Southsea, Wrexham

Southsea (Welsh: Glanrafon) is a formerly industrial village on the River Gwenfro in Broughton community, Wrexham County Borough, Wales.

Southsea Welsh: Glanrafon
Southsea church, formerly the church hall
Southsea Location within Wrexham
OS grid reference	SJ301518
Community	Broughton
Principal area	Wrexham
Preserved county	Clwyd
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WREXHAM
Postcode district	LL11
Dialling code	01978
Police	North Wales
Fire	North Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
UK Parliament	Clwyd South
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	Clwyd South
List of places UK Wales Wrexham 53.059°N 3.043°W / 53.059; -3.043

The village came into being at the site of the Broughton Hall Brickworks and Plas Power Colliery. Its Welsh language placename (meaning "the bank of the river", glan yr afon) derives from that of a farm. Its exotic-sounding English name, however, comes from the South Sea Inn which used to stand over the road from the brickworks, and in a room of which the brickworks pay was distributed.

The Wrexham historian Alfred Neobard Palmer noted that the name Southsea first appeared on the rate books as early as 1786, though also commenting that this was "an absurd name which should never have been adopted, especially as there was an appropriate name ready to hand".^[1]

Southsea's church, All Saints, was formerly its church hall. The previous church, built in 1921 after the original building became unsafe due to mining subsidence, itself became unsafe and was demolished in 1984.^[2]

References

1. Southsea, All Saints, GENUKI. See Palmer, History of the Thirteen Country Townships of Wrexham, 1903
2. Southsea, All Saints Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Clwyd FHS

External links

• www.geograph.co.uk: photographs of Southsea and surrounding area