Trefonen

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Trefonen is a small village located approximately 3 miles southwest of Oswestry, and 3 miles east of the England-Wales border, in Shropshire, England. In 2001 the total population was 1,798¹, but this is likely to have grown in the years since as a result of a considerable housing development. The village currently comprises over 700 households¹, a village hall with playing fields and play area, a parish church, one public house - the Barley Mow, one shop, and a primary school.

The 8th century earthwork Offa's Dyke originally ran through the village and it is still visible today, in small sections, running adjacent to Chapel Lane. The Offa’s Dyke footpath, tracing the route of the structure, also runs directly through the village. Each summer the more contemporary Trefonen Hill Walk is organised by local residents to raise money for charitable causes.

[edit] History

Trefonen is first mentioned in the Domesday book in 1272 as having an obligation to keep the lord's hounds², but the village owes most of its current size to mining activity from the early 18th century until the last mine closed in 1891². During this period the resident populace became engaged in the extraction of the underlying coal, the quarrying of surface carboinferous limestone and its subsequent manufacturing use in a local pottery and brickworks. As these industries declined in the later half of the 19th century local people returned to their agricultural roots and sheep and cattle rearing flourished².

Many of the villages local facilities were built to service the expanding working population of the 18th and 19th centurys and so the Malthouse was built in 1720, the Barley Mow public house in 1760, the Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in 1795, the All Saints parish church in 1821, the school house in 1825, and the Carneddau Independent Chapel in 1832. The village hall is the latest addition and was completed in 1991².