Marford

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Marford near Wrexham is a village in the county borough of Wrexham. The village iteself is described as one Wales's most charming estate villages. Several of the village's cottages have been listed by Cadw.

It once formed a small enclave of Flintshire (Welsh: Sir y Fflint) completely surrounded by Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych). Formerly in the ancient parish of Gresford, in 1840 the township of Marford and Hoseley became part of the newly formed parish of Rossett.

Marford covers some 750 acres (3.0 km²), where the hills of North Wales meet the vast plains of Cheshire. Distant landmarks that can be scene clearly from Marford include Eaton Hall, Chester Town Hall and Cathedral. Beyond that on the Cheshire plains you can the Peckforton Castle and its hills form the skyline with the outcrop of rock at Beeston Castle.

Marford is famous for its quaint looking gothic cottages, these were built as part of the former Trevalyn Hall estates. The style is called cottage orné, although some of the buildings are earlier, most were built at the end of the 18th until the beginning of the 19th centuries. Originally the buildings were roofed in thatch - some do have strange roof lines today which give away their history - however soon they were reroofed in Bwlch yr Oernant slate. One feature of many of the houses in Marford are the crosses, the purpose of the cross was to protect the inhabitants from ghosts of Marford.

There are two public houses in Marford - one at the bottom of the Marford hill - The Trevor Arms, the other at the top - The Red Lion. There are no shops in Marford or places of worship although there were two non-conformist chapels; a Baptist Chapel in Cox Lane and Wesleyan chapel on the old turnpike lane in the Pant. Both are now private houses.

The village also has a disused quarry which has become colonised by many interesting plants and butterflies. The quarry was originally opened in 1927 to provide materials for the construction of the Mersey Tunnel, quarrying ceased in 1971 when the 39 acres were allowed to regenerate naturally. The area was designated a SSSI in 1989 and 26 acres were purchased in 1990 by the North Wales Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve.