Maelor
53°03′50″N 2°52′19″W / 53.064°N 2.872°W Maelor is a border area of north-east Wales and north-west England, now entirely part of Wrexham County Borough.
The name Maelor is an old Welsh word: it can be translated as "land of the prince", from mael "prince" and llawr "low ground", "region".[1]
History
Maelor originated as a cantref of the Kingdom of Powys, focused on Bangor-on-Dee[2] and containing of the commotes of Maelor, Iâl, Ystrad Alun and Yr Hob.[3]
It became divided from Powys by the construction of Offa's Dyke in the eighth century and became part of the Kingdom of Mercia.[2] It was reclaimed for Powys during the reign of Stephen of England (1135–54) by Madog ap Maredudd. He died in 1160 and the kingdom was subdivided amongst his heirs.
By the early 13th century, when it was part of the lands of Madog ap Gruffydd, Prince of Powys Fadog, Maelor was divided into two parts. Maelor Gymraeg ("Welsh Maelor"), also known by the English name Bromfield, lay west of the river Dee and was based on the commotes of Wrexham and Merford.[4] Maelor Saesneg ("English Maelor") included Overton, Ellesmere, Whittington and Oswestry; Malaur Saisnec appears in a document as early as 1202. Saesneg ("English") is believed to relate specifically to the area's religious administration rather than linguistic factors, as it was historically part of the ancient Diocese of Lichfield and Chester.[1] The Welsh Maelor remained within in the Diocese of St Asaph.
English Maelor
The English Maelor (Template:Lang-cy) is the area enclosed by the Welsh/English border where it bulged to the east almost to Whitchurch. In 1397, under Richard II of England, the Maelor Saesneg was merged with the County Palatine of Chester to form the Principality of Chester. In 1536 the area was included in the newly created county of Flintshire, forming the Hundred of Maelor. Although part of Flintshire, Maelor Hundred was an exclave, surrounded by Cheshire, Shropshire and Denbighshire. The administrative centre of the area, often referred to as Flintshire Detached, was Overton and it included the villages of Bangor on Dee, Bettisfield, Bronington, Hanmer, Knolton, Penley, Tybroughton, Willington and Worthenbury. An OS map specifically including the area, dating from 1905, is available from Old Ordnance Survey Maps (Sheet 122) entitled "Whitchurch, Nantwich and English Maelor".
In 1887 a Boundary Commission was appointed to review the boundaries of counties in England and Wales. At an inquiry at Overton, it was found that most of the population of the area favoured it becoming part of Shropshire, and this was later supported by resolution of the Flintshire justices of the peace.[5] However, when local government legislation was introduced no change was made.
Under the Local Government Act 1894 the area became Overton Rural District which was again renamed in 1953 as Maelor Rural District, remaining as a detached part of Flintshire until 1974.[2]
Maelor Gymraeg
The Maelor Gymraeg, the "Welsh Maelor", is an ancient district of Wales to the west of the River Dee. It corresponds approximately to the later parishes of Bersham, Erbistock, Marchwiel, Ruabon and Wrexham in the historic county of Denbighshire which was created in 1536.
The Maelor today
In 1974, local government in Wales was reorganised, and both halves of the Maelor were included in Wrexham Maelor, one of six districts in the new county of Clwyd. In 1996 a further local government reorganisation took place, and Maelor became part of the county borough of Wrexham.
References
Remfry, P.M., Whittington Castle and the families of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Peverel, Maminot, Powys and Fitz Warin (ISBN 1-899376-80-1)
- ^ a b Owen, Hywel Wynn (2017) Place-names of Flintshire, Univ. of Wales Press, p.115
- ^ a b c "Historic Landscape Characterisation: Maelor Saesneg". CPAT.
- ^ Rees, William (1951). An Historical Atlas of Wales from Early to Modern Times. Faber & Faber.
- ^ An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire: II, Flintshire, Volume 2, RCAHMW, p.103
- ^ Flintshire Quarter Sessions, Liverpool Mercury, February 8, 1888
