Penygraig 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 ...

in the

Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ('' ...

in 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 ...

of Rhondda Cynon Taf,

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 ...

. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas,

Edmondstown Edmondstown (), sometimes spelt ''Edmundstown'', is an outer suburb of Dublin, in the jurisdiction of South Dublin. It is situated on the R116 regional road, south of Ballyboden and north of Rockbrook, in the valley of the Owendoher River ...

Penrhiwfer Penrhiwfer ( Welsh for "short hill end") is a village located in the community of Tonyrefail, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough, Wales. There is a church, a park and a school.The Park is adjacent to the new school and the church is located on th ...

and Williamstown. Penygraig is within the historic county boundaries of

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Mot ...

. The name Penygraig is Welsh for 'head of the rock'.

Early history

The original settlement which is now Penygraig was called Ffrwd Amos, though as with the rest of the Rhondda before industrialisation the only settlements were farmsteads. In 1832, Soar, one of the first baptist chapels in the Rhondda was built at Penygraig by preacher David Williams.

Industrial Penygraig

Coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

began in Penygraig in 1857 when Thomas Ellis sank a drift mine. In 1858 Moses Rowlands and Richard Jenkins discovered a seam at Penygraig and would later form the Penygraig Coal Company. The Company sank the first deep pit in the village, The Penygraig Colliery; after which the village would be named. After the Penygraig Colliery showed a successful profit the Naval Colliery Company opened a second deep pit, The Pandy, which reached the steam coal seam in 1879. The Pandy was then sold to the New Naval Colliery Company after three disasters, which then opened three more deep mines The Ely, the Nantgwyn and the Anthony Pits. The New Naval company would then become part of the Cambrian Combine, owned by

Viscount Rhondda Viscount Rhondda, of Llanwern in the County of Monmouth, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 June 1918 for the Welsh businessman and Liberal politician David Alfred Thomas, 1st Baron Rhondda, with special rem ...

. The Ely Colliery would be the centre of the Cambrian Combine dispute, which in turn would lead to the Tonypandy Riot.

The Naval Colliery pit disasters

The first of three disasters to occur at the Naval Colliery happened on 4 December 1875 when a flood broke through into the mine, resulting in two miners drowning and the lives of many others placed at risk. Then on 10 December 1880 a gas explosion took the lives of 101 miners out of the 106 who were working in the mine at the time. This was followed on 27 January 1884 when another explosion led to the death of fourteen men. These disasters are likely factors in the Naval Colliery Company selling the mine in 1887.

Governance

The Penygraig community is coterminous with 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 ...

of Pen-y-craig which elects two county councillors to

Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Rhondda Cynon Taf) is the governing body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The council headquarters are located in the community of Cwm Clydach ...

. Since 1995 representation has mainly been either by the Labour Party or

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 ...

. Between 2004 and 2017 both councillors were from the Labour Party,Rhondda Cyon Taff County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre. Retrieved 27 October 2018. though at the May 2017 election Plaid Cymru won both seats.County Borough Council Elections 2017
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Retrieved 27 October 2018.

Sport and leisure

Penygraig 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 ...

team

Penygraig RFC Penygraig Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Penygraig, Wales. Penygraig RFC formed in 1877, one of the earlier rugby clubs to emerge, and by the 1890s were a strong voice in the Welsh Rugby Union, one of four clubs from th ...

, which during the late 19th and early 20th century was one of the most notable rugby clubs in the Rhondda, producing

international players

Dai Evans David "Dai" Evans (1872 – 29 January 1912) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Penygraig and international rugby for Wales. Evans was born in Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire, but came to the Rhondda Valley to f ...

and

Jack Rhapps John "Jack" Rhapps (15 July 1876 – 23 January 1950) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Penygraig, and international rugby for Wales. Rhapps later "Went North", when he turned professional, joining rugb ...

, and was the early club of

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

rugby representative

Percy Bush Percy Frank Bush (23 June 1879 – 19 May 1955) was a Welsh rugby union player who played international rugby for Wales on eight occasions. Playing at fly-half, Bush is regarded as one of the most talented Welsh players of the pre-First World ...

Notable people

:''See :People from Penygraig'' Penygraig, like many of the villages of the Rhondda, also produced notable boxers, including Tom Thomas, who in 1908 became the first British national middle-weight champion, and in 1909 was the first winner of the

Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, introduced the prize on behalf of the National Sporting Club (NSC), int ...

at the same weight. * Leanne Wood, the former leader of

, was born and still lives in Penygraig. * Gwyn Martin, photographer and author, grew up in Penygraig. * Ricky Wright (ring announcer), Master of Ceremonies for professional boxing and Mixed Martial arts.

External links

Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Services, Heritage Trail:Penygraig

References

{{authority control Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Valley