[2] It returned to English administration in 1282, becoming under the manorial system part of Merford commote of the Lordship of Bromfield.

[3] A detached part of Marford (or Merford) township lay in neighbouring Rossett, next to the bridge over the River Alyn, until 1884.

It was originally a separate township, and was recorded in the Domesday book as "Odeslei" and later as "Hodeslei", meaning Oda or Hoda's lea (meadow).

Although a few are earlier, most were built at the end of the 18th until the beginning of the 19th centuries by George Boscawen, whose wife had inherited the estate.

[9] The original story having become garbled over the years, the ghost of Marford is often now referred to as "Lady Blackbird", and is said to tap at windows in the village.

The village also has a disused quarry which has become colonised by many interesting plants, moths and butterflies,[12] including the dingy skipper and white-letter hairstreak: a small colony of the silver-studded blue, introduced from Prees Heath in the 1970s, may now have died out.

The area was designated a SSSI in 1989 and 26 acres (110,000 m2) were purchased in 1990 by the North Wales Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve.