The earliest record of the site where the cemetery now stands was from 1535, where it was mentioned in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, a survey under Henry VIII, on the finances of the Church of England, following the Acts of Supremacy.

It was also mentioned in a 1840 lease from the Bishop of St Asaph, which is it referred to as Tera Lepresorum (Latin for 'The Lepers' Land').

[7] In 1868, Wrexham Borough Council recognised that a new cemetery was needed, although initially had difficulty finding a new site.

[9] The cemetery was laid out between 1874 and 1876, opening in 1876, to the layout design of local nurseryman, later mayor, Yeaman Strachan.

[12] The first burial in the cemetery was for an eleven-year-old girl in April 1876, Ethel Irene Prichard, possibly of a wealthy family, which were later buried alongside her.

The works followed calls for renovation since 2014, and were present on the council's at Risk Register, and subsequently closed prior to restoration.

[1][11] It is also surrounded by housing on its southern and eastern side, a college to the north, and an industrial estate to its west.

It contained ornamental trees and shrubs, of both coniferous and deciduous, such as poplars, limes, acacia, horse chestnut, ash, oak, beech, weeping willow, cherry, pine, yew, and cypress.

[20] It was designed by Yeaman Strachan, who used the "Gardenesque style" of John Claudius Loudon, using geometric and symmetrical planting.

Its pathways were aimed to allow visitors to "tak[e] the air", a common leisurely outdoors pastime of the Victorian era.

[12] The cemetery's burial pattern was laid out based on social class, a representative of the importance it had in the Victorian era.

First-class graves, were designed to face onto and perpendicular to the pathways; or be on high ground, or in prominent corners.

[12] Writing in The Welsh History Review, Rowena Leyland believes on the basis of Strachan's archived draft plans that his design of Wrexham Cemetery in an 'amphora' shape "ties in with the Victorian desire to create a link to ancient Greece" as opposed to Ancient Rome.

According to Leyland, the aesthetic allusion to Greece reflects an image of moderation and noninterventionism the British Empire wished to convey at the time.

In the context of British colonialism, Leyland states that Greek aesthetics represented progressivism and restraint and Roman ones symbolized hegemony and 'assimilation', traits that were increasingly seen as unfavorable in the Victorian era.

[1][11] Just inside the gates is a small tarmacked forecourt, which is situated in front of two linked gothic chapels, in another design of Turner's.

[3][4] There are two Cross of Sacrifice memorials dedicated to local fatalities buried here while actively serving in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, one for each of the World Wars.

[34] There is a designated section maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission containing 100 graves,[30][34] in Section D, in the south-western corner of the cemetery,[35] and another memorial near the cemetery's entrance to specifically Polish service personnel, fighting alongside British forces in World War II.

The heavily moulded archway in gable, is set against the tower's base, which has clasping buttresses and paired Early English bell chamber lights.

[5] The tower has a heavy broach spire, containing two pierced quatrefoils bands and cross finials.

[5] The chapels have long-wall entry plans and were built with random rock-faced rubble, containing ashlar dressings and terracotta crested banded slate roofs.

[14] The lodge's exterior is made of rock-faced random rubble, containing ashlar dressings and terracotta crested banded slate roofs and finials.

It has three-light wood mullioned and transomed windows, with each floor of the left wing having small upper panes, and a half-hipped roof over.

[2] The cemetery office is located on the lodge's ground floor,[30] with it also housing two reception rooms downstairs, and a bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs.

[6] Cadw attributed its listed designation to it being a rare example of a mid-20th century mortuary that was very-well preserved and associated with World War II.