Dowlais () is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

of the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after T ...

, in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. At the 2011 census the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

had a population of 6,926, The population of the Community being 4,270 at the 2011 census having excluded Pant. Dowlais is notable within Wales and Britain for its historic association with

ironworking Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ...

; once employing, through the Dowlais Iron Company, roughly 5,000 people, the works being the largest in the world at one stage.

Name

The name is derived from the Welsh ''du'' meaning 'black' and ''glais'' meaning 'stream'.

History

Dowlais came to prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries because of its iron and steelworks. By the mid-1840s there were between 5000 and 7000 men, women and children employed in the Dowlais works. During the early to mid 1800s the ironworks were operated by Sir

John Josiah Guest Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Baronet (2 February 1785 – 26 November 1852), known as John Josiah Guest, was a Welsh engineer, entrepreneur and politician. Early life Guest was born on 2 February 1785 in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He ...

and (from 1833) his wife Lady Charlotte Guest. Charlotte Guest introduced welfare schemes for the ironworkers. She provided for a church and a library. The school (dating from 1819) was improved and extended, becoming "probably the most important and most progressive not only in the industrial history of South Wales, but of the whole of Britain".Birch ''Economic History of the British Iron and Steel Industry'' pp. 291-5 In the 1850s, after Sir John's death, the works became under the control of a board of trustees. In 1865 the Bessemer steel making process was introduced to Dowlais, with £33,000 being spent on a new steelworks. Steel production at Dowlais eventually ceased in 1936 due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, although the iron foundry continued until 1987. Dowlais was originally part of the parish of

. In 1872 the population was 15,590. Its total population at the 2011 census was 6,926.

Governance

Dowlais was an

Mid Glamorgan County Council Mid Glamorgan County Council () was the upper-tier authority for the Welsh county of Mid Glamorgan between its creation in 1974 and its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and Wales was reorganised in 1974 under the Local Gover ...

from 1973 to 1996. Since 1996 Dowlais has been a ward to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. In 2003 Dowlais was represented by an independent councillor, John Pritchard, who was also Mayor of

Notable buildings

Little remains of the works that once sustained the community throughout the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

until the 1930s, the two notable buildings that remain are the Engine House, now used a community centre and the stable block which is now social housing. Dowlais House, which has now been demolished, was once home to Sir

and

Lady Charlotte Guest Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest (née Bertie; 19 May 1812 – 15 January 1895), later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English aristocrat who is best known as the first publisher in modern print format of the ''Mabinogion'', the earliest prose li ...

, and it was at Dowlais House that Lady Guest translated the

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, creat ...

. The Guest Memorial Library (1863); commissioned by Lady Guest and designed by

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respon ...

, still stands. St John's Church, a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, contains the tombs and burial places of several notable people, including Sir John Guest who had the church built in 1827. St John's closed in 1997 but has received several hundred thousand pounds of

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

money to preserve it. In its heyday, Dowlais had numerous nonconformist chapels. Almost all have disappeared although the buildings of Bethania (Independent) and Hebron (Calvinistic Methodist) are now used by evangelical congregations. Others have been demolished including Bryn Seion and Gwernllwyn.

Sport and leisure

Dowlais is home to

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club, Dowlais RFC.

Notable residents

* Laura Ashley, fashion designer * Dai Astley, association footballer * Richard Davies, actor *

Thomas Nathaniel Davies Thomas Nathaniel Davies (1922–1996) was a Welsh people, Welsh artist and teacher, born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Shunning a promising early career with Cardiff City Football Club, he enrolled at Cardiff School of Art & Design, Cardiff ...

, artist *

David William Evans Sir David William Evans (4 November 1866 – 17 March 1926) was a Welsh lawyer and public servant, who played a leading role in the fight against tuberculosis in Wales. In his early adult life, Evans was a very keen sportsman and played rug ...

, lawyer and international rugby union player *

Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans GCVO (1 January 1903 – 26 October 1963) was a Welsh general physician known for serving the British royal family. The son of musician Harry Evans (composer), Harry Evans, Evans left his studies in music at ag ...

, royal physician *

, first translator of the

into English *

Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, 2nd Baronet, DL (29 August 1835 – 22 February 1914) was a British industrialist and a member of the prominent Guest family. Early life Ivor Bertie Guest was born at Dowlais, near Merthyr Tydfil, the so ...

, industrialist *

, engineer * Richard Harrington, actor * Robert Alwyn Hughes, artist * Heinz Koppel, artist * Gustavius Payne, artist * Robert Rees, tenor *

Glanmor Williams Sir Glanmor Williams (5 May 1920 – 24 February 2005) was one of Wales's most eminent historians. Sir Glanmor was born in Dowlais, into a working-class family, and was educated at Cyfarthfa Grammar School in Merthyr Tydfil. He studied ...

, historian *

Gwyn Alf Williams Gwyn Alfred "Alf" Williams (30 September 1925 – 16 November 1995) was a Welsh historian particularly known for his work on Antonio Gramsci and Francisco Goya as well as on Welsh history. Life Williams was born in the iron town of Dowl ...

, historian

Sources

References

External links

Old Merthyr Tydfil: Dowlais
- Historical Photographs of Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil.
Photos of Dowlais and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Villages in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Communities in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Wards of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Mid Glamorgan electoral wards