Five Fords waste water treatment works lies on the alluvial sands and clays adjacent to the River Clywedog about 5km west of its confluence with the River Dee; situated within the village and (ancient) parish of Marchwiel, approximately two kilometres from Wrexham. The waste water treatment works, it is considered, forms a significant historical element of the area. Construction work for the installation of the waste water system took place between 1863 and 1867. In 1889 Five Fords Farm was leased from the Wynnstay Estate to act as an outfall area for the sewage; by 1912 the farm was owned by Wrexham Corporation. It comprised a sludge lagoon and various channels and sluices for controlling the spread of the sewage across the fields. By 1959 a waste water treatment plant, designed to deal with effluent, was in operation; covering the area of the former, and current, sludge lagoon areas. In 1904 settling tanks were constructed at Five Fords; with more being built in 1931 and 1937.
An archaeological assessment in 2009 revealed evidence of a medieval open field system, in the adjacent Marchwiel Covert (SJ 3623 4793).
Source: Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, GAT Project G2052 Report No. 759 Revised, November 2009
L. Moore, RCAHMW, 11th May 2011