Moss Valley, Wrexham

The Moss Valley (, ) is an area and country park in the county borough of Wrexham, in Wales. The area is also informally known as "The Moss" and The Aggey amongst locals. It is most well known for its extensive coal mining history.

History

Thomas Telford

In 1796, a feeder reservoir lake was constructed in the Valley for an extension of the Ellesmere Canal under Thomas Telford. The canal would have eventually served as an extension from Trevor Basin. This plan was abandoned in 1798. Remnants of the canal are still visible in nearby Gwersyllt, and a street in the village is named Heol Camlas (Welsh: Canal Way). Telford's lake is not the lake that is currently present in the valley. .

Collieries

Throughout the 19th Century and early 20th Century, the Moss Valley was the home to the Westminster Colliery in its northern end, and Gatewen Colliery at the southern end. The coal was distributed both locally and nationally through major railway links, much of which was built specifically for the distribution of goods. The colliery's railways were linked to neighbouring Great Western Railway lines. This originally was the Wheatsheaf Branch which ran from the Wheatsheaf Junction of the Chester line, then up a worked incline up Gwersyllt Hill, and then through the 220ft Summerhill Tunnel to Westminster Colliery. The line then continued through the other side of the valley through...
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