Industry
It is fair to say that the industry that helped to establish Coedpoeth as a community did not occur within the village itself apart from a few small coal mines, the main employers of the inhabitants in the 19th-early 20th centuries were the lead mines of Minera & New Brighton, the steelworks at Brymbo, the limestone quarry at Minera, and the larger coal mines that lay outside the village such as Plas Power and Bersham. Today a small industrial estate exists in Minera which the only place in the immediate area which employs a significant number of staff. Units include a large well known local bakery, an engineering merchants, a builders merchant, motor vehicle repairs and restoration among others.
Lead Mining
At
the end of the 13th. century Coedpoeth didn`t exist but the township of MInera
(about 1 1/2 miles to the north west) lay in within the lordship of Bromfield
and Yale. Mines at Minera were known to be active between 1301 & 1305
after which they seem to have declined, these mines were in the Eisteddfod area
where there is still a lot of evidence to be seen.
The eighteenth century saw lead mining resume, by this time the mineral rights were owned by, amongst others, Richard Grosvenor of Eaton Hall, Chester and the city companies of Chester. The land at Minera would in time become a great source of wealth. The revival of mining is said to have begun at around 1710. Between 1761 and 1871 nearly 10,400 tons of ore was raised on the land belonging to the Chester City companies which brought almost £13,000 in royalties. Around 1766 the Park day Level was driven in order to drain the mines into the river Clywedog. By the end of the 18th century, the mines had serious problems with water which was finding it`s way through fissures in the limestone which needed to be drained or pumped, this was not helped by the number of owners of mineral rights. Mineral rights were often leased to several people and as the mines were worked as separate concerns it proved to be an obstacle to attempts to drain them and by 1824 the mines had all been abandoned.
By 1849 the well known mining company of John Taylor & Sons acquired 11 leases and formed the Minera Mining Company, they were convinced that an adit driven at sufficient depth tapping all the sources of water would make it possible to resume mining and at the same time mine to deeper levels. Work started in December on the new Deep Day Level which used an old coal level which when extended would reach more than 200 feet below the deepest of the old adits, three of the older adits were also cleared. At the same time an 80inch Cornish engine with huge pumps was obtained. Two new shafts were started, Roy`s Shaft in 1850 and Ellerton`s in 1852, these were named after shareholders.
The North Wales Mineral Railway had reached the Minera Lime Quarry and works by 1847 so the company laid a branch line to their mines in order to bring coal & supplies in and take ore out.
The Deep Day Level continued to be driven and in 1859 the fissures bringing in the water were finally reached which meant that shaft sinking could now continue at a much more advanced rate, Meadow`s Shaft was below 170yd, Taylor`s below 200yd,Ellerton`s beyond 150yd. At this time production and profits were rising. In 1864 what proved to be the best area in the mines was opened up where just 6 men were able to get between 120-130 tons of galena (lead ore) a month which paid them well at 12/6 (62 1/2p) a ton. The company had it`s best year in 1864 with 6,822 tons of galena sold for nearly £98,000
By the middle of 1866 the richest ore between Andrew`s Shaft and Ellerton`s had been largely mined but there was still large amounts of ore to be found in the ground to the west of Ellerton`s and rich ores were found at other locations.
By 1870 the reserves of ore were falling significantly in the area bounded by Meadow, Roy`s and Taylor`s shafts and kept falling from app 13,500 tons down to 9,500 tons in 1872. It was also found that there were higher wages to be had in the coal mines and iron trades and men began to drift away into these industries, the lead mines depended on a system of “bargaining” whereupon a team of men would let certain sections of the mine for a month or two working for so much in the ton of dressed ore (galena)that was removed. In this way some men could earn wages that were above average but coal mines paid more for less effort. In 1874 the company complained that coal was expensive, labour was hard to come by and the price of zinc and lead was dropping, added to this was the fact that the quality of the ore was getting worse. No new discoveries were made in 1875 although in 1876 some new discoveries were made in the western & northern part of the area but by 1879 most area had become poor again.
The annual report for 1883 reported discoveries still being made in the mine at a depth of 300 yds in the Meadow shaft and blende (zinc ore) at 315yds in Roy`s shaft, but the price for dressed ore was still low and was yet to reach it`s lowest level and the decision was taken to reduce exploration to a minimum . By 1895 with the falling sales of lead and falling prices of zinc the mine was put up for sale but carried on under the control of liquidators until 1898 when it (together with the New Minera Co.) came under the control of the newly created United Minera Mining Company.
In 1898 the demand for brass was rising also there was heavy consumption of galvanised sheets which pushed the price of blende up to record levels in May 1899, this in turn prompted a rise in production which then caused the price to fall back which recovered in 1902. The price again rose in 1906 which remained high until late 1907 when it dropped again but remained steady until a heavy drop again in 1913. This was the end as the decision was taken to cease production that year.
About 135,000 tons of dressed galena (containing app 80% lead) and 180,000 tons of blende (app 55% zinc) was raised between 1852-1913, this put the Minera mine in the amongst the top 6 British mines in terms of lead/zinc production until the 1930`s when more modern mining techniques allowed large scale production.
The eighteenth century saw lead mining resume, by this time the mineral rights were owned by, amongst others, Richard Grosvenor of Eaton Hall, Chester and the city companies of Chester. The land at Minera would in time become a great source of wealth. The revival of mining is said to have begun at around 1710. Between 1761 and 1871 nearly 10,400 tons of ore was raised on the land belonging to the Chester City companies which brought almost £13,000 in royalties. Around 1766 the Park day Level was driven in order to drain the mines into the river Clywedog. By the end of the 18th century, the mines had serious problems with water which was finding it`s way through fissures in the limestone which needed to be drained or pumped, this was not helped by the number of owners of mineral rights. Mineral rights were often leased to several people and as the mines were worked as separate concerns it proved to be an obstacle to attempts to drain them and by 1824 the mines had all been abandoned.
By 1849 the well known mining company of John Taylor & Sons acquired 11 leases and formed the Minera Mining Company, they were convinced that an adit driven at sufficient depth tapping all the sources of water would make it possible to resume mining and at the same time mine to deeper levels. Work started in December on the new Deep Day Level which used an old coal level which when extended would reach more than 200 feet below the deepest of the old adits, three of the older adits were also cleared. At the same time an 80inch Cornish engine with huge pumps was obtained. Two new shafts were started, Roy`s Shaft in 1850 and Ellerton`s in 1852, these were named after shareholders.
The North Wales Mineral Railway had reached the Minera Lime Quarry and works by 1847 so the company laid a branch line to their mines in order to bring coal & supplies in and take ore out.
The Deep Day Level continued to be driven and in 1859 the fissures bringing in the water were finally reached which meant that shaft sinking could now continue at a much more advanced rate, Meadow`s Shaft was below 170yd, Taylor`s below 200yd,Ellerton`s beyond 150yd. At this time production and profits were rising. In 1864 what proved to be the best area in the mines was opened up where just 6 men were able to get between 120-130 tons of galena (lead ore) a month which paid them well at 12/6 (62 1/2p) a ton. The company had it`s best year in 1864 with 6,822 tons of galena sold for nearly £98,000
By the middle of 1866 the richest ore between Andrew`s Shaft and Ellerton`s had been largely mined but there was still large amounts of ore to be found in the ground to the west of Ellerton`s and rich ores were found at other locations.
By 1870 the reserves of ore were falling significantly in the area bounded by Meadow, Roy`s and Taylor`s shafts and kept falling from app 13,500 tons down to 9,500 tons in 1872. It was also found that there were higher wages to be had in the coal mines and iron trades and men began to drift away into these industries, the lead mines depended on a system of “bargaining” whereupon a team of men would let certain sections of the mine for a month or two working for so much in the ton of dressed ore (galena)that was removed. In this way some men could earn wages that were above average but coal mines paid more for less effort. In 1874 the company complained that coal was expensive, labour was hard to come by and the price of zinc and lead was dropping, added to this was the fact that the quality of the ore was getting worse. No new discoveries were made in 1875 although in 1876 some new discoveries were made in the western & northern part of the area but by 1879 most area had become poor again.
The annual report for 1883 reported discoveries still being made in the mine at a depth of 300 yds in the Meadow shaft and blende (zinc ore) at 315yds in Roy`s shaft, but the price for dressed ore was still low and was yet to reach it`s lowest level and the decision was taken to reduce exploration to a minimum . By 1895 with the falling sales of lead and falling prices of zinc the mine was put up for sale but carried on under the control of liquidators until 1898 when it (together with the New Minera Co.) came under the control of the newly created United Minera Mining Company.
In 1898 the demand for brass was rising also there was heavy consumption of galvanised sheets which pushed the price of blende up to record levels in May 1899, this in turn prompted a rise in production which then caused the price to fall back which recovered in 1902. The price again rose in 1906 which remained high until late 1907 when it dropped again but remained steady until a heavy drop again in 1913. This was the end as the decision was taken to cease production that year.
About 135,000 tons of dressed galena (containing app 80% lead) and 180,000 tons of blende (app 55% zinc) was raised between 1852-1913, this put the Minera mine in the amongst the top 6 British mines in terms of lead/zinc production until the 1930`s when more modern mining techniques allowed large scale production.
Coal Mining
Coal mining in the area goes back over 600 years when the first reference is in a charter from the Earl of Arundel dated 1411 when the burgesses of Holt were given the right to dig for coal in the "wastes" of Brymbo and Coedpoeth. In 1683, Sir Thomas Grosvenor of Eaton (Chester) granted Roger Mostyn, of Brymbo permission to dig for coal at Coedpoeth Common. These early coal mines would have been "bell pits" where upon a small shaft would have been dug to the shallow coal seams close to the surface and then when reached, the coal would have been removed from around the base of the shaft until the ground became unsupported and thus too dangerous to work further. These bell pits would have been worked by only a handful of men at each site. Bell pits were known to have been dug in the Pant Tywyll (Dark Hollow) area of Coedpoeth, the coal from which was taken to John Wilkinson`s iron foundry at Bersham when that was established
A "bell pit".
It would appear that there were three successive Grovenor Collieries at Coedpoeth,:-
1 Earl Grosvenor`s Colliery of 1790 (reported to have been 40 yards deep)
2 The Jockey Mine (closed 1869).
3 New Grosvenor (1869-1890)
The New Grosvenor Mine was said to have been about 100yds. deep and was a very hot mine which worked the "yard" seam which was about 2ft. thick, the company built a wooden bridge about 300yds long to the railway which ran to the Minera Lime Works which suggests that they were a good customer to the mine. In about 1883 the colliery was taken over by the Brymbo Steel Company who then took all the output for their own use. About 1890 coal production ceased but the mine was reopened by Mr. Arthur Acton who raised fireclay from the mine. The mine finally closed sometime before the First World War.
The Talwrn Colliery was at the bottom of Castle Road, Close to Bathafarn Chapel, and in 1901 was said to have 119 employees, 105 of which worked underground, the same year the Vron Colliery Co. was registered as the owner. A rope worked incline was built from the Vron Colliery to the Talwrn Colliery in order to provide a rail connection. There is a report of the talwrn colliery being reopened by Robert Brown of Coedpoeth in 1908.
Certainly from the beginning of the First World War there were no coal mines within Coedpoeth, the nearest which provided work for many men from within the village were, Vron Colliery (cl. 1930), Plas Power (cl.1938), Llay Main (cl.1966), Hafod (cl.1968), Gresford (cl.1974) and Bersham (cl. 1986).
1 Earl Grosvenor`s Colliery of 1790 (reported to have been 40 yards deep)
2 The Jockey Mine (closed 1869).
3 New Grosvenor (1869-1890)
The New Grosvenor Mine was said to have been about 100yds. deep and was a very hot mine which worked the "yard" seam which was about 2ft. thick, the company built a wooden bridge about 300yds long to the railway which ran to the Minera Lime Works which suggests that they were a good customer to the mine. In about 1883 the colliery was taken over by the Brymbo Steel Company who then took all the output for their own use. About 1890 coal production ceased but the mine was reopened by Mr. Arthur Acton who raised fireclay from the mine. The mine finally closed sometime before the First World War.
The Talwrn Colliery was at the bottom of Castle Road, Close to Bathafarn Chapel, and in 1901 was said to have 119 employees, 105 of which worked underground, the same year the Vron Colliery Co. was registered as the owner. A rope worked incline was built from the Vron Colliery to the Talwrn Colliery in order to provide a rail connection. There is a report of the talwrn colliery being reopened by Robert Brown of Coedpoeth in 1908.
Certainly from the beginning of the First World War there were no coal mines within Coedpoeth, the nearest which provided work for many men from within the village were, Vron Colliery (cl. 1930), Plas Power (cl.1938), Llay Main (cl.1966), Hafod (cl.1968), Gresford (cl.1974) and Bersham (cl. 1986).
Quarrying
Limestone
Apart from one small quarry at Penygelli Road there were no quarries in Coedpoeth, the main centres were at New Brighton (silica), Minera (limestone and freestone) and Bwlchgwyn (silica). By the 17th century demand for lime for use as an agricultural fertiliser and mortar had grown considerably, the earliest reference however is to 3 kilns situated at Minera Mill in 1620. The lime was burned in alternating layers of limestone & fuel usually in shallow pits which were covered over with air introduced via wind channels underneath. The demand for agricultural lime increased by the second half of the 18th. century together with the use of lime as a flux in iron making. Given Minera`s close proximity to large farming areas and to John Wilkinson`s iron foundry at Bersham, the quarrying of limestone was set to become a lucrative business.
By the 1780`s Samuel George was working quarries and kilns near Ty Hir but it is likely that there were others on the mountain in the Eisteddfod area as there was easily accessible limestone close to supplies of coal which made it an ideal location. The earliest record of a lease on the Eisteddfod is in 1819 to John Burton of Minera Hall and to James Kyrke.
Lester`s Quarry was recorded in 1858 as producing 80,000 tons per year. This quarry had built up a trade supplying Staffordshire and Lancashire with stone for the iron & steel industry and lime to chemical manufacturers, 46 men were employed here in 1896. The Minera Lime Company was set up in 1852 taking over an existing company, one of the partners was Henry Robertson (Pale Hall, Llandderfel, Bala) who as an industrialist was heavily involved with coal mining and railways in the area.
By 1859 it was estimated that the total output of limestone for all the quarries in Minera was close to 300,000 tons about 2/3rds of which was converted into lime, the rest used as a flux or the iron industry some of which went as far as the Black Country. In 1868 the Minera Lime Company erected one of the first Hoffman kilns, this had 24 chambers, each one capable of holding 120 tons of limestone. A second smaller one was built in 1874. In 1899 the Minera Lime Company bought Lester`s Quarry & works which enabled them to expand, they used a system of large explosions one of which in 1915 produced 48,000 tons of stone.
In 1929 two gas fired kilns were tried but were out of use by 1933 the company reverting to the Hoffman kilns. By 1931 the depression was in full swing and the company felt the effects, the closure of Brymbo Steelworks (a very large customer) resulted in the limeworks closing in January 1933 not reopening until April 1934. In 1954 Adam Lythgoe took over the quarry, they wanted to increase the production of agricultutral lime and a new crushing & screening plant was installed, about this time the Hoffman kilns were abandoned. In 1967 Tarmac Roadstone Holdings became the owners of the site,in1972 the production of lime was halted but quarrying for roadstone continued.
The quarry became the property of Redland Aggregates who announced in December 1993 that the quarry was to close bringing 150 years of production to an end. Minera Quarry Trust
.
The quarry site is now under the stewardship of the Minera Quarry trust which was set up in 2005 in order to conserve the quarry for the benefit of the public.
Minera Quarry Trust
.
By the 1780`s Samuel George was working quarries and kilns near Ty Hir but it is likely that there were others on the mountain in the Eisteddfod area as there was easily accessible limestone close to supplies of coal which made it an ideal location. The earliest record of a lease on the Eisteddfod is in 1819 to John Burton of Minera Hall and to James Kyrke.
Lester`s Quarry was recorded in 1858 as producing 80,000 tons per year. This quarry had built up a trade supplying Staffordshire and Lancashire with stone for the iron & steel industry and lime to chemical manufacturers, 46 men were employed here in 1896. The Minera Lime Company was set up in 1852 taking over an existing company, one of the partners was Henry Robertson (Pale Hall, Llandderfel, Bala) who as an industrialist was heavily involved with coal mining and railways in the area.
By 1859 it was estimated that the total output of limestone for all the quarries in Minera was close to 300,000 tons about 2/3rds of which was converted into lime, the rest used as a flux or the iron industry some of which went as far as the Black Country. In 1868 the Minera Lime Company erected one of the first Hoffman kilns, this had 24 chambers, each one capable of holding 120 tons of limestone. A second smaller one was built in 1874. In 1899 the Minera Lime Company bought Lester`s Quarry & works which enabled them to expand, they used a system of large explosions one of which in 1915 produced 48,000 tons of stone.
In 1929 two gas fired kilns were tried but were out of use by 1933 the company reverting to the Hoffman kilns. By 1931 the depression was in full swing and the company felt the effects, the closure of Brymbo Steelworks (a very large customer) resulted in the limeworks closing in January 1933 not reopening until April 1934. In 1954 Adam Lythgoe took over the quarry, they wanted to increase the production of agricultutral lime and a new crushing & screening plant was installed, about this time the Hoffman kilns were abandoned. In 1967 Tarmac Roadstone Holdings became the owners of the site,in1972 the production of lime was halted but quarrying for roadstone continued.
The quarry became the property of Redland Aggregates who announced in December 1993 that the quarry was to close bringing 150 years of production to an end. Minera Quarry Trust
.
The quarry site is now under the stewardship of the Minera Quarry trust which was set up in 2005 in order to conserve the quarry for the benefit of the public.
Minera Quarry Trust
.
SILICA SANDSTONE
The sandstone found in the area has a high silica content and so was in demand for other uses apart from building. A quarry near Graig Fawr was opened in 1899 trading under the name of Spar Gravel Quarry, the company employed 15 men but gave up in 1904 due to competition. Locally, the quarry was called the "Call Again Quarry". The quarry was reopened in 1916 by Roberts & Maginnis who produced silica brick, furnace bricks, and other furnace productsand by the 1920`s were extracting 10,000 tons a year. In 1926 the Brymbo Silica Quarries who worked the nearby Tir Celyn Quarry merged with the Roberts & Maginnis operation to form the Minera Silica Quarries Ltd. to run both quarries under a new lease.
The other major silica quarry in the area was in Bwlchgwyn, in 1878 Richard Kyrke of Nant Y Ffrith took a lease for 254 acres and began commercial extraction. In 1894 together with other investors, Richard Kyrke formed the Bwlchgwyn Roadstone Company, by 1896 they had thirty nine employees.
In the early 1920`s the name had changed to the Bwlchgwyn Silica Co., and new sites in the Nant Y Ffrith valley were opened. In 1948 the company applied for permission to quarry under the village of Bwlchgwyn, unsurprisingly this aroused much fierce local opposition as it would have meant the destruction of much of the village. At a local inquiry in 1951 the company claimed that the high grade silica content were suiltable for bricks of special quality for use in the steelmaking industry at Sheffield. The decision given by the Minister in 1953 was that he could not agree to this and limited permission was granted for an area south of the Glascoed Road.
The other major silica quarry in the area was in Bwlchgwyn, in 1878 Richard Kyrke of Nant Y Ffrith took a lease for 254 acres and began commercial extraction. In 1894 together with other investors, Richard Kyrke formed the Bwlchgwyn Roadstone Company, by 1896 they had thirty nine employees.
In the early 1920`s the name had changed to the Bwlchgwyn Silica Co., and new sites in the Nant Y Ffrith valley were opened. In 1948 the company applied for permission to quarry under the village of Bwlchgwyn, unsurprisingly this aroused much fierce local opposition as it would have meant the destruction of much of the village. At a local inquiry in 1951 the company claimed that the high grade silica content were suiltable for bricks of special quality for use in the steelmaking industry at Sheffield. The decision given by the Minister in 1953 was that he could not agree to this and limited permission was granted for an area south of the Glascoed Road.
THE BERWIG QUARRY
This quarry at Minera became very well known for the quality of it`s sandstone (or "freestone) for building. In 1844 it was said that the quarry had been in operation for at least seventy years. In 1858 it was recorded as producing 4000 tons per annum. The stone was used for many public buildings in the area including St. George`s Hall & Walker Art gallery in Liverpool and Owen`s College in Manchester.