Bangor-on-Dee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bangor-on-Dee (Welsh: Bangor-is-y-Coed or Bangor Is Coed) is a village in the ancient district of Maelor in north-east Wales, situated on the banks of the River Dee. The village is in the county borough of Wrexham and is close to the border with England.
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[edit] Etymology
The commonly used anglicised name refers to the village's proximity to the River Dee. However, the traditional Welsh name is also in common use. The name, Bangor-is-y-Coed, literally means "Bangor (i.e. a settlement within a wattle fence) below the wood/trees".
[edit] History
A monastery was established at Bangor in about AD 560 by Saint Dunod and was an important religious centre in the 5th and 6th centuries. This monastery was destroyed in about AD 616 after Aethelfrith, the King of Northumbria, defeated the Welsh, led by Brocmail (Brochfael), at the Battle of Chester. The scholar Bede wrote that 1200 monks were slaughtered before the attack. Today no trace of the monastery remains and even its site is uncertain.
The five-arched stone arch bridge across the River Dee dates from about 1660 and it is believed to have been built by Inigo Jones. A 1903 suspension bridge by David Rowell & Co. is nearby at Pickford Meadows.
[edit] Transport
Bangor had a station on the Cambrian Railways' Wrexham to Ellesmere line which crossed the River Dee via an iron bridge to the north of the village. This line was opened in 1895 and ran through an entirely rural area. The line closed for passenger services in 1962. Today there is only a local bus service that runs to the nearby towns of Wrexham and Whitchurch.
[edit] Recreation
South-west of the village there is a National Hunt racecourse of the same name. There are also 2 lively pubs, a basket ball court and river activities such as fishing and rafting.
[edit] External links
- The racecourse
- Map sources for Bangor-on-Dee
