Flint workshop helps craft Wrecsam Eisteddfod chair

The Chair for this year’s Wrecsam National Eisteddfod has been built at a workshop in Flint, with its design drawing on four key features of the host city’s heritage.

Designed and created by Gafyn Owen and Sean Nelson, the Chair was made using wood sourced from Erddig, just outside Wrexham, and constructed in the team’s Flint-based workshop earlier this year.

It will be awarded to the winner of the festival’s ‘awdl’ competition for a collection of poems in strict metre. The Chair’s design references the Wrexham coalfields, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the city’s breweries and football club.

“We identified four main local landmarks which are important to the area,” said Gafyn. “These four features are the basis of the plan and inspired our design journey to create the sketch.”

At the centre of the Chair’s structure is an arch filled with three engraved glass windows, featuring the full name of the Eisteddfod. The design is intended to reflect the churches and chapels of the city, and to symbolise “a window to the future of the festival.”

The seat is covered in red material in tribute to Wrexham AFC, while the front legs follow the hexagonal outline of the iconic chimney that stands in the city centre—subtly recognising the area’s brewing heritage and marking that the National Eisteddfod has previously been held in Wrexham six times.

The Chair also includes a tribute to the Gresford Mining Disaster of 1934, when 266 men lost their lives. Elements of the design incorporate the shape of coal mine wheels in their memory.

“This Chair is as local to Wrecsam as it can be,” Gafyn added.

It was formally presented to the Eisteddfod’s Executive Committee at a ceremony in Coleg Cambria, alongside this year’s Crown.

The Crown, designed by Neil Rayment and Elan Rowlands, is inspired by ancient fossils discovered in Brymbo Forest, connecting geological history to the city’s industrial legacy. A repeating fossil pattern encircles the Crown, which features engraved dates from Wrexham’s past, from the founding of its football club in 1864 to the arrival of new owners in 2021.

Both the Chair and the Crown will be awarded in August during the National Eisteddfod, which this year takes place on the outskirts of Wrexham.

Chair of the Eisteddfod Executive Committee, Llinos Roberts, said the items captured both local identity and national significance.

“We’re delighted with them both. They’re a national symbol of our language and culture, but the local is also clear to see in both,” she said.

“There’s only one thing left to do and that is to warmly invite everyone to join us in August to help us make the Wrecsam National Eisteddfod a great success.”

The Eisteddfod will run from 2 to 9 August. The Chairing ceremony takes place on Friday 8 August at 4pm in the Pavilion. Tickets are available at www.eisteddfod.wales and at the gate.