The streets off the Beast Market were home to a cluttered mix of housing, trade and industry. Behind Charles Street were the corporation’s original slaughterhouses, later replaced by new premises off Holt Road and the associated Corporation Cottage, home to the Inspector of Nuisances (more on him later in the tour).
Holt Street was previously known as Five Barn Street, which highlights its original streetscape. Market Street was originally known as Seven Bridges Street after the wooden footbridges over the ditch that ran down the middle of the street until the mid-19th century to gather at a stagnant pool on the south side of the Beast Market. Norden refers to the pool in his 1620 survey as the ‘magnum stagnum’. Not a place to linger….
Farndon Street was developed in the 19th century, from the Tiger Inn on the edge of the Beast Market heading out towards the Holt Road where the Victoria Inn and corn mill were located. The domestic properties on Holt Street and Farndon Street were demolished during the 1930s while the remaining Victoria Inn was knocked down as part of the Tesco’s development in the 1990s.
Images: a) 7 – 12 Farndon Street and b) the view from the Police Station over Farndon Street and Holt Road. Courtesy of Wrexham Archives and W A Williams.
Source: Wrexham Museums.
Also see New Wrexham Fairs.
