Sometime referred to as Chester Lane, this street, along with Lambpit street and Henblas Street, formed an area of Wrexham known as The Lampit/Lambpit. The Feathers public house, on the corner of Charles Street, is one of the most significant buildings in Chester Street, although it has been converted to flats.
Opposite the 0ld Grammar School site, on land now occupied by Ty Pawb, stood Ty Meredith, which was probably the town house of the Meredith’s of Pentrebychan until they acquired The Court. The Post Office was located at what is now the site of The Old Vaults (Long Pull) between 1786 (or earlier) and 1814, before being transferred to N° 36 Chester Street.
Between the entrance to the Guildhall and the Rose & Crown (which stood on the southern corner of the Lambpit Street junction) was a row of tall terraced properties, the most significant of which was the Bromfield Hotel. These houses were demolished in 1970. On the northern corner of Lambpit Street stands the Seven Stars public house, built in 1904 by Jack Scott who also built the adjoining premises. The Registrar’s office was housed at N° 23, Chester Street House, an early 18th century town house. N° 25 (now Wingett House) was the home of William Harrison, cashier of Lloyds Bank, from c.1811-60, who bought it from Richard Lloyd almost as soon as it had been built.* Harrison’s initials can still be seen in some of the stonework in what is now the wall of the car park at the rear of this building. Harrison’s Court (Chester Street) was named after him. During the 20th century, N° 25 Chester Street became the home, and later the offices, of Frank Wingett, the founder of Wingetts Estate Agency and Auction Rooms and the Frank Wingett Cancer Appeal. For a short time from 1991-96, this building was the offices of Bridge Books and is now a Grade II listed building. N° 26 & 27, now solicitor’s offices are examples of early 19th century small town houses and are both Grade II listed buildings. N° 28 is the last house in Chester Street still in use as a dwelling. N° 29, now the premises of Francis Opticians, was built about 1830 and was probably intended to have office accommodation on the ground floor from the outset. It also is a Grade II listed building. Alongside N° 29 is a modern office block, built in 1991 on the site of the former Chester Street English Baptist Chapel. The last building on this side of the road is the former chapel schoolroom which was converted into the chapel in the late 1980s. In the early 20th century, there was one other building on this side of the street, a small stone-built lodge at the end of the drive leading to Llwyn Isaf. The boundary wall and entrance to Llwyn Isa£ survives as the entrance to the Library car park and just beyond it is the old Wrexham-Chester milestone which originally stood on the opposite side of the road. Between this and the inner ring road stands the former premises of Grove Park County School, opened in 1902 and now part of Yale College.
The land on the opposite side of the road to Grove Park was, in the 1860s, used as a plant nursery which was opened to the public on Sundays and provided the town’s first unofficial park. At this time there was also a skating rink located in this area. Bodhyfryd H House stood on the east side of the street, on the site now occupied by the Crown Buildings. Next door, in the early 20th century, was a domestic staffing agency run by Miss Johnson. N° 35, the office of Bartlet & Co. (solicitors) was built in 1840 and is a Grade II listed building. Next to this house was another attractive town house which was demolished by W. Higginson to build the Wrexham Motor Company Garage (which eventually became the Lucas Garage until the 1980s when the premises was converted into shops). The Red Lion stood on the corner of Chester Street and Holt Street and was re-built and re-named the Welch Fusilier. On the opposite corner was the now demolished Rose & Crown.
Wrexham Borough Council, which had previously been accommodated in Bry Y Fynnon house, purchased the old Wrexham Grammar School on Chester Street in 1883 and adapted them to become the new municipal buildings, the Guildhall. An extension was added in 1884 to house the Wrexham Fire Brigade. The Guildhall was in service until the opening of the new Guildhall on Llwyn Isaf in 1961, the original buildings being demolished in the early 1970’s.
