page_title: Wrexham
section_title: Early Modern
hierarchical_section_title: Wrexham / History / Early Modern
caption_attribution_description: English: Turner, Joseph Mallord William, 'Wrexham, Denbighshire', watercolour ca. 1780s. ©V&amp;A (the Board of Trustees of the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum)
context_page_description: Wrexham is a large town and the administrative centre of the Wrexham County Borough in North Wales, United Kingdom. Wrexham is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley alongside the neighbouring county of Cheshire. Historically part of Denbighshire, the town became part of Clwyd in 1974 and since 1996 has been the principal centre of Wrexham County Borough.
  Wrexham has historically been one of the primary settlements of Wales. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 65,692, making it the fourth largest urban area in Wales and largest in north Wales. The town comprises the local government communities of Acton, Caia Park, Offa and Rhosddu. A wider urban area extends into villages like Coedpoeth, Gwersyllt, and Rhosllanerchrugog.
  Wrexham was likely founded prior to the 11th century and in the Middle Ages developed as a regional centre for trade and administration. The market town became the most populous settlement in Wales in the 17th century and was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century.
context_section_description: The Acts of Union passed during the reign of Henry VIII brought the lordship into the full system of English administration and law. It became part of the new shire of Denbighshire in 1536.
  In 1584 St Richard Gwyn, a local teacher, was imprisoned in the town before being taken to near the Beast Market and hung, drawn and quartered for his faith, becoming the first Welsh martyr to the Papist cause. 
  The main body of the church of St Giles was rebuilt in the late 15th and early 16th centuries to become one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Wales. 
  The economic character remained predominantly as an agricultural market town into the 17th century but there were workshops of weavers, smiths, nailers as well as dye houses. The 1620 Norden's jury of survey of Wrexham Regis stated that four-fifths of the land-holding classes of Wrexham bore Welsh names and every field except one within the manor bore a Welsh or semi-Welsh name.
  A grammar school was established in 1603 by Alderman Valentine Broughton of Chester. 
  During the English Civil War, most local Welsh gentry supported Charles I and in 1642 the King addressed enthusiastic crowds in the town. However, local landowner Sir Thomas Myddelton declared for Parliament and Parliamentarians occupied the town in 1643 and 1645. Wrexham served as military headquarters for both forces  and a quarter of houses were burned down in 1643 during the quartering of troops in the town.
  In the 17th century, Wrexham served as an educational and cultural focal point for local society and became a 'Puritan Metropolis' . Morgan Llwyd, the radical nonconformist preacher and writer, was educated at the Wrexham Grammar School and became vicar of Wrexham in 1645.
caption: JMW Turner, 'Wrexham, Denbighshire', late 18th century, watercolour. V&A Museum, London.
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