Caia Park () is a suburb and

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It was created in 1985 after a Boundary Commission review resulted in the formation of four new community areas within Wrexham, the others being Acton,

Offa Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

, and

Rhosddu Rhosddu (; ) is a suburb and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, covering the north-western parts of the city of Wrexham and comprises the wards of Grosvenor, Garden Village and Stansty. At the 2011 Census, the population of the comm ...

. At the 2001 census, the community had a population of 11,882 in 5,019 households,Caia Park Community
Office for National Statistics increasing to 12,602 in 2011.

History

The area takes its name from the old Caia or Ty'n y Caeau farm, which was eventually demolished for construction of the

Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway The Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway was a railway line that ran from Wrexham in North Wales, to Ellesmere, Shropshire, Ellesmere in Shropshire, England. The line opened in 1895 and closed in 1962, except for a residual goods service which itself clos ...

.Dodd, A. (1957) ''A History of Wrexham'', Hughes, p.83 The name is a form of the plural for the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

''cae'', "field".Owen, H W (1994) ''The place-names of east Flintshire'', UWP, p. 232 Caia became a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Wrexham Borough after the latter's creation in 1857. The majority of the community area is occupied by the Caia Park development of local authority housing. Located south of Rhosnesni ward in the south-east of Wrexham city, it is the largest housing estate in Wales and by the 1990s housed a third of Wrexham's population.''Town and Country Planning'', v 66, 12, 46 Much of the estate, originally called Queen's Park, was laid out in the early 1950s to plans by influential

town planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Gordon Stephenson Gordon Stephenson (6 June 1908 – 30 March 1997) was a British-born town planner and architect. He is best known for his role in shaping the modern growth and development of Perth, Western Australia. Biography Gordon Stephenson was born in ...

.Stephenson, G. "The Wrexham Experiment — the Queens Park South Estate," ''Town Planning Review'' 24, No. 4 (1954): 271–296 By the 1960s the area had developed a reputation for social problems, and was one of two areas, along with

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in France, studied in this connection by the sociologist Patricia Elton Mayo (daughter of George Elton Mayo). Mayo stated that her study referred to only a few streets in the estate.See Elton Mayo, Patricia. ''The Making of a Criminal: A Comparative Study of Two Delinquency Areas'', George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969

Caia Park riots

On two days in June 2003 there was rioting in Caia Park following tensions between local residents and Iraqi Kurdish refugees, about 60 of whom were housed in the area. About 200 local men, nominally associated with Wrexham football club, fought with police. 51 people appeared in court, of whom eight, all long-term residents, received custodial sentences of up to two years. There was a further outbreak of violence on the estate on 11 April 2022.

Today

According to the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, the Queensway ward of Caia Park community is one of the 100 most deprived areas in Wales (the 5 wards that make up Caia Park community are Cartrefle, Queensway, Smithfield, Whitegate and Wynnstay). The area was part of the Welsh Government's

Communities First Communities First was a Government of Wales, Welsh Government programme aimed at reducing poverty. The programme was community focused and supported the most disadvantaged people in the most deprived areas of Wales with the aim of contributing t ...

anti-poverty programme which was discontinued in March 2018. Each ward has three community council members except Wynnstay which has two, in Caia Park Community Council. Caia Park Community Council was established in 1985.Caia Park Community Council
/ref> The Council runs an advice service, a community venue at St Peter's Hall, and funds environmental projects, in addition to the usual community council powers over footpaths, lighting, and input on planning matters. The area has a local football team, FC Queens Park, which plays in the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area).

References

External links

Caia Park Community Council
{{Wrexham Areas of Wrexham Communities in Wrexham County Borough