| Pentre Bychan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Pentre Bychan | |
  Pentre Bychan Location withinWrexham | |
| OS grid reference | SJ306477 |
| Community | |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WREXHAM |
| Postcode district | LL14 |
| Dialling code | 01978 |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
| 53°01′19″N3°02′06″W / 53.022°N 3.035°W /53.022; -3.035 | |
Pentre Bychan (Welsh for 'little village') is a semi-rural hamlet inWrexham County Borough, Wales.
Variously spelled as either one word or two (Pentre Bychan or Pentrebychan), it is situated betweenRhostyllen andJohnstown in the ward andcommunity ofEsclusham, some 4 km south-west of Wrexham city centre.
The ancient monumentOffa'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 withwattle 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 toBleddyn ap Cynfyn, Prince ofPowys. 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.
The estate passed into the Warter family. Joseph Warter (died 1811) married Margaretta Elizabeth Meredith, daughter and heiress of Thomas Meredith. His son Henry Warter succeeded to the estate, took the additional surname Meredith, and served asHigh Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1844.[1]
In 1823 the hall was replaced with a larger, three storey, dressed-stone building with gables, which had a stable block andcoachhouse at the rear. The hall was surrounded by landscaped gardens which included a brickdovecote which dated back to 1721, a "fine example of an eighteenth century dovecote",Grade II listed since 1977.
The notableArts & Crafts architectFrank Shayler designed a pair of houses of rustic brick beneath sand-faced clay tiles in the grounds of the former Pentrebychan Hall in 1936, developed speculatively. Originally intended to be a group of twelve, initial sales were slow due to being marketed at a relatively high value. As a consequence, only two were built with construction subsequently halted by theSecond World War.
The hall was used to house refugees during the war. It was purchased in 1948 byDenbighshire County Council, who at the time administered the area, but was demolished in 1963.
The Wrexhamcrematorium was built on the site, on Pentre Bychan Road, off Smithy Lane, and opened in 1966. The house's magnificent gardens and woods remain, together with the dovecote; they are in the crematorium's 40 acre (16 ha) grounds and are maintained as semi natural woodland (including three pools and Pentrebychan brook).
Animal species located in the grounds include heron, badgers, buzzards, snakes, ducks and owls. The grounds also consist of one ungrazed paddock which is kept as a wild meadow and an arboretum. A section ofOffa's Dyke passes through the crematorium grounds.[2]
Hafren Dyfrdwy, (previously Wrexham and East Denbighshire Water Company, Wrexham Water and Dee Valley Water) andScottish Power are prominent businesses located on the Wrexham Road at Packsaddle Bridge.
Pentre Bychan can be visited as part of one of Wrexham County Council's Countryside Walks.[3]
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