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Minera

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"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.

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Bibliography

  • 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
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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  (see under Wrexham) in 1894,  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 Civil parish of Minera :

Name of ChapelDenominationNumber of "adherents"
GwynfrynWesleyans194
Hermon, New BrightonWesleyans132
Penybryn, MynglawddWesleyans160
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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.
BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1786 - 18941845 - 19271847 - 1915
  • Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :
BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1772 - 1820NoneNone

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 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
    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 WalesMicrofilmed copies
1772 - 1859None

I.G.I.

  • There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Mary's, Minera.
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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)

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Description & Travel

Minera - on wikipedia

Various landscapes/buildings   -  on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see pictures of Minera which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

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Maps

"North-East Wales Churches and Ancient Parish Boundaries" produced by Clwyd Record Office in 1994, published by Genuki with the permission of Flintshire Record Office and Denbighshire Archives

Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R., Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: History Data Service, UK Data Archive [distributor], 17 May 2001. SN: 4348.   Here is a gazetteer/finding aid plus a set of overview maps to accurately identify the position of parishes within the county

 Map of the township of Minera in the parish of Wrexham in the County of Denbigh   -  on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ272518 (Lat/Lon: 53.058471, -3.087685), Minera which are provided by:

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Occupations

The Story of Minera Lead Mines - on Wrexham.gov.uk

 Various items -  on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Minera Lead Mines  
  • Minera Quarry
  • Limekilns in Minera Quarry
  • Minera Lead Miners
  • Meadow Shaft engine house
  • Olwen, Minera Quarry shunting engine
  • William Davies - last man killed at the Minera Lead Mines [1908] 
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Population

  • In 1831- this was not a separate parish.
  • In 1901- the population was 5826.
    [ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
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Social Life & Customs

Minera Football Club 1930-1935   -  on the People's Collection Wales site

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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]