Abersychan is a town and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

north of

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

Torfaen Torfaen (; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Newport, Wales, Newport to t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the

preserved county Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

Gwent Gwent may refer to: Places *Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later *Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...

. Abersychan lies in the narrow northern section of the

Afon Lwyd The Afon Lwyd or Afon Llwyd () is a long river in south-east Wales which flows from its source northwest of Blaenavon, through Abersychan, Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, Llanfrechfa and Cwmbran before flowing, at Caerleon, into the River Usk, which ...

valley. The town includes two schools;

Abersychan Comprehensive School Abersychan School is an English-medium 11-16 co-educational comprehensive school in the Pontypool suburb of Abersychan, Wales. Admissions As of 2024, Abersychan School had 759 pupils on roll. It serves the north of Torfaen including the communiti ...

and Victoria Primary School; together with various shops and other amenities including Abersychan Rugby Club. Abersychan was the birthplace of the politicians

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...

Don Touhig James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig (born 5 December 1947), known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he ...

and Paul Murphy (member of parliament for Torfaen); and of the rugby footballers

Wilfred Hodder Wilfred Hodder (6 May 1896 – 12 November 1957) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s, and rugby league administrator. He played representative level rugby u ...

, Candy Evans and

Bryn Meredith Brinley "Bryn" Victor Meredith
Scrum.com (born 21 October 1930 in

History

Like many of the 17th century isolated agricultural hamlets in the forested South Wales Valleys, Abersychan became a thriving industrial centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly for iron production. Pendleton Colliery - Illustrated London News 20 Oct 1877

Pendleton Colliery - Illustrated London News 20 Oct 1877

After the discovery of iron stone locally, the principal ironworks were built by the

British Iron Company The British Iron Company was formed in 1824 to smelt and manufacture iron and to mine ironstone, coal, etc. It was re-formed as the New British Iron Company in 1843 and liquidated itself in 1892. British Iron Company (1824-1844) The company was ...

in 1825, served mainly by the London and North Western Railway's

Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway The Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway was a railway line in South Wales, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, originally built in 1866 and immediately leased to the London and North Western Railway to transport coal ...

. The ironwork's main office building and quadrangle were designed by architect

Decimus Burton Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Reg ...

, best known for his design of

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

. The works passed to the New British Iron Company in 1843 and to the

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

Company in 1852, before closing in 1889. On 6 February 1890, an underground

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...

at Llanerch Colliery killed 176. The site of the former ironworks today is a core site of , and a total land area of , includes a number of listed buildings: *Abersychan Limestone Railway: built to carry limestone from Cwm Lascarn quarry to the British Ironworks. *Air Furnace at British Ironworks *British Colliery Pumping Engine House: a Cornish beam pumping engine house built by the British Iron Company. Built of sandstone with a slate roof, and retains several fixtures *Cwmbyrgwm Colliery: Site of former colliery including remains of a water-balance headgear, chimney, oval shafts, water power dams, tramroad routes, and waste tips. Various proposals have been made over the years to redevelop the site, currently under the ownership of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

, but none have so far passed the requirements of Torfaen county council.

Local government

Abersychan constitutes a community and electoral ward of the county borough of

. The area was part of the ancient parish of

Trevethin Trevethin or Trefethin () is a suburb of Pontypool and a community in Torfaen, Wales. It includes two electoral wards (Trevethin and St Cadocs and Penygarn) for Torfaen County Borough Council. It is in the historic county of Monmouthshire. His ...

, in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

. On 3 June 1864 Abersychan was constituted a local government district, governed by a

local board A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

. In 1894 Abersychan became an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

. The urban district was abolished in 1935, with most of its area passing to Pontypool urban district, and a small area going to

Abercarn Abercarn is a town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History An estate at Abe ...

UD. In 1974 the area became part of the borough of Torfaen, in the new local government county of

. The community of Abersychan was formed in 1985, but no

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

has yet been formed. Abersychan and Cwmavon is now a ward for the Pontypool Community Council.The Torfaen (Communities) Order 1985 (1985 No. 129) In 1996 Torfaen became a unitary authority. The Abersychan community includes Abersychan, Cwmavon,

Garndiffaith Garndiffaith is a village located in Torfaen, south east Wales. It is a small rural area situated between Talywain and Varteg, three miles north of the town of Pontypool and 3.5 miles south of the town of Blaenavon (a World Heritage Site). The ...

, Pentwyn,

Talywain Talywain () is situated in Garndiffaith, Abersychan and Pentwyn in Torfaen in south east Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Old mining area It is a semi rural area that has a long heritage in coal mining. The old British Co ...

, Varteg, and

Victoria Village ''For the settlement established by former slaves in Guyana known as Victoria Village see Victoria, Guyana'' Victoria Village, sometimes referred to as Sloane (after the main street within the area), is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, ...

Local transport

The nearest railway stations to Abersychan are Pontypool & New Inn (3 miles),

Llanhilleth Llanhilleth () is a village, community and an electoral ward on the A467 road between Ebbw Vale and Crumlin in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. Two large mounds in the field behind the Carpenter's Arms are the remains of the medieval Llanhilleth castle ...

(3.5 miles) and

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...

(7 miles). Abersychan was served by the following (disused) stations: *

Abersychan and Talywain railway station Abersychan and Talywain station served the town of Abersychan in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire. The station was the meeting point for two major pre-grouping railways as they competed for the South Wales coal traffic. History Opened on 1 ...

Abersychan Low Level railway station Abersychan Low Level railway station served the town of Abersychan in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire. It was located near the junction of the A4043 and the B4246 at the eastern end of the town. History The station was opened as "Abersychan ...

Places nearby

Pentwyn

''Pentwyn'',

is a small village located in the district of Abersychan. It contains a post office, several houses and a small play park. The village has a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team (Pontnewynydd CC) and is located right next to the old railway line. The cricket club celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2006 with a successful tour to

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, Ireland.

Victoria Village

''Victoria Village'' is a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

located in the district of Abersychan. It comprises a small village school and a number of houses. A small group of houses on Incline Road mark the beginning of the village and the village boundary is near Cwmavon. Victoria Primary School is also in this area, housed in large grounds. Many homes are built around the school's boundaries. Victoria Village primary school was opened in 1903 and closed by the council in 2018. The last head of the school was Miss Joy Dando.

References

{{Authority control Towns in Torfaen Local Government Districts created by the Local Government Act 1858 Communities in Torfaen Electoral wards of Torfaen