Bersham-Drelincourt - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849) BERSHAM-DRELINCOURT, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Wrexham, hundred of Bromfield, county of Denbigh, North Wales, 2 miles (W. by N.) from Wrexham; the township of Bersham containing 1716 inhabitants. In or near this chapelry are extensive paper-mills, situated upon the river Clywedog; and the whole district abounds with valuable mines of iron and coal. The township comprises 1901 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £16 per annum private benefaction, £600 royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant; net income, £90; patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The vicarial tithes of the township, payable to the incumbent of Wrexham, have been commuted for a rent-charge of £240; and the impropriate, for one of £174. 10. The chapel, known by the local name of "Capel Madam," is situated at the southwestern extremity of the township of Broughton. Attached to it is a school for the instruction of twenty poor girls, founded in 1762, by Anne, Dowager Viscountess Primerose, who endowed it with lands, &c., under the superintendence of trustees, including the Bishop of St. Asaph, the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, and others. All the children are clothed, and half of the number lodged and maintained, at the expense of the charity, which is open to the parishes of Wrexham and Llanvair-Dyfryn-Clwyd. At Bersham is a well-built school, established in 1842 by the Harris family, by whom considerably more than half the expenses are defrayed, the remainder being met by school-fees and subscriptions. That celebrated relic of Anglo-Saxon antiquity, Wat's Dyke, passes in the vicinity, nearly in a direction from south to north, and is perfect throughout the whole of its course here. The inhabitants of the township are assessed separately for the maintenance of their poor, pursuant to an arrangement made in 1830.
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