The Overton Arcade is a

shopping arcade An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians; they include many loggias, but here arches are not an esse ...

Wrexham city centre Wrexham city centre is the administrative, cultural and historic city centre of Wrexham, in North Wales and is the area enclosed by the inner ring road of the city. It is the largest shopping area in north and mid Wales, and the administrative c ...

, Wales. Built in 1868 and opening in 1869, the arcade connects

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 ...

's High Street to Temple Row which passes along the churchyards of St Giles' Church. It is named after its proprietor William Overton and not the nearby village of Overton (also known as

Overton-on-Dee Overton () or Overton-on-Dee is a village and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. A former ancient borough, borough and market town, it is situated close to the England–Wales border, Welsh-English border on the edge ...

Description and history

The arcade was built in 1868, and opened in 1869, It is named after the proprietor William Overton, who had served as

mayor of Wrexham The mayor of Wrexham is the civic figurehead and first citizen of the city of Wrexham, and Wrexham County Borough in the North Wales, north of Wales. The position is elected by members of Wrexham County Borough Council at their annual meeting, an ...

. It connects Wrexham's High Street to the churchyard of St Giles' Church. The arcade's side facing the High Street is made of brick from the Ponkey Brick and Tile Company, and with stone dressings from the Dennis's Cefn quarries. The overall design of the arcade was described, when it opened in 1869, as "plain, with very little attempt at ornamentation", with the exception of flowers and fruits carved into the keystones present over the arcade's windows. The building rises , with the roof being a "neat"

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

with capped chimneys. The front shop to the arcade in 1869 was by , with the showroom being by . The roof of the arcade in 1869 was made of blue-painted iron, filled with rough plate glass. The shop fronts were also painted in two tints of blue at the time. There are wrought iron gates at both ends of the arcade, with the end facing the churchyard (to Temple Row, initially ''Temple-place'') having two offices. The arcade's architect was Mr Heywood living on Queen Street in Wrexham at the time. The arcade's passage is built into 31 High Street. A building had been present on the site since 1750, but the modern building and the arcade were built in 1868. The arcade's name has led to beliefs that it was named after the nearby village of Overton, but it was named after the arcade's proprietor William Overton. From the mid-1880s, the arcade became filled with more offices, with various

auctioneers An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ...

and

estate agents An estate agent is a person or business in the United Kingdom that arranges the selling, renting, or managing of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents a ...

opening in the arcade during this period. The arcade faced potential long-term closure in 2014 following a decrease in the units in use, but re-opened in September of that year. In 2019, plans were submitted to construct

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Apartment, known as a flat in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), a two-dimens ...

above the arcade. By 2020, the arcade had become a "hotspot" for independent shops in Wrexham.

References

{{Wrexham, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Wrexham Shopping arcades in the United Kingdom