In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Gresford like this:
GRESFORD, a village and a township in Wrexham district, Denbigh; and a parish all in the same district, but partly in Flint. The village stands on the river Alyn, adjacent to the Chester and Shrewsbury railway, gear Wats Dyke, 3 miles NNE of Wrexham; is a very charming place; and has a station on the railway, a postoffice‡ under Wrexham, and fairs on the second Monday of April, the last of Aug., and the 1st of Dec. ...
The township includes the village, and comprises 999 acres. Real property, £5, 768. Pop., 658. Houses, 137. The parish contains also the townships of Llay, Burton, Allington, Gwersyllt, Erthig, Borrasriffre, and Erlas, in Denbigh; and the lordship of Merford and Hoseley, in Flint. Acres, 13, 058. Real property, £47, 111; of which £13, 705 are in mines, and £614 in railways. Pop. in 1851, 4, 161; in 1861, 4, 417. Houses, 900. Gresford Lodge, an edifice by Wyatt, is the seat of Mrs. Egerton. Gwersyllt Hall, on the site of an ancient mansion occupied by the famous royalist Col. Robinson, and burnt down in 1738, is the seat of M. Humble, Esq.; and Erthig House, noted for memorials of " the Royal Tribes of Wales, " is the seat of Simon Yorke, Esq. The scenery is among the finest in Wales; and a very rich view is got from Merford hill. Traces of a strong ancient British camp occur on an eminence called the Rofts. Coal is extensively worked. The parish is a meet for the Wynnstay hounds. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £714. * Patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The church stands conspicuously on a rising ground; is later English, and interesting; has a handsome tower, surmounted by pinnacles and eight figures of warriors, and with a remarkably fine peel of bells; and contains an octagonal font, 14 finely carved stalls, several curious monuments of the Trevors, the Parrys, and others, and a sculptured stone in memory of Madocap-Llewelyn-ap-Gryffyd, who died in 1331. A yew tree, in the churchyard, measures 26 feet in girth, and is thought to be upwards of 1, 400 years old. The p. curacies of Gwersyllt and Rosset are separate benefices. A school has £26 from endowment; and other charities have £115. Eliot Warburton, author of " the Crescent and the Cross, " was a resident; and Samuel Warren, author of " Ten Thousand a Year, " was a native.
Gresford through time
Gresford is now part of Wrexham district. Click here for graphs and data of how Wrexham has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Gresford itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Gresford, in Wrexham and Denbighshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/4338
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
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