Creigiau is a dormitory settlement in the north-west of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, the capital of

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 ...

. The village currently has about 1,500 houses and a population of approximately 5,000 people. The Cardiff electoral ward is called Creigiau/St. Fagans. The village has a strong Welsh-speaking community, and along with

Pentyrch Pentyrch ( cy, Pen-tyrch) is a village and community located on the western outskirts of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The village gives its name to a Cardiff local authority electoral ward, Pentyrch, which covers the village and immediat ...

has one of the largest clusters of Welsh-speakers in Cardiff. 23.4% of the village speaks Welsh.

History

Creigiau's former industrial centre was a quarry, which opened in the 1870s and closed in 2001. The village was linked to Cardiff and Barry by the Barry Railway's railway station, located on the eastern edge of the village, which was closed as part of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

. The Welsh language has always had a strong presence in Creigiau and the majority of its inhabitants still spoke Welsh in 1890. In the mid-1970s, housing estates sprang up to accommodate commuters. A further large housing estate was built during the 1980s to further accommodate the growing number of commuters wanting to live in the village. This estate is still locally known as "the new estate" or "lower Creigiau". Creigiau became part of the

Unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

of Cardiff in 1996 following Local Government reorganisation.

Castell-y-mynach

Castell-y-mynach is a late medieval manor house, reputedly built in the fifteenth century. It was remodelled in the early seventeenth century and contains seventeenth and eighteenth century wall paintings. The house is now surrounded by a modern housing development.

Creigiau Pottery

A pottery studio was set up by Reg and Jean Southcliffe in 1947 as the Southcliffe Ceramic Company, renamed to Creigiau Pottery in 1948. Creigiau produced domestic tableware in either a pale grey glaze, or their best-known copper

lustreware Lustreware or lusterware (respectively the spellings for British English and American English) is a type of pottery or porcelain with a metallic glaze that gives the effect of iridescence. It is produced by metallic oxides in an overglaze fini ...

. A distinctive Creigiau piece is their

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation wi ...

Welsh Pie Dragon, a lustreware pie funnel in the shape of a

Welsh dragon The Welsh Dragon ( cy, y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'the red dragon'; ) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national flag of Wales. As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of ...

rather than the usual bird. In 1962, Tom also took over the Claypits Pottery at Ewenny, nearby to the

Ewenny Pottery Ewenny Pottery, founded in 1610 in the village of Ewenny, is the oldest working pottery in Wales. Background The village of Ewenny is sited above all of the natural resources to make the local red earthenware pottery: clay deposited from the ice ...

. He renamed it Vale Pottery, after the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

, it later being renamed again under new owners as Helyg Pottery.

Governance

Creigiau was formerly an electoral ward to Taff Ely Borough Council. In 1995 Creigiau became part of Cardiff and the ward elected a

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

councillor, Delme Bowen, to

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

(Cardiff's first Plaid Cymru councillor for 23 years). Since 1999 Creigiau has been covered by a new ward, Creigiau & St Fagans.

Amenities

Local amenities include a bilingual primary school, which teaches through the medium of both Welsh and English, a golf club, a convenience store with a post office, a recreation ground managed by village residents (home of local archery, cricket, football, petanque and tennis clubs), a GP surgery, and local pub called 'The Creigiau Inn'.

Transport

A few bus routes serve the area, mainly operated by Stagecoach and

Cardiff Bus Cardiff Bus ( cy, Bws Caerdydd) is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to ...

A new Rapid Transit Line could be built from Creigiau to St Mellons in Cardiff, via Cardiff City Centre and the Welsh Parliament by 2024. Plans for the South Wales Metro include this line as part of the "Cardiff Crossrail Project", which could also mean the line could be extended further.

References

External links

Photos of Creigiau and surrounding area
{{authority control Former electoral wards of Cardiff Villages in Cardiff