Earliest Meeting: Monday 26th December 1853
Final Meeting: Monday 26th December 1853
The Welsh village of Marford is in the Borough of Wrexham close to the Wales-England border. It boasts a rich history and was mentioned in the 1684 Domesday Book when known as Merford. It enjoys wide expanses of open countryside and, on a clear day, Chester Town Hall and Cathedral are distant landmarks which can be seen. The village is best known for its Gothic revival cottages which were built to house the workers on the nearby Trevalyn Estate. Occasionally the estate workers and locals would enjoy a day at the races in fields situated close to the public house. One such widely reported meeting took place on Boxing Day 1853, with results being reported in The Era and Bell’s Life and Sporting Chronicle.
I am grateful to Barry Sutton for the poster shown below advertising the races and full details of the events of the day.
Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-
London Illustrated News
Racing Illustrated 1895-1899
The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated
Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough
The Sporting Magazine
A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8
Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727
