Borras (; historically ) is a hamlet in

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire and Shropshire to ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

to the north-east of the city of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. It is part of the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Holt. The nearby residential area of Borras Park is named after Borras; and is colloquially shortened to just "Borras", but is part of the community of Acton, in the city of Wrexham.

Early history

Although no human occupation sites have been found, the area of Borras has revealed some of the earliest traces of habitation in the area. A number of

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

flint tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

s have been found adjacent to Borras Farm. A

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Axe head was also found near Bryn-Gryfydd and a hoard of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

metalwork. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, according to the Wrexham historian Alfred N. Palmer, Borras (then called Borrasham) formed two

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s of the mesne manor of Isycoed, itself one of the manors of the marcher lordship of Bromfield; the townships were known as Borrasham Hwfa and Borrasham Riffri.Palmer, A. N. ''A History of Ancient Tenures of Land in North Wales and the Marches'', 1910, p.233 It is known that an extensive farmed

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

warren was in existence in the area at the time. Palmer noted that the name Borrasham was also written Burras or Borras (possibly from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''beorgas'', "burial-mounds"), and that the latter forms came to be used for the township in order to avoid confusion with Bersham.Palmer, 240 Borras Hall is an early 17th-century former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

. It is believed that it replaced an early 13th-century house on the same site. In 1988 Madoc's lead

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

was discovered at Burras Hall that dated to the 13th century and is believed to be the seal of the lords of Borras and Erlas who built ''Plas ym Mwras'' in about 1200. The seal was sent to

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

for verification and has never been seen since, on inquiring as to the whereabouts of the seal Cardiff stated that they only have a copy of the seal. The Hall was owned by the Brereton Family until 1789, when it was sold to a Mr Twigg for £40,000.00 and then later sold to

Baron Kenyon Baron Kenyon, of Gredington, in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1788 for the lawyer and judge Sir Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baronet. He served as Master of the Rolls and as Lord Chief Justice of Englan ...

for £24,000.00. Nearby Borras Head House also dates to the 17th century and was also purchased by Lord Kenyon in 1803. is said to be an alternative Welsh name for the place.

Airfield

During the period 1917-1920, fields at Borras Lodge were used by Nos. 4 and 51 Training Squadrons/Schools of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

based at

Shotwick Shotwick is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Puddington, on the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village ...

(later RAF Sealand) and Hooton Park. In the 1940s, the area was again pressed into service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for training flights. Three grass runways of approximately existed. The main period of construction at the site was between December 1940 and June 1941. The airfield was closed after World War II and, on 22 October 1959, was sold to United Gravel Company, a subsidiary of

Alfred McAlpine Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Carillion in 2008. The origins of Alfred McAlpine are strongly associated with the busine ...

. In the 1970s, quarrying operations commenced in the area.

Bunker

Between 1962 and 1992 there was a hardened nuclear bunker, built at Borras for No 17 Group Royal Observer Corps North Wales, who provided the field force in Western Area of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation and would have sounded the four-minute warning alarm in the event of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

and warned the population of Wrexham in the event of approaching radioactive fallout. The building was staffed by up to 120 volunteers who trained on a weekly basis and wore a Royal Air Force style uniform. After the breakup of the communist bloc in 1989, the Royal Observer Corps was disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. However, the nuclear bunker remained and was purchased by R Jones ( K-Klass) of Tyn-Twll Farm in the early 1990s and converted to a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

. Between the ROC vacating the premises in September 1991 and its new use as a recording studio, the building was under preparation for use as the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

North Wales Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ) although it is unlikely it was ever actually activated as such, given the short timescale.

Borras Quarry

Borras Quarry is an active quarry site supplying materials for construction and infrastructure in the region. It has also been a site of significant archaeological discovery, with excavations carried out on specific areas of the site since 2008. A range of prehistoric features have been discovered including Neolithic pits used as earth ovens, hearths and post-holes. Pottery shards dating back to around 3,000 BC have also been found.

References

External links

photos of Borras and surrounding area on geograph
{{authority control Villages in Wrexham County Borough The Lordship of Bromfield and Yale