Saith Seren
{{short description|Welsh-language centre in Wrexham, Wales}}
{{use British English|date=February 2024}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Y Saith Seren
| native_name = {{native name|en|The Seven Stars}}
| former_names = {{plainlist|
- Seven Stars Hotel
- The Star
}}
| image = Saith Seren, Wrexham.jpg
| caption = Building from Lambpit Street, with Chester Street on the right
| location = Chester Street, Wrexham, Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|53.047|-2.992|display=inline,title}}
| completion_date = 1898 (or by 1904)
| architect = Thomas Price
| owner = {{lang|cy|Canolfan Gymraeg Wrecsam}} (2023–)
Clwyd Alyn Housing Association (2011–2023)
| website = {{url|http://saithseren.org.uk}}
| floor_count = 2
| embedded = {{Infobox historic site
| embed = yes
| designation1 = UK Grade II
| designation1_offname = The Seven Stars Public House
| designation1_date = 31 January 1994
}}
| building_type = {{plainlist|
- Pub (1898–)
- Welsh-language community centre (2011–)
- Hotel (~20th century)
}}
| architectural_style = “Commercial style” with Arts & Crafts
| current_tenants = {{lang|cy|Canolfan Gymraeg Wrecsam}} (2012–)
}}
{{langnf|cy|Saith Seren|Seven Stars|paren=left}}; its former name) is a Welsh-language community centre and pub in Wrexham, North Wales.
Located on the corner of Chester Street and Lambpit Street, the Grade II listed building dates to 1898, as a rebuilding of a previous pub located on the site. The rebuilt building was designed by Liverpool architect Thomas Price, who designed the building in a commercial style, incorporating elements of the Arts and Crafts style. The two-storey building is made of Ruabon red brick, and Price also designed the building adjacent, the former Empire Music Hall.
The building operated as the Seven Stars pub until 2011. A few months later, plans were announced to reopen the building as a community-run Welsh-language community centre and pub. The new centre opened as {{langnf|cy|Saith Seren|Seven Stars}} in January 2012, under a lease from a new landlord. The landlord pressured the centre to close in 2015 over unmet finances, but community support raised enough funds to keep it open. The community co-operative running the centre, {{Lang|cy|Canolfan Gymraeg Wrecsam}}, purchased the building in 2023.
Description
The building, previously known as Seven Stars, of which the current name is a translation, is a Grade II listed building on the corner of Chester Street and Lambpit Street.{{Cite web |title=Saith Seren - Chester & South Clwyd CAMRA |url=https://casc.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=59597 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=casc.camra.org.uk}}{{Cite news |date=2012-01-28 |title=Wrexham Seven Stars pub's new start as Welsh centre Saith Seren |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-16722808 |access-date=2024-02-12 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Seven Stars Chester Street, Wrexham. |url=https://www.wrexham-history.com/seven-stars-chester-street-wrexham/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927193811/https://www.wrexham-history.com/seven-stars-chester-street-wrexham/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=27 September 2020 |website=wrexham-history.com}} It also was styled as the Seven Stars Hotel, or The Star.
The building dates to 1898.{{Cite news |date=2011-09-22 |title=Welsh cultural centre plan for Wrexham pub Seven Stars |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-15005320 |access-date=2024-02-12 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} In 1898, the pub was rebuilt using Ruabon red brick in a commercial style,{{Cadw|num=1849|desc=The Seven Stars Public House|access-date=12 February 2024|grade=II|date=31 January 1994}} encompassing elements of Arts and Crafts,{{Cite web |last=Gareth |date=2022-01-24 |title=Yma o Hyd: How a Welsh language community hub survived and thrived in a decade of challenges |url=https://nation.cymru/culture/yma-o-hyd-how-a-welsh-language-community-hub-survived-and-thrived-in-a-decade-of-challenges/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Nation.Cymru |language=en-GB}}{{Coflein|num=309433|desc=The Seven Stars, 18, Chester Street|access-date=13 February 2024}} with Thomas Price of Liverpool as its architect, and Jack Scott as the builder until 1904.{{Cite web |title=Chester Street |url=https://johnmills.wales/chester-street/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Under a Welsh Sky |language=en-GB}}
The two-storey building is of brick, with a slate roof, and an asymmetrical plan, with its main entrance fronting Chester Street. The building extends along Lambpit Street, right of the central entrance, with a semi-octagonal tower on the angle between Chester Street and Lambpit Street. A former cinema, which opened as the Empire Music Hall, is adjacent to the building's Lambpit Street side and was added in 1902, also to the designs of Price. The cinema is claimed to have been the first purpose-built cinema in North Wales.{{Cite web |title=Wrexham Town Walk : Chester Street Baptist Chapel |url=http://www.wrexham.gov.uk:80/english/heritage/wrexham_town_walk/chester_street.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902203017/http://www.wrexham.gov.uk:80/english/heritage/wrexham_town_walk/chester_street.htm |archive-date=2 September 2012 |publisher=Wrexham County Borough Council}}
Upon its opening in 2012, it was operated by {{Lang|cy|Canolfan Gymraeg Wrecsam}}, the Wrexham Welsh Centre. The centre serves as a centrepiece of the Welsh-speaking community in Wrexham city centre, as well as for Welsh-language learners.{{Cite web |title=Saith Seren, Wrexham - History Points |url=https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=saith-seren-wrexham |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=historypoints.org}} Clwb Clebran is held at the centre providing a space for Welsh-language learners.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-07 |title=The Welsh language club helping learners grow in confidence |url=https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/20979224.clwb-clebran-welsh-language-group-learners-wrexham/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=The Leader |language=en}} The centre also considered operating in the former cinema in 2013, and since forms part of the pub itself.
History
= Seven Stars =
Records show the site first being licensed in the 1750s. The Stars inn is known to have existed on the site by 1769 and a public house has stood there for at least 200 years.{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=The Seven Stars |url=https://www.buildingsofwrexham.co.uk/chester-street/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406222435/https://www.buildingsofwrexham.co.uk/chester-street/ |archive-date=6 April 2019 |url-status=usurped |website=buildingsofwrexham.co.uk}}{{Cite web |date=2023-08-09 |title=Saith Seren pub officially bought by co-operative that has run it for over a decade |url=https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23712272.canolfan-cymraeg-wrecsam-purchases-saith-seren-pub/ |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=The Leader |language=en}}
In 1880, the Seven Stars Inn was sold to its tenant, James Marshall, at auction for £2,500. The sale covered the inn, its large yard, as well as nine cottages along Chester Street and Lambpit Street.
In 1898, the pub was rebuilt using Ruabon red brick and to the designs of Thomas Price of Liverpool. During the rebuild, notable elements were added such as a turret on the building's corner and a colourful mural on the Chester Street gable. Price also designed the adjacent Empire Music Hall facing Lambpit Street, which now forms part of the pub itself. This rebuild replaced the previous inn and opened as the Seven Stars pub until its closure under that name in 2011.{{Cite web |title=Community Co-operatives in Wales |url=https://www.cooperatives-wales.coop/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/IYC-Report-4-Community-Co-ops.pdf |publisher=Wales Co-operative Centre - Bevan Foundation |page=12}}
= Wrexham Welsh Centre (2011–) =
== Development plans ==
Plans were announced in September 2011, to make the building a Welsh-language cultural centre to become a location for Wrexham's Welsh-speaking population. Volunteers for the project stated they secured £19,000 from supporters to lease the venue. They hoped to open the venue by December 2011, and to raise £200,000 to buy or lease the building.{{Cite web |date=2011-08-05 |title=Investors wanted to give pub a new lease of life |url=https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/15933664.investors-wanted-to-give-pub-a-new-lease-of-life/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=The Leader |language=en}} The project was led by a Plaid Cymru councillor,{{Cite web |title=Seven Stars To Reopen As Welsh Centre This Month |url=https://www.wrexham.com/news/stars-reopen-welsh-centre-month-4671.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Wrexham.com |language=en}} who later became the centre's chair.
As part of the development, the building was bought by Clwyd Alyn Housing Association for £150,000 on the newly-formed co-operative's behalf which would run the centre. The co-operative later held rent negotiations with Clwyd Alyn, with the housing group also agreeing with the co-operative to conduct £1000s of repair work. The centre would open in phases, with the downstairs opening first, followed by the upstairs, which would be converted into offices and meeting rooms for general community meetings or Welsh-language classes. In September 2011, the project managers held £21,000 in funds for the centre's development but appealed for £60,000 needed to procure supplies and equipment for the kitchen and bar, as well as funds to make it through the Christmas period. The pub operates on an ownership model where 100 members could invest in the pub's development by contributing between £100 and £20,000, and would gain equal voting rights.{{Cite web |last=Bagnall |first=Steve |date=2013-05-14 |title=Community spirit helps pubs buck the trend |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/community-spirit-helps-north-3811616 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}} The centre secured a 21-year lease of the building.
== Opening and later developments ==
The building re-opened as a Welsh-language centre, under the name {{langnf|cy|Saith Seren|Seven Stars}} in January 2012, and operated by the {{langnf|cy|Canolfan Gymraeg Wrecsam|Wrexham Welsh Language Centre}} co-operative. The centre was developed following the 2011 Wrexham National Eisteddfod, in which the centre is attributed with the national eisteddfod's legacy. The centre's main aim is to focus on providing a Welsh-speaking environment for Welsh speakers, learners and supporters, as well as general Welsh culture. The pub would offer Welsh food, real ale, Welsh-language classes and be a general meeting place in dedicated rooms in the upstairs of the building. By the time of its conversion the pub had brewed its own beer and was looking for names from the public for one of their drinks.
In June 2012, the pub held a fundraiser for the Wrexham Supporters Trust which ran Wrexham A.F.C. at the time.{{Cite web |title=Saith Seren To Hold Fundraising Gig For Wrexham Supporters Trust |url=https://www.wrexham.com/whatson/saith-seren-hold-fundraising-gig-wrexham-supporters-trust-9011.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Wrexham.com |language=en}}
By 2013, the pub was the only community-owned pub in Wrexham, one of six in North Wales (which had the largest concentration of such in the UK). In the same year, the centre's management conducted a second share issue to raise £40,000 for the centre. The centre also claimed to have 100 members.{{Cite web |last=Live |first=North Wales |date=2013-01-23 |title=The Wrexham Way: Y Saith Seren progress follows emergence of community cooperatives |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/wrexham-way-y-saith-seren-2641863 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}}
In May 2013, the pub looked into whether it could use the adjacent former Empire Cinema building which had been vacant for years.{{Cite web |title=Empire Cinema Attached To Saith Seren To Be Saved |url=https://www.wrexham.com/news/empire-cinema-attached-to-saith-seren-to-be-saved-31842.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Wrexham.com |language=en}}
In February 2015, the pub worked with the Rendezvous restaurant of Coleg Cambria, to launch a new menu.{{Cite web |title=Saith Seren Re-launches Menu With Rendezvous Students |url=https://www.wrexham.com/news/saith-seren-relaunches-menu-rendezvous-students-52837.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Wrexham.com |language=en}}
== Averted closure (2015) ==
In April 2015, it was announced that the centre would close by May 2015.{{Cite news |date=2015-04-14 |title=Wrexham Welsh centre to close its doors for the final time |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-32301972 |access-date=2024-02-12 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} The centre was ordered by the owner's of the building Pennaf Housing Group (which includes Clwyd Alyn){{Cite web|url=https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/15766243.north-wales-pennaf-housing-group-set-to-award-more-than-21m-worth-of-contracts/|title=North Wales: Pennaf Housing Group set to award more than £21m worth of contracts|date=5 May 2015|website=Denbighshire Free Press}} to vacate the building after being unable to pay their finances owed to the landlord, which stated was their "last resort".{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Gary |date=2015-04-14 |title=Wrexham's Saith Seren pub calls last orders |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/last-orders-called-wrexhams-saith-9040018 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}} Welsh-language advocacy groups such as Dyfodol i'r Iaith, expressed their disappointment with the announced closure.{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Gary |date=2015-04-15 |title=Saith Seren: Welsh language pressure group's disappointment over Wrexham pub closure |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/welsh-language-pressure-groups-disappointment-9048827 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}} While Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, in support of the centre, wrote a letter to First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones calling for support to keep the centre open.{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Gary |date=2015-04-16 |title=Campaigners for Wrexham's Saith Seren urge First Minister to save it from closure |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/campaigners-wrexhams-saith-seren-urge-9057274 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}}
Following the closure announcement, the centre managed to raise £2,600 in monthly pledges to keep the centre, including donations from companies.{{Cite web |title=Campaign To Save Saith Seren Gains Momentum |url=https://www.wrexham.com/news/campaign-to-save-saith-seren-gains-momentum-93710.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Wrexham.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Gary |date=2015-04-20 |title=Fundraising appeal to keep Wrexham's Saith Seren open is launched |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/fundraising-appeal-keep-wrexhams-saith-9084502 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}} Supporters of the centre eventually met their £3,000 a month target to keep the centre open.{{Cite web |last=Bagnall |first=Steve |date=2015-05-11 |title=Wrexham's Saith Seren centre saved from closure |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/wrexhams-saith-seren-centre-saved-9232791 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2015-05-11 |title=Fundraising drive saves Wrexham Welsh centre from axe |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-32686749 |access-date=2024-02-13 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Following the near closure, the centre looked into how to improve the long-term future of the centre. Directors of the centre claimed that the venue's location, not enough customers and general difficulties in the pub industry as reasons why the pub struggled.{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Gary |date=2015-05-18 |title=Wrexham's Saith Seren's long-term future under discussion |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/wrexhams-saith-serens-long-term-future-9279397 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}}
== Recent history ==
In 2016, the pub applied for permission to fly four different Welsh flags from the building, but was deferred by the council to the Welsh Government for the decision because it was a listed building. Operators of the pub complained of the delay.{{Cite web |last=Bagnall |first=Steve |date=2016-04-06 |title=Wrexham pub takes fight to fly four Welsh flags to the Assembly |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/wrexham-pub-takes-fight-fly-11147448 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}}
In January 2017, the pub announced it would host a monthly shop for Welsh goods, such as books, cards, crafts, CDs and others, from the centre. This follows the announced closure of a nearby Welsh goods shop {{lang|cy|Siop y Siswrn}} in the Wrexham People's Market. The monthly shop would work with {{lang|cy|Siop Cwlwm}}, which sells Welsh goods in Oswestry market.{{Cite web |title=New Welsh Shop For Saith Seren |url=https://www.wrexham.com/news/new-welsh-shop-at-saith-seren-124936.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Wrexham.com |language=en}}
In November 2020, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (new owners of Wrexham A.F.C.) sent three cases of Aviation Gin (connected to Reynolds) to the pub.{{Cite web |last=Gareth |date=2020-11-19 |title=Iechyd da! Ryan Reynolds sends cases of gin to Welsh language community pub in Wrexham |url=https://nation.cymru/news/iechyd-da-ryan-reynolds-sends-cases-of-gin-to-welsh-language-community-pub-in-wrexham/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Nation.Cymru |language=en-GB}}
In August 2023, the building was bought by the co-operative which had operated the bar and centre since 2011, taking over the previous long-term lease from Clwyd Alyn Housing Association.{{Cite web |last=Mansfield |first=Mark |date=2023-08-10 |title=Saith Seren bought by cooperative that's run the bar and Welsh centre for over a decade |url=https://nation.cymru/news/saith-seren-bought-by-cooperative-thats-run-the-bar-and-welsh-centre-for-over-a-decade/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Nation.Cymru |language=en-GB}}
Further reading
- https://www.familiarisationvideos.co.uk/familiarisation-videos - To watch accessible guided tour of Saith Seren
- [https://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=en&id=1849 Cadw] – For a full architectural description