Place:Wrexham, Wales

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Wrexham County Borough is a county borough in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the north-west. The county borough has a population of 136,055. The town of Wrexham is its largest settlement, which together with villages such as Gwersyllt, New Broughton, Bradley and Rhostyllen form a built-up area with 65,692 residents. Other villages in the county borough include Ruabon, Rhosllanerchrugog, Johnstown, Acrefair, Bangor-on-Dee, and Coedpoeth amongst other villages. The county borough has two outlying towns, Chirk and Holt, and various rural settlements in the county borough's large salient in the Ceiriog Valley, and the English Maelor.

The area has strong links with traditional industries such as coal-mining and brewing, although modern manufacturing has since succeeded those former industries. The county borough was formed on 1 April 1996 following the enactment of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. Borough status was inherited from the town of Wrexham granted in 1857. Most of the area was previously part of the district of Wrexham Maelor – with several communities coming from Glyndŵr – within the former county of Clwyd. Most of the county borough is part of the historic county of Denbighshire, with two exclaves of historic Flintshire: English Maelor and the parish of Marford and Hoseley.

One of Wales' World Heritage Sites; the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, three of the Seven Wonders of Wales; St Giles' Parish Church, Overton Yew Trees and Gresford's All Saints' Church; two National Trust properties at Erddig and Chirk, part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB, the UK's largest prison, and one of the largest industrial estates in Europe are located in the county borough.

Research Tips

• The National Library of Wales has just uploaded (Feb 2018) a website covering the tithe maps of Wales with accompanying apportionment documents using original and present-day maps. There are over 300,000 entries. Landowners and small villages are included. The presentation looks very good.