Hightown | |
---|---|
Suburb | |
Former Green Dragon Hotel on the hillside end of Salop Road, Wrexham. The junction was the area historically known as Wrexham Fechan. | |
Location within Wrexham | |
OS grid reference | SJ 3396449656 |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WREXHAM |
Postcode district | LL13 |
Dialling code | 01978 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Hightown is a suburban area of Wrexham, in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. [1]
The name Hightown was originally confined to the 19th-century development bounded by Rivulet Road to the north, Bryn y Cabanau to the west, and the Hightown Barracks in the east and south. [2]
The houses along Albert Street, Bury Street, Derby Road and Stanley Street date to the early 1890s. [2] Eventually, terraced houses were built across multiple streets south of Kings Mills Road and next to Bryn y Cabanau Lane (later Road). However, most of these houses were later demolished in the 1960s. [2]
Until 2011, the suburb was home to the "Hightown Flats", five blocks of five-storey flats built in 1970 comprising the Napier Square and Gatefield estates. [3] [4] The complex contained 181 flats and maisonettes, as well as five bungalows and 26 four-bedroom houses. [5] The flats were known for safety issues, such as poorly lit corridors, and vandalism such as graffiti and abandoned furniture. The area around the complex was associated with antisocial behaviour, arson, and theft. The complex was demolished by Wrexham County Borough Council in 2011 for re-generation, [6] with locals supporting demolition as the only option to regenerate the area. [7]
The north-western parts of Hightown towards St Giles' Church near Salop Road were once a separate hamlet called Wrexham Fechan (Fechan meaning 'little' from Welsh) until it was eventually reabsorbed by the then growing town. [8] [9] [10]
The Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway ran along the northern edge of the area for a short distance, and a station known as Hightown Halt opened in 1923 in the northernmost part of the area. [11] [12] The former station was accessed through steps from Whitegate Road, alongside Connor Crescent. [2] The station closed in 1962 when the line itself was closed to passenger traffic beyond Wrexham Central. The line continued to operate as a goods railway until 1981, when the line was closed and the tracks were lifted. The track bed of the line now forms a public footpath that runs to Kings Mills.
There is a military barracks called Hightown Barracks in the suburb. [13] [14] They date to 1877 and were originally built for the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers. In 2023, a statue of a Regimental Goat and Goatmaster was unveiled outside the barracks, surrounded by a memorial garden to commemorate the lives of those who served with the regiment. [15] The Regimental Goat has been a mascot of the Royal Welch Fusiliers since the American War of Independence. [16]
The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.
Powys is a county and preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham to the north; the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire to the east; Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Neath Port Talbot to the south; and Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion to the west. The largest settlement is Newtown, and the administrative centre is Llandrindod Wells.
Wrexham is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county of Denbighshire, and later the county of Clwyd in 1974, it has been the principal settlement of Wrexham County Borough since 1996.
Until 1974, Flintshire, also known as the County of Flint, was an administrative county in the north-east of Wales, later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales.
The Royal Welsh is an armoured infantry regiment of the British Army. It was established in 2006 from the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Wales.
Ruabon is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from Rhiw Fabon, rhiw being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and Fabon being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church name, of earlier, Celtic origin. An older English spelling, Rhuabon, can sometimes be seen.
The Royal Welsh Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Territorial Army in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1999, until it was re-designated as the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Welsh in 2006.
Coedpoeth is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The built-up area with Minera had a population of 5,723 in the 2011 census.
St Giles' Parish Church is the parish church of Wrexham, Wales. The church is recognised as one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Wales and is a Grade I listed building, described by Sir Simon Jenkins as 'the glory of the Marches' and by W. D. Caröe as a “glorious masterpiece.”
Acton is a suburb and community in Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It spans the north-eastern part of Wrexham. The area is largely residential and at its centre, lies Acton Park, the location of the former Acton Hall.
Abenbury is a community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is situated south-east of Wrexham city and includes the village of Pentre Maelor and part of the Wrexham Industrial Estate.
Wrexham city centre is the administrative, cultural and historic city centre of Wrexham, in North Wales and is the area enclosed by the inner ring road of the city. It is the largest shopping area in north and mid Wales, and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough. Many of its streets are pedestrianised.
The Denbighshire Hussars was a Welsh Yeomanry regiment of the British Army formed in 1794. It saw service in the First World War before being converted into a unit of the Royal Artillery. The lineage has been continued by 398 Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps.
The regimental depot of a regiment is its home base for recruiting and training. It is also where soldiers and officers awaiting discharge or postings are based and where injured soldiers return to full fitness after discharge from hospital before returning to full duty. Normally, a variety of regimental stores will also be kept at the depot. The regimental depot is not the same as the regimental headquarters, though in practice the two will often be co-located in the same place.
Offa is a community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, covering most of the south-western portion of the city of Wrexham. It is bordered by the communities of; Rhosddu, and Caia Park to the north, Abenbury to the east, Esclusham, and Marchwiel to the south, and Broughton, Coedpoeth, and Gwersyllt to the west.
Hightown Barracks is a military installation in Wrexham, Wales.
The Poyser Street drill hall is a former military installation in Wrexham, Wales.
The 1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, later 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it served as a pioneer battalion with the 47th Division on the Western Front during World War I and with the 53rd (Welsh) Division in North West Europe during World War II. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army through a series of mergers until finally amalgamating with another Welsh battalion in 1999.
County Buildings is a Grade II listed building in Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It houses the Wrexham County Borough Museum and Wrexham Archives. It is proposed that a Football Museum for Wales be housed in the building. The building is located between Saint Mark's Road and Regent Street in the city centre and Offa, bounded by Wrexham Cathedral to the west.
The Denbighshire Militia, later the Royal Denbighshire Rifles was an auxiliary regiment reorganised in the Welsh county of Denbighshire during the 18th Century from earlier precursor units. Primarily intended for home defence, it provided a contingent for service in France in the closing stages of the Napoleonic War. After a series of short-lived mergers with other Welsh militia regiments it became part of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, It served as a Special Reserve training unit in World War I. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.