Denbighshire 
Contents
Minera
"An extensive chapelry, in that part of the parish of Wrexham which is in the hundred of Bromfield, county of Denbigh, in the Union of Wrexham, 4 miles (W by N) from Wrexham; containing, in 1841, 628 inhabitants. The chapelry comprises the western portion of the parish, and abounds with mineral wealth. ..... It is bounded on the north by the river Alyn, which rises in this hilly district. The greater portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the mines, consisting of iron, lead and coal, the last wrought to a considerable extent."
[
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]
The new parish of Minera was formed by an Order in Council on 23 May 1844 (gazetted on 6 December 1844) from the townships of Minera and Esclusham Above, which until then had been in the parish of Wrexham.
In 1865, another Order in Council added to Minera that part of the township of Bersham which lay west of Offa's Dyke.
In 1879, a large part of the township of Esclusham Above was transferred from Minera to the new parish of Esclusham.
- Bennett, John (ed).
Industrial Minera : produced by the Welsh Mines Preservation Trust in acknowledgement of the restoration of the Minera Mines by Wrexham Maelor Borough Council Wrexham : Wrexham Maelor Borough Council, 1995.
- Burtch, Ruth. More on Minera Moors
Hel achau, No. 102 (Medi / September 2009), p. 28
- Christiansen, Rex. The Wrexham & Minera Joint Railway
Railway World 48 (1987), p. 87-90
- Cliffe, Tom. The limestone trail, Minera
Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (1990), p. 45-47
- Davies, Clifford J. Minera victory celebrations
Clwyd Historian = Hanes Bro Clwyd. No. 44 (Spring 2000), p. 18-20
- Davies, Glyn.
Minera New ed. Wrexham : Bridge Books, [1994?]
- Davies, J C.
Minera Clwyd Veteran & Vintage Machinery Society, 1981.
- Harrison, Julie. The William and John Jones Convalescent Home, Minera, Wrexham
Hel achau, No. 106 (Medi / September 2010), p. 12-14
- Porter, Jane. Bats, mines and triffids [Minera Lead Mines reclamation scheme]
Landscape Design 181 (1989), p. 45-7
- Silvester, R J. The Minera Halvans site
Industrial Archaeology Review 15 (1993), p. 208-10
Church History
Ordnance Survey reference SJ 269519.
It is believed that there was a Chapel of Ease (to Wrexham) on the present site as early as 1577. In 1730, the district was combined with Berse, which was also a Chapel of Ease to Wrexham., an arrangement which stayed in force until Minera became a parish in its own right in 1844.
The original Chapel was probably constructed of wood. It was reconstructed between 1728 and 1733; and a gallery was added in 1815. It was demolished in 1864, and a new Church was built in 1865, preserving the shape and interior of the old building. The new Church was opened in September 1866.
Archdeacon Thomas notes that : "On the entrance step the height of the Church above sea level has been carved in the stone - 838 feet 4 inches above sea level".
The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.
A district church (or chapel of ease) to Minera was opened at Coedpoeth in 1894 (SJ 282513), dedicated to St. Tudfyl.
Nonconformist Churches
"Welsh Church Commission - County of Denbigh - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905"lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the
Civilparish of Minera :
| Name of Chapel |
Denomination |
Number of "adherents" |
| Gwynfryn |
Wesleyans |
194 |
| Hermon, New Brighton |
Wesleyans |
132 |
| Penybryn, Mynglawdd |
Wesleyans |
160 |
Church Records
Parish Registers
- The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the Denbighshire Record Office, Ruthin.
They may be viewed on microfilm at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, at the A.N. Palmer Library, Wrexham, and at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
These microfilms are
not available elsewhere.
| Baptisms |
Marriages |
Burials |
| 1786 - 1894 |
1845 - 1927 |
1847 - 1915 |
- Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :
| Baptisms |
Marriages |
Burials |
| 1772 - 1820 |
None |
None |
Bishop's Transcripts
- Bishop's Transcripts for the years shown below have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Around the year 1951, most of the Bishop's Transcripts which had been deposited at that time were microfilmed by the LDS; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of the LDS.
The films may also be viewed at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.
| Deposited at the National Library of Wales |
Microfilmed copies |
| 1772 - 1859 |
None |
I.G.I.
- There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Mary's, Minera.
Civil Registration
Having been formed from townships of the ancient parish of Wrexham, the parish of Minera was assigned to the Wrexham Registration District.
In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Minera are in the format :
- Years 1837 - 1851: Wrexham XXVII.
nnn
- Years 1851 - 1930: Wrexham 11b.
nnn
(GRO index references have no relevance at the
local Superintendent Registrar's Office)
Minera - on wikipedia
Minera photographs - on geograph.org.uk
Minera - on the welsh icons site
Minera History.com
Minera history - on BBC Wales
View maps covering the area of this parish and places within its boundaries
The Story of Minera Lead Mines - on Wrexham.gov.uk
Population
- In 1831- this was not a separate parish.
- In 1901- the population was 5826.
[
Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
Statistics
- Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as 5455 acres.
[
The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]
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Last Updated 10 Jan 2011 - Gareth Hicks