Stansty

Stansty is a community in the Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It lies to the north-west part of the town of Wrexham.

Geography

Stansty is made up of, what is described locally as Higher Stansty and Lower Stansty ; Higher Stansty lies near to the Summerhill, Gwersyllt and Moss Valley and is north of the A483 bypass, whilst Lower Stansty or Plas Coch as it is now more commonly referred to neighbours the community of Rhosddu and is south of the A483 bypass.

Coal mining era

The area, like most of Wrexham has a tradition of coal mining, Rhosddu Colliery or the Wrexham & Acton Colliery as it was also known, was once reached along Colliery Road, this was obviously before the building of the A483 bypass which divided the old colliery. Colliery Road is still in existence today but is now surrounded by a residential area.

History

A number of large houses once stood in the area and few of them can still be seen today. Rhosddu Lodge is an example and stands on what is now known as Weston Drive. In its heyday Rhosddu Lodge stood proudly surrounded by large grounds of which the original wall can still be seen, the modest ironwork gates to the house are still present and they are inscribed with "The Lodge". Another feature of Rhosddu Lodge is the gatehouse. The gatehouse is still standing on Lodge Road and with its unique charataristics is still a feature within the small community. Rhosddu Lodge has been divided into three separate homes but still maintains its original charm.

Another example was Plas Coch which was built in the late 16th century in mature hand-made red brick, which gave the house its name (Plas Coch, translated into redhouse). It was a two storey house and plan of the dwelling was a typical through passage house with access at either end of the passage. The house was built for William Meredith in 1952 who was knighted later in life. He was one of the sons of Richard Meredith of Allington Hall. Edward Meredith, a brother to William, was recorded in 1610 as trading as draper in Cheapside, London and he had held the lease on Plas Coch from his nephew for a time. Sir Richard Meredith held the office of the High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1629.

In 1709 the Plas Coch estate was sold by Sir William Meredith of Kent to Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet of Gwydir Castle, Llanrwst.

Plas Coch played an important part in the social life of the town. It held the Denbighshire & Flintshire Agricultural Society Show and the Annual Wrexham Lager Festival.

Sadly the house and building were demolished in the late 1980s to make way for a large supermarket and retail development. The only part of the original property remaining today is a short length of stone wall at the roadside in front of Homebase. During the construction of the Retail development in 1991, a hoard of Roman coins were rumoured to have been discovered by workmen, however all of the coins disappeared. In 1995 further construction work on the site revealed traces of Roman field boundaries, hearths and a corn drying kiln.

Public houses in Stansty

* The Railway Inn on Railway Road
* The Plas Coch on Plas Coch Road

chools in Stansty

* Ysgol Plas Coch

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3537100 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Stansty and surrounding area]