Bersham

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Bersham is a small village in the county borough of Wrexham in north-east Wales.

Contents 1 Geography 2 An area of Industrial Importance 3 Coal Mining 4 Plas Power Woods 5 Bersham Church 6 The Fitzhugh Family

[edit] Geography

[edit] An area of Industrial Importance

The village holds special importance for economic historians, for not only did it house the workshops of the skilled Davies Brothers, it was one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution. This is the place where British iron making began in 1670, where smelting iron ore with coke began in 1721, and where John Wilkinson set up shop in 1761. For many years the area was one of the most important iron manufacturing centers in the world. The Bersham Ironworks tells the story of the man who bored cannon for the American War of Independence and cylinders for James Watt' revolutionary steam engine that changed the face of the modern world.

[edit] Coal Mining

[edit] Plas Power Woods

Plas Power Woods comprise 33.7ha of woodland running along the River Clywedog between Coedpoeth and Bersham, and stretches to the Nant Mill Wood situated upstream to the east on the Clywedog Trail. The vast majority of the woodland is ancient although most has been replanted with conifers and, locally, with beech and/or sycamore.

Several features of historical importance are present. A section of the Offa’s Dyke runs across the Clywedog Valley through Plas Power Woods. Several Listed structures are also present including Plas Power Park wall, an ornate cast iron Victorian bridge and railings and the Western Weir, Nant Bridge, Bersham Lodge and Caeau Wier.

[edit] Bersham Church

St Mary's in Plas Power is a nineteenth centuary church in the heart of the village. The church was founded and built by Thomas Lloyd FitzHugh in 1875. His wife Emily Mary from Charlecote in Warwickshire took a great interest in the building and is the reason why the architecht and organ builder were both from that county. It was originally built without a bell tower; however, one was added some years later. When Captain Godfrey FitzHugh was killed on active service in Palestine in 1917 his widow Ethel had the bells installed in his memory.They consist of a carillon of eight bells operated by hand and are still in use today.

[edit] The Fitzhugh Family