flee, but was arrested in Wapping and placed in the Tower of London "for his own safety", because the mob was outrageous against him. He died there the following year. Sir Griffith Jeffreys (Judge Jeffreys' nephew) rebuilt the family home between 1687 - 1695. His wife Dame Dorothy set up a charity in her will which helped found many of the first schools in Wrexham. The estate was eventually sold by the Jeffreys family in 1747. After the Jeffreys the house belonged to Philip Egerton and then Ellis Yonge before being purchased by Sir Foster Cunliffe, 3rd Baronet, for £27,000. The parkland was originally laid out in 1785 by Sir Foster Cunliffe, who also added a new wing to the hall, designed by James Wyatt. Many of the mature specimen trees which survive today were planted at this time and the general park layout and positioning of the lake were part of the original design. Later generations did little to improve the property. Sir Robert Henry Cunliffe, 4th Baronet (1785–1859), stuccoed the walls of the house, while Sir Robert Alfred Cunliffe (1839–1905), faced it with stone in such a way that the house seemed to be of three different styles - none matching the other. After the death of Sir Foster Cunliffe, 6th Baronet (1875–1916) in World War I, the estate was bought in 1917 by Sir Bernard Oppenheimer. The Denbighshire Hussars were billeted in the house and grounds at that time. Oppenheimer opened a diamond cutting training school and workshop in the grounds of Acton Park. The scheme was designed to ensure jobs for ex-servicemen. It was the 'Homes Fit For Heroes' ethos in action, but Sir Bernard's death in 1921 led to the workshop closing. Nine Acre Field and sixty acres by Rhosnesni Lane were bought by the Borough Council. Patrick Abercrombie was commissioned to design a quality housing scheme for the sixty acres. Building started in 1920, with a commemorative foundation stone being laid at Cilcen Grove by Mayor Thomas Sauvage J.P on the 30th July 1920. Abercrombie's design survives to this day. The rest of the estate was turned into smallholdings for ex-soldiers. There were seven market garden and four dairy holdings. Alderman William Aston purchased the house and grounds on the death of Sir Bernard. His initial plan to turn the hall into a technical school never took off. Instead the hall became a showroom