartment complexes. Apartments have been built on a large area off Mold Road (close to the football ground) and are planned for Salop Road (close to Eagles Meadow), and close to the Island Green shopping complex. Outside the town centre new estates are being developed in Brymbo (the former steelworks site).
Wrexham Western Gateway site (Ruthin Road) and Mold Road: Plans were due to be unveiled in Summer 2007 of the next stage in the development of Wrexham Technology Park as one of the country's first sustainable business centers - the development is expected to increase the size of the Park by more than a third before 2012.

Plans have been unveiled for a £17m waste-processing centre for Wrexham which will help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. It is believed the centre will be built on Wrexham's industrial estate and run by the Spanish-owned Waste Recycling Group. Plans for a recycling centre in Wrexham have been approved, but the permission granted to Waste Recycling Group is subject to several conditions including measures to offset the effects on wildlife.

Wrexham is undergoing a substantial period of population growth. House prices have risen to some of the highest levels in Wales as demand has risen both locally, from over the English border and from international migrants.

An estimated 15,000 eastern Europeans have settled in Wrexham since 2004, mainly around the central areas of the town around Hightown, Smithfield and Queens Park. The demand for housing has led to the development of new neighborhoods on the outskirts of the town. These include over 500 homes at the former Brymbo Steelworks site, a ribbon of development on Mold Road leading out of the town (which includes four development companies), and Ruthin Road (Wrexham Western Gateway). There are further plans, one of which is the controversial development of National Trust land at Erddig for over 250 homes. The town centre has also experienced large-scale apartment developments which continue to be developed.

In the third quarter of 2007, house prices were still rising by 6.4% (9.9% annually) with the average price at £178,518. Sales were around 220 for this period and projected as 880 for the year. The average house price was 8% higher than both Newport and Swansea, and 6% less than Cardiff.

Social conditions in Wrexham
In June 2003, the Caia Park estate in Wrexham was hit by the Caia Park Riots. Tension between Iraqi Kurds and locals centred on one of the estates' pubs escalated and resulted in petrol bombs and other missiles being hurled at police trying to restore order. 51 local residents received prison sentences.
Crime Rates

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