Weston Rhyn

Weston Rhyn
240px St John's church, Weston Rhyn
Weston Rhyn  Weston Rhyn shown within Shropshire
Population	2,850 (2011)
OS grid reference	SJ282357
Civil parish	Weston Rhyn
Unitary authority	Shropshire
Ceremonial county	Shropshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	OSWESTRY
Postcode district	SY10
Dialling code	01691
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	North Shropshire
List of places UK England Shropshire

Weston Rhyn is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Chirk, in Wales, and Oswestry, in England.

The civil parish, which also includes Bronygarth, Pentre-Newydd and a number of small hamlets, had a total population of 2,668 at the 2001 census, falling to 2,850 at the 2011 Census.

History

Weston Rhyn is recorded as Westune in the Domesday Book. Tun or ton means a settlement or hamlet, rhyn means a hill or mount. Originally the townships of Weston Rhyn and Bronygarth were in the Parish of St. Martins. In 1870 they were formed into a separate ecclesiastical district known as “the Lodge” (the inn still bears its name), and then in 1898 into the civil parish of Weston Rhyn.

Transport, facilities

The village is on the Shrewsbury to Chester railway line, but has no station. Its former station of Preesgweene (later known as Weston Rhyn) closed in 1960. The nearest stations today are Chirk and Gobowen. Train services are provided by Arriva Trains Wales. The village lies to the west of the A5 trunk road.

It is surrounded by beautiful countryside, the Welsh hills and Offa's Dyke to the west, and the River Ceiriog to the north. Originally a mining village, the pits have long since closed. Despite this, the village has in recent years expanded, with people working locally or commuting as far as Chester, Shrewsbury, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester.

Weston Rhyn has three churches (Presbyterian Church of Wales, Quinta Independent Evangelical Church and St John's Church of England), one pub, a post office, Indian takeaway, chip shop, village hall, primary school, Sunday school and general store. Close to Weston Rhyn is the Quinta Christian Centre, which is home to the missionary organisation Operation Mobilisation.

Sources

• G. G. Lerry, "Collieries of Denbighshire", 1968
• C. Neville Hurdsman, "A History of the Parishes of St. Martin's & Weston Rhyn" 2003

External links

• Weston Rhyn is part of the Community Online forum http://www.community-online.co.uk