Froncysyllte Tour

The flat area just beyond the bend was a wharf, originally used to unload limestone from Froncysyllte.

The Pen-y-bont brick works was established in 1865, making use of a substantial clay pit on the site with its distinctive vibrant ‘Ruabon red’ colour. A tramroad ran from the works to a wharf on the flat area just beyond the bend of the canal. By 1881 this had been superseded by a standard gauge branch from the works to the Great Western Railway.

James Coster Edwards, who developed the works, produced a vast array of high quality bricks, roof and ridge tiles and chimney pots. However it was his pioneering use of large scale decorative red terracotta used as ornamental material on many of buildings for which he became well known. Even the Pen-y-bont main office is a showpiece which exhibits the beauty of the work that the company produced. The works was sold in 1956 and closed in 1960.

Although small scale limestone quarrying had taken place in the Froncysyllte area since the 1500s, the arrival of the canal at Froncysyllte provided cheap, efficient transport for limestone and lime products to reach new markets.

The smaller limekilns, the Froncysyllte west limekilns, were constructed in the early 1800s. They were owned by the great ironmaster William Hazeldine and connected by a steep tram road to Pisgah Quarry. There are two low kilns, with two arches facing the canal which were probably built as a single unit. There was also a wharf here to load up the lime on to the boats. They were known as Biddulph’s limekilns in 1822 when Thomas Telford improved the London to Holyhead Road running through the village.

The kilns are shown as working on the 1843 tithe map but were disused by 1899.

The imposing stonewall with six arches towering above the canal is the Froncysyllte east limekilns, built in the late 1800s. The limestone for these kilns came from Pen-y-graig Quarry above the village along a series of horse/donkey drawn tram roads.

The ruins of the limekilns today are in sharp contrast to what you would have seen a hundred years ago.

Life for a lime burner, such as Joseph Edwards who lived nearby, was very hard. He would have probably worked a 12 hour shift in hot, exhausting and dangerous conditions. The limestone was burned in kilns at 1000°C and gave off poisonous fumes so lime burners could lose consciousness and collapse. The lime powder had to be plunged in water to neutralise it, resulting in violent spitting that could cause serious burns to a worker.

One old expression associated with lime burners was ‘I’m as dry as a lime burner’s clog’, referring to the clogs that would split because of the intense heat of the kiln pit.

The footbridge was built in the mid 1900s.

Across the fields is a stunning view of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct crossing the Dee valley, where you can begin to appreciate why it is called the ‘stream in the sky’.

Graesser was from Germany and not allowed to own property until he became a British citizen in the 1870s. He bought Argoed Hall and the surrounding land in 1880 for the sum of £3,750. By 1880 his works were producing coal tar and carbolic acid or phenol, and became the world’s leading producer of phenol.

Graesser came to the rescue of Wrexham Lager, established by two other German entrepreneurs, when the brewery faced liquidation in the early 1890s, only a few years after being founded. He turned the business round to make it very successful by exporting the lager around the world, as far as Australia.

Argoed Hall was altered extensively in the late 1800s to provide a comfortable home for Graesser’s expanding family and servants with 11 people in residence in 1891. In spite of his busy business life, he still found time to join Richard Roberts to fish for salmon in a coracle on the River Dee.

On 15 July 1911 Robert Graesser walked from Argoed Hall to his chemical works where he collapsed and died at his desk. There was so much respect for the 66 year old that a crowd lined the road as his funeral procession made its way along the main road to St David’s Church.

Norman Graesser took over the family home and business, developing a partnership with the USA chemical company Monsanto in 1919. Nine years later Monsanto took full ownership of the company. After the family sold the Hall in the mid 1900s it became a home for the elderly and was later divided up into apartments.

Unfortunately some landlords were tempted to drink rather too much! Edward Jones, a landlord here in 1874, admitted to being drunk and incapable of attending to his business. Another landlord, Jonah Griffiths, also had a drink problem, which led to the pub licence being transferred to his wife Ann. In 1906, while affected by the after effects of alcoholism, he cut his throat with a razor. Two years later, after attacking his wife, he agreed to treatment at a home for alcoholics.

At this time, the Sunday Closing Act banned drinking alcohol on Sundays in Wales, except for people on long journeys. Two men, Arthur Thomas and William Thomas, were fined for drinking at the Inn on Sunday 31 July 1910 when it was discovered they had only travelled one mile to have a drink!

From the Aqueduct Inn you have a bird’s eye view over the Froncysyllte Basin and the canal making its way towards the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct while opposite is Cefn Mawr, meaning Big Ridge.

The Choir quickly grew with sixty members including miners, quarrymen and chemical workers. The Choir made its first public appearance at the Armistice Day Service at the cenotaph in the village in 1947 and gave a concert to a capacity audience in the Seion Chapel in December. Competing with other choirs started with the International Eisteddfod in 1948 and by 1954 the Choir was making radio broadcasts from Carmel Chapel. From 1965 the Choir started to tour overseas with a first visit to Germany. Since then the Choir has sung at concerts and competitions all over the world.

The ‘Voices of the Valley’ album released in 2006 reached Number 1 in the Classic Album Charts and their success has continued since then.