Cefn Mawr is a village in the community of Cefn within the county borough of Wrexham, north-east Wales. The community of Cefn comprises the villages of Cefn Mawr, Acrefair, Penybryn, Newbridge and Rhosymedre and is situated on the northern slopes of the Dee valley.
History
Cefn Mawr was part of the ancient parish of Ruabon and the area was known as Cristionydd Cynrig (or Cristionydd Kenrick in English). In 1844, most of Cristionydd Cynrig, together with the neighbouring township of Coed Cristionydd became part of the new parish of Rhosymedre. Cefn Mawr is also the origin of the slang word Chead.
Industry
Cefn Mawr was formerly heavily industrialised, with large deposits of iron and coal, and heavy industry dominated the area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Iron was worked at several blast furnaces and forges throughout the area and coal was dug at pits in Cefn, Plas Kynaston and Dolydd. Stone was cut at quarries above Cefn Mawr. Much of the mineral wealth of the area was exported by canal over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the Shropshire Union Canal, until the railway reached Ruabon in 1855.
In 1867 Robert Ferdinand Graesser, an industrial chemist from Obermosel in Saxony, established a chemical works at Plas Kynaston to extract paraffin oil and wax from the local shale. The company later expanded into the production of coal tar, carbolic acid and phenol. The site soon became the world's leading phenol producer. In 1919 the US chemical company Monsanto entered into a partnership with Graesser's chemical works to produce vanillin, salicylic acid, aspirin and later rubber. The works is now operated by Flexsys, a subsidiary of Solutia.
Leisure
Tŷ Mawr Country Park is located in the area, and features the Cefn Viaduct, built by Thomas Brassey in 1848 to carry the Shrewsbury and Chester railway across the valley of the River Dee. The village itself includes a primary school and public library.
The community is home to Newi Cefn Druids FC football club, of the Welsh Premier League. The club has won the Welsh FA Cup on several occasions, from the 1880's to early 1900's. They currently are one of the smaller teams within the Welsh Premier League. |
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