Mynydd Maendy (translation: Maindy Mountain) is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

top and moorland, near Gilfach Goch, in the County Borough of

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vill ...

in south

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 ...

, to the southwest of

Tonyrefail Tonyrefail is a village and community in the Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough, Wales. It is situated at the head of the River Ely; northwest of Llantrisant, about from Trebanog and about from Williamstown. During the second half of the 19th ...

. As with the

Maindee Maindee ( cy, Maendy) is a large inner-city commercial and residential area in the city of Newport, South Wales. It lies on the eastern side of the River Usk, mostly within the electoral district (ward) of Victoria, although some areas tradit ...

district of Newport, the name derives from the Welsh ''maen dy'' meaning "stone house".

Location

Mynydd Maendy is located about one mile west of the small, former coal mining village of Gilfach Goch in the County Borough of

, near the larger community of

. The summit is smoothly rounded and provides rough grazing for sheep. A

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

and an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

Celtic

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

are located on the summit. On a clear day the large turbines of the wind farm can be seen from over away, and have raised environmental concerns. The wind farm administrative centre is located in nearby Tonyrefail. The wind turbines have been generating renewable energy since 1993 and was one of the first wind farms in the country. Modern turbines are more efficient, and there are proposals for the twenty existing turbines to be removed and replaced by seven larger structures. These more efficient turbines will have the potential to double the amount of energy generated on the site. The hillfort is a fortified hill top settlement and features on the Register of Landscapes of Special Historic Interest in Wales. It has been described as "the largest undefended Iron Age/Romano-British (800BC-AD410) settlement in southeast Wales", and would have been a place to which the tribe could retreat in times of danger.

References

{{coord, 51.57, -3.47, display=title Mountains and hills of Rhondda Cynon Taf Wind farms in Wales Iron Age sites in Wales Geography of Rhondda Cynon Taf