Froncysyllte

Froncysyllte

The Cefn Railway Viaduct over the River Dee, seen from Froncysyllte with the A483 road viaduct in the background.
Froncysyllte
 Froncysyllte shown within Wrexham
OS grid referenceSJ273411
CommunityLlangollen Rural
Principal areaWrexham
Ceremonial countyClwyd
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town LLANGOLLEN
Postcode district LL20
Dialling code 01691
Police North Wales
Fire North Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK ParliamentClwyd South
Welsh AssemblyClwyd South
List of places
UK
Wales
Wrexham

Coordinates: 52°57′47″N 3°04′59″W / 52.963°N 3.083°W / 52.963; -3.083

Froncysyllte (/ˌvrɒŋkəˈsʌlteɪ/; Welsh pronunciation: [vrɔŋkəˈsəɬte]), colloquially known as Fron, is a village in Wrexham county borough, Wales and stands on the banks of the River Dee and the Llangollen Canal. It is situated on the main A5 road which runs from London to Holyhead.

The name is derived from the Welsh fron, meaning a hillside or slope, along with the name Cysyllte, one of the old townships of the parish of Llangollen. The anglicised spelling Vroncysyllte was commonly used until the mid 20th century.

History

Froncysyllte is situated in the farming landscape of the Vale of Llangollen, but first developed as a settlement of cottages for quarry, limekiln, brick and tile workers during the nineteenth century.[1] The village was built on a high outcrop of limestone below several quarries. Though the area's traditional industries have now gone, it still has a rich industrial archaeology.[2]

Amongst the landmarks left around Froncysyllte by industrial development is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a World Heritage Site, which was built by Thomas Telford in 1795 to carry the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee.

Choir

The notable Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir was formed in 1947, in connection with the inaugural Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, with local management and musical direction.

Young men were persuaded to join, to make up a minimum of 60 voices needed to compete in the Eisteddfod. At the 1955 Llangollen Eisteddfod, the choir hosted an Italian choir including tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who was so impressed with his group's first-prize achievement that he decided to embark on a professional career.[3]

The Universal Music Group album Voices of the Valley was released in November 2006, to be ranked at number 9 on the UK album chart. It became the fastest-selling classical record of all time, achieving gold status in three days and, by 2009, had sold over half a million copies.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Vale of Llangollen, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust
  2. ↑ Dee Valley, Froncysyllte to Newbridge, Wrexham County Borough Council Planning
  3. ↑ Pavarotti eisteddfod career start. BBC News, 6 September 2007. Accessed 5 March 2015
  4. ↑ Fron Male Voice Choir (Voices Of The Valley) at lemonrock.com, 2009
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