Sealand, Flintshire


Sealand is a community in Flintshire and electoral ward, north-east Wales, on the edge of the Wirral peninsula. It is west of the city of Chester, England, and is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 2,746, increasing to 2,996 at the 2011 census.
Sealand is on flat land formed by land reclamation of part of the head of the estuary of the River Dee which had become heavily silted-up. It is on the A548 road, near the Chester dormitory communities of Blacon and Saughall and is a popular place of residence for people from both sides of the Welsh/English border. Welsh medium primary education is available three miles away in Shotton at the recently established 'Ysgol Croes Atti' whilst Welsh medium secondary education is available nine miles away in Mold at the long established 'Ysgol Maes Garmon'.
The River Dee flowed to the sea along the current border between Wales and England, until in the 18th century it was diverted into its present channelized course to try to improve ship access from the sea to Chester. That led to extensive land reclamation in the head of the Dee estuary. The River Dee Company had a right to reclaim the marshes and build embankments following the re-alignment of the Dee.

Timeline

was originally a civilian airfield and was taken over by the military in 1916 for training. No. 30 Maintenance unit was formed there in 1939. In 1951 the station was taken over by the United States Air Force, and then handed back to the RAF in 1957.
As a result of defence cuts announced in 2004, RAF Sealand was closed in April 2006. There are currently plans for a major residential development on the land.

In popular culture

Though not about the community, the 1981 song "Sealand" by Liverpool band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark took its title from the RAF base there. For songwriter Andy McCluskey, the name seemed to evoke the image of "a place between the land and the sea".