Gwersyllt is quite a large village situated on the north western outskirts of Wrexham. According to the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, 'In the first half of the 14th century and probably earlier, Gwersyllt was a township in Gresford parish. This does not imply any degree of nucleated settlement, however, and no evidence has been found to indicate that Gwersyllt as a village had an existence prior to the Industrial Revolution. An estate map of 1787 shows less than ten dwellings strung out along an east/west road leading to a common on the edge of Little Mountain. Thus, the present settlement at Gwersyllt appears to have a wholly 19th-century origin and its growth is directly linked to the mining of coal at the Gwersyllt and Westminster Collieries (NPRN 413947 and NPRN 408712) which began in the mid 1840s.
The first edition of the 25inch OS maps, published in 1873, show that there were two named settlements in the Gwersyllt area. The first - Summer Hill - was located next to Westminster colliery. Summer Hill had a public house called the King William Hill and a Calvinistic Methodist chapel called Mount Sion. The other named settlement was Wheat Sheaf. The only surviving remnant of this name today is the Wheat Sheaf Inn, otherwise the settlement was absorbed as Gwersyllt expanded. Wheat Sheaf was home to Gwersyllt Railway Station, as well as an Independent Methodist Chapel (NPRN 406615), the Holy Trinity church (NPRN 420458) and National Schools for girls, boys and infants. By the time the second edition of the 25inch OS maps was published in 1900, Wheat Sheaf had far more housing. It also had a post office, a smithy and two more chapels - this time for Presbyterians (NPRN 7627) and English Congregationalists (NPRN 7624). Summer Hill had also expanded rapidly, and the two settlements appeared to be growing ever closer together. Interestingly, Mount Sion chapel seemed to have moved ever so slightly to the north, and was now a Presbyterian chapel known as Mount Zion (NPRN 7625). Another chapel had been built almost next door - Disgwylfa Welsh Wesleyan chapel (NPRN 7630).
In the twenty-first century, the collieries are long gone and, according to Gwersyllt Community Chapel it seems the only places of worship still open are the Congregational Church and Trinity Church. However, the village has several amenities including a library and resource centre; a railway station and three schools - Ysgol Bryn Alun, which educates approximately 700 children aged eleven to sixteen; Ysgol Heulfan, which educates around 370 children aged three to eleven and Gwersyllt Community Primary, which educates about 270 pupils aged three to eleven.
Sources: modern and historic OS maps; Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, reference number 25001; www.gwersylltcommunitycouncil.co.uk; Estyn reports on Ysgol Bryn Alun (published December 2017), Ysgol Heulfan (published February 2018) and Gwersyllt Primary School (September 2016).
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 8th January 2019.