Bangor is y Coed, Wrexham, Wales Genealogy

A guide to genealogy in Bangor is y Coed, with information on where to find birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records; census records; wills; cemeteries; maps; etc.

Bangor is y Coed or Bangor Iscoed (and sometimes known as Bangor on Dee by English speakers) is a village, community and ecclesiastical parish in the County Borough of Wrexham, Wales, and is situated on the banks of the River Dee.

In older documents the parish may be known as Bangor Monachorum, a reference to the monastery that once stood outside the village.

Before 1974 the village was in the historic county of Flintshire but the majority of the ecclesiastical parish lay across the river in Denbighshire. Between 1974 and 1996 it was in the County of Clwyd and in 1996 it became part of the modern County Borough of Wrexham.

Note: Bangor is y Coed should not be confused with two nearby places with similar names: Isycoed and Iscoed (also known as Whitwell).



History
A monastery was established at Bangor is y Coed in about AD 560 by Saint Dunawd and was an important religious centre in the 5th and 6th centuries. This monastery was destroyed in about AD 616 after Aethelfrith, the King of Northumbria, defeated the Welsh, led by Brochfael, at the Battle of Chester. The scholar Bede wrote that 1200 monks were slaughtered in the attack. Today no trace of the monastery remains and even its site is uncertain.

The five-arched stone arch bridge across the River Dee dates from about 1660 and it is believed to have been built by Inigo Jones.

The ancient parish of Bangor is y Coed covered parts of both Flintshire and Denbighshire and comprised the townships of:
 * Bangor is y Coed (Flintshire)
 * Eyton (Denbighshire)
 * Royton (Denbighshire)
 * Sesswick Denbighshire)
 * Pickhill (Denbighshire)

This parish was in the English diocese of Lichfield until 1541, when it was transferred to the newly created English diocese of Chester. In 1849 it was transferred to the Welsh diocese of St. Asaph.

Civil Records
When Civil Registration was introduced on 1 July 1837, the parish of Bangor is y Coed formed part of the Malpas sub-district of the Wrexham Registration District and any entries for births, marriages or deaths from 1837 in Bangor is y Coed will appear as Wrexham in the GRO Indexes. However, on 30 September 1896, the parish of Bangor was transferred to the Overton sub-district of the Ellesmere Registration District and and any entries for births, marriages or deaths from 1 July 1837 in Bangor is y Coed will appear as Ellesmere in the GRO Indexes.

Church Records
The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the Flintshire Records Office in Hawarden:


 * The Clwyd Family History Society have published many of the Bangor is y Coed parish registers.
 * There are no official records available on the IGI for Bangor is y Coed parish.

Poor Law Union
The parish of Bangor is y Coed formed part of the Wrexham Poor Law Union when it was created on 30 March 1837. The workhouse was built around 1838 off the Ruthin Road in Croesnewydd, in Bersham. The records of the Wrexham Union are now held at Denbighshire Record Office in Ruthin. However, the parish was transferred to the neighbouring Ellesmere Poor Law Union on 30 September 1896. The workhouse for this union was in Haughton, Ellesmere. The records for the Ellesmere Union are held at Shropshire Record Office in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Bangor is y Coed at Vision of Britain
 * Ordnance Survey map of Bangor is y Coed

Websites

 * Bangor is y Coed Parish Church at CPAT
 * Bangor is y Coed War Memorial at Clwyd FHS
 * Bangor is y Coed Parish Church at Clwyd FHS
 * Bangor is y Coed Parish Church at the Open Church Network