Pentre Bychan | |
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Pentre Bychan |
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Pentre Bychan shown within Wrexham | |
OS grid reference | SJ306477 |
Community | |
Principal area | |
Ceremonial county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WREXHAM |
Postcode district | LL14 |
Dialling code | 01978 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
EU Parliament | Wales |
UK Parliament | |
Welsh Assembly | |
Pentrebychan (variously spelled as either one word or two, with the literal Welsh language meaning of "little village") is a semi-rural hamlet in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales
It is situated between Rhostyllen and Johnstown in the ward of Esclusham, some 4 km south-west of Wrexham town centre.
The ancient monument Offa's Dyke runs through Pentre Bychan.
The Pentrebychan estate was once of great importance in the area. The 16th-century house originally belonged to the Tegin family. It was a single-storey building, half-timbered with wattle and daub.
In 1620 the estate was purchased by Hugh Meredith. The Meredith family, who owned several local coal mines, occupied the estate until 1802 when Thomas Meredith, the last of the male line, died. The family traced their ancestry to Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Prince of Powys. The Hall and estate were described as among the most extensive in the area. Many of the Welsh place names on the estate in the days of the early Merediths are extant today.
In 1823 the hall was replaced with a larger, three storey, dressed-stone building with gables, which had a stable block and coachhouse at the rear. The hall was surrounded by landscaped gardens which included a brick dovecote which dated back to 1721, a "fine example of an eighteenth century dovecote", Grade II listed since 1977.
The notable Arts & Crafts architect Frank Shayler designed two houses on Pentre Bychan Road,`Barn Hey' and `Cae Glyn'. There were intended to be a group of twelve houses on the frontage of Pentrebychan Hall, but construction, commenced in 1936, was halted by the Second World War and never completed.