This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2008) |
Sealand | |
---|---|
St. Bartholomew's Church, Sealand | |
Location within Flintshire | |
Population | 2,996 (2011 Census) |
OS grid reference | SJ352688 |
Community |
|
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CHESTER |
Postcode district | CH1 |
Post town | DEESIDE |
Postcode district | CH5 |
Dialling code | 01244 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Website | sealandcommunitycouncil.co.uk |
Sealand [1] is a community in Flintshire and electoral ward, north-east Wales, on the edge of the Wirral peninsula. It is west of the city of Chester, England, and is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 2,746 (1,342 males, 1,404 females), [2] increasing to 2,996 at the 2011 census. [3] The community includes the villages of Garden City and Sealand, [4] and the settlements of Higher Ferry, [5] Sealand Manor and Sealand Road. [6]
Sealand Manor was established by the Welsh Land Settlement Society in 1937 as an agricultural settlement. [7] The local Society was wound up in 1961, [8] after which the leases of the homes passed to Hawarden Rural District Council.
Sealand is on flat land formed by land reclamation of part of the head of the estuary of the River Dee which had become heavily silted-up. It is on the A548 road, near the Chester dormitory communities of Blacon and Saughall and is a popular place of residence for people from both sides of the Welsh/English border. Welsh-medium primary education is available three miles away at Ysgol Croes Atti's Shotton site (opened in 2014) whilst Welsh-medium secondary education is available nine miles away in Mold at the long established Ysgol Maes Garmon.
The River Dee flowed to the sea along the current border between Wales and England, until in the 18th century it was diverted into its present channelized course to try to improve ship access from the sea to Chester. That led to extensive land reclamation in the head of the Dee estuary. The River Dee Company (1741-1902) had a right to reclaim the marshes and build embankments following the re-alignment of the Dee. [9]
RAF Sealand was originally a civilian airfield and was taken over by the military in 1916 for training. No. 30 Maintenance unit was formed there in 1939. In 1951 the station was taken over by the United States Air Force, and then handed back to the RAF in 1957.
As a result of defence cuts announced in 2004, RAF Sealand was closed in April 2006. There is a housing estate on the land and a planned Industrial estate.
Though not about the community, the 1981 song "Sealand" by Wirral band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark took its title from the RAF base there. For songwriter Andy McCluskey, the name seemed to evoke the image of "a place between the land and the sea". [13]
Hawarden is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name had a population of 1,887, whereas the community of the same name, which also includes Ewloe Mancot and Aston had a population of 13,920. The scenic wooded Hawarden Park abuts the clustered settlement in the south. Hawarden Bridge consists of distribution and industrial business premises beyond Shotton/Queensferry and the Dee. The west of the main street is called The Highway, its start marked by the crossroads with a fountain in the middle, near which are public houses, some with restaurants.
Flintshire is a county in the north-east of Wales. It has a maritime border with Merseyside along the Dee Estuary to the north, and land borders with Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. Connah's Quay is the largest town, while Flintshire County Council is based in Mold.
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.
Clwyd is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to the east and Shropshire to the south-east. Powys and Gwynedd lie to the south and west respectively. Clwyd also shares a maritime boundary with Merseyside along the River Dee. Between 1974 and 1996, a slightly different area had a county council, with local government functions shared with six district councils. In 1996, Clwyd was abolished, and the new principal areas of Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough were created; under this reorganisation, "Clwyd" became a preserved county, with the name being retained for certain ceremonial functions.
The River Dee is a river flowing through North Wales, and through Cheshire, England, in Great Britain. The length of the main section from Bala to Chester is 113 km and it is largely located in Wales. The stretch between Aldford and Chester is within England, and two other sections form the border between the two countries.
Buckley is a town and community in Flintshire, north-east Wales, two miles (3 km) from the county town of Mold and contiguous with the villages of Ewloe, Alltami and Mynydd Isa. It is on the A549 road, with the larger A55 road passing nearby.
Queensferry is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, lying on the River Dee near the border. The community includes the village of Sandycroft. It is between Connah's Quay, Shotton and Saltney Ferry. Queensferry is also part of the wider Deeside conurbation.
Shotton is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, within the Deeside conurbation along the River Dee, joined with Connah's Quay, near the border with England. It is located 5 miles (8 km) west of Chester and can be reached by road from the A548. In the 2011 census, Shotton had a population of 6,663.
Saltney is a town straddling the counties of Flintshire and Cheshire on the England–Wales border. The local government community of Saltney lies entirely in Wales, while the English areas are unparished. The town forms part of Chester's built-up area and is around 5 miles from Deeside.
Ewloe is a village and electoral ward in the community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. The A55 expressway passes through Ewloe and its most notable landmark is Ewloe Castle. The Ewloe electoral ward had a population at the 2011 Census of 5,420. The urban area of the village is contiguous with Hawarden, Buckley and Shotton. The Office for National Statistics deems Ewloe to form part of the Buckley built-up area, which covers much of Deeside.
Alyn and Deeside is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created in 1983, and it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post method of election.
Deeside is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from neighbouring Chester into the Dee Estuary. These include Connah's Quay, Shotton, Queensferry, Aston, Garden City, Sealand, Broughton, Bretton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Mancot, Pentre, Saltney and Sandycroft. The population is around 50,000, with a plurality (17,500) living in Connah's Quay.
Shotton railway station serves the towns of Shotton and Connah's Quay, Flintshire, Wales. It is situated where the Borderlands Line crosses the North Wales Coast Line. All passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales, which manages the station.
Hawarden Bridge is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, as part of the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway. It opened on 3 August 1889.
Saughall is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Located between Shotwick and Blacon, it is approximately 4.8 km (3.0 mi) north west of Chester and 1.8 km (1.1 mi) from Sealand across the Welsh border.
Connah's Quay, known locally as "The Quay" and formerly known as Wepre, is a town and community in Flintshire, on the River Dee and next to the border with England. With a population of 16,771, it is the largest town in Flintshire. The town is also part of the wider Deeside conurbation and is contiguous with Shotton, Flint and Buckley.
Sealand, in Flintshire, Wales, was the final station on the former Chester & Connah's Quay Railway between Chester Northgate in Cheshire, England and Hawarden Bridge in Flintshire. Services also passed through this station before joining the North Wales and Liverpool Railway. Located 200 metres (660 ft) west of the A550 near RAF Sealand, the station was just before a triangular junction at Dee marshes which controlled rail services from North Wales, Liverpool and Cheshire.
Broughton railway station is a proposed railway station on the North Wales Coast line, situated north of Broughton, Flintshire, Wales. Recent proposals for the station use a site north of Airbus UK's West factory site and Hawarden Airport, where the B5129 crosses the North Wales Coast line. Older proposals for the station include using the old sites of the former Sandycroft and Saltney Ferry railway stations.
Sealand is a very small village ...
CH1 6QF lies on Ferry Lane in Higher Ferry, Chester.
Sealand Road and Sealand Manor are two very small hamlets / villages ...