WREXHAM

Welsh Wrecsam town, Wrexham county borough, historic county of Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych), Wales. It is an industrial centre, a market centre, and the principal town of northeastern Wales. The town's name is Anglo-Saxon in origin. Edward I (king of England 12721307) granted the town to Earl Warenne. Wrexham was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, when John (Iron Mad) Wilkinson established the Bersham Ironworks there. The ironworks produced cannon for the British army during the American Revolution and cylinders for James Watt's first steam engines. Nearby coalfields began to be exploited in the 19th century, and the town acquired steel, leather, and brewing industries. After World War II Wrexham's traditional industries largely ceased to operate, but the town attracted new industries, including engineering, automotive components, packaging, pharmaceuticals, electronics, optical fibres, food processing, and chemicals. The town is the administrative centre of Wrexham county borough. It also is the site of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (a University of Wales Associated College) and is the home of the Wrexham AFC football (soccer) team. The parish church of St. Giles dates from 1472, and in its churchyard is the tomb of Elihu Yale (died 1721), the founder of Yale University; a full-scale replica of the parish church tower stands at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. Pop. (1991) 40,614. Welsh Wrecsam county borough, northeastern Wales, along the English border. It covers a lowland area in the east, where most of the population lives, and includes the peaks of Esclusham, Ruabon, and Cyrn-y-Brain in the northwest. In the southwest it extends into the Vale of Ceiriog and the surrounding mountains, including the Berwyn massif. Most of Wrexham county borough lies within the historic county of Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych), but its southeastern portion belongs to the historic county of Flintshire (Sir Fflint). The town of Wrexham, the county borough's administrative centre and main population centre, had an ironworks that was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. The surrounding region industrialized rapidly during the 19th century with the exploitation of rich coal deposits, and Wrexham town became the main commercial centre of the North Wales coalfield. The area's coal mines and heavy industry largely ceased operation by the end of the 20th century, but Wrexham attracted new industries, including engineering, automotive components, packaging, pharmaceuticals, electronics, optical fibres, food processing, and chemicals. Wrexham town is also the site of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, a University of Wales Associated College. While the area around Wrexham town is urban, the area to the southeast is mainly rural and agricultural, specializing in grains and other arable crops. Livestock production predominates in the mountainous west, where tourism is also economically important. Area 193 square miles (500 square km). Pop. (1998 est.) 125,200.