Wrexham

For the wider principal area, see Wrexham County Borough. For other uses, see Wrexham (disambiguation).

Wrexham
City[a]
Skyline of Wrexham
Hope Street facing the Talbot Hotel
Erddig Hall
St. Giles Church, Wrexham
From top, left to right: Wrexham skyline, Hope Street, Erddig Hall and St Giles' Church.
Wrexham is located in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham
Location within Wrexham
Population44,785 (built-up area)[b][3]
OS grid referenceSJ335505
• Cardiff108[4] mi (174 km) S
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWREXHAM
Postcode districtLL11—14
Dialling code01978
PoliceNorth Wales
FireNorth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
Websitewww.wrexham.gov.uk
List of places
UK
Wales
Wrexham
53°2′48″N 2°59′37″W / 53.04667°N 2.99361°W / 53.04667; -2.99361

Wrexham (/ˈrɛksəm/ REK-səm; Welsh: Wrecsam [ˈrɛksam])[citation needed] is a city[a] and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county of Denbighshire, and later the county of Clwyd in 1974, it has been the principal settlement of Wrexham County Borough since 1996.

Wrexham has historically been one of the primary settlements of Wales.[7] At the 2021 Census, it had an urban population of 44,785.[b][3] The core of the city comprises the local government communities of Acton, Caia Park, Offa and Rhosddu. In the 2011 census, Wrexham's built-up area was determined to extend further into villages like Brymbo, Brynteg, Gwersyllt, New Broughton and Pentre Broughton with a population of 61,603, while also including nearby Bradley and Rhostyllen for a population of 65,692 in 2011.[1][2]

Wrexham was likely founded prior to the 11th century and developed in the Middle Ages as a regional centre for trade and administration.[8] The city became the most populous settlement in Wales in the 17th century[9][7] and was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century. Prior to de-industrialisation in the 20th century, the city and surrounding area were a hub of coal and lead mining; the production of iron, steel and leather; and brewing.[10]

Today, Wrexham continues to serve north Wales and the Welsh borderlands as a centre for manufacturing, retail, education and administration. The city is noted for hosting Wrexham A.F.C. (one of the oldest professional football teams in the world); the nationally significant industrial heritage of the Clywedog Valley; the National Trust Property of Erddig; and the fine Tudor church of St Giles, which towers over the historic Wrexham city centre.


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  1. ^ a b Bradley and Rhostyllen are not contiguous with the built-up area but as separate sub-divisions still grouped with it in 2011.UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wrexham Built-up area (W37000376)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 May 2022. Census 2011
  2. ^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wrexham Built-up area sub division (W38000001)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b Within the dataset under 1d – W45000151 – Wrexham."Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021". 2 August 2023. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Distance between Postcodes Calculator". www.postcode.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022. The Queen has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 1 September 2022 to ordain that the County Borough of Wrexham shall have the status of a City.
  6. ^ "Wrexham officially becomes Wales' seventh city". BBC News. 1 September 2022. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b Powell, Nia (2005). "Do numbers count? Towns in early modern Wales". Urban History. 32 (1): 46–67. doi:10.1017/S0963926805002695. ISSN 0963-9268. JSTOR 44613526. S2CID 144824831. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dodd-1957 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Davies, John, 1938– (2007). Rhanbarth ymylol? y gogledd-ddwyrain yn hanes Cymru = a marginalised region? the north-east in the history of Wales. Institute of Welsh Affairs. Cardiff: Institute of Welsh Affairs. ISBN 978-1-904773-25-2. OCLC 228805592.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Williams, W. Alister.-2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).