Blaenrhondda is a village in the county borough of

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff () and Ely valleys, ...

, Wales, lying at the head the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), 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 (, 'large') and t ...

Fawr valley. Blaenrhondda is a village and is part of the community of

Treherbert Treherbert () is a village and community (Wales), community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan. Treherbert is the upper mo ...

History

The earliest evidence of people inhabiting the area are the remains of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement of several roundhouses grouped together in an obvious community, known as Hen Dre'r Mynydd. The dry wall layout of the ruinous site has led archaeologists to believe that the people who lived in the area were early farmers. It has been identified as the largest undefended Iron Age settlement in south east

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 ...

. Before the industrialisation of the Rhondda Valleys in the late 19th century, Blaenrhondda was an agricultural area and sparsely populated. With the coming of the

coal industry Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

two mines were sunk in the locality. The first was the North Dunraven, also known as the Blaenrhondda, sunk in 1859, followed by Fernhill Colliery around

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

. The Dunraven closed in the 1920s but the Fernhill was still operating as late as 1978. In an attempt to break the monopoly of the

Taff Vale Railway The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stage ...

and the Cardiff docks, the Rhondda Tunnel was constructed through Mynydd Blaengwynfy to link up with the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway to supply coal to the Swansea Docks for export. The resulting tunnel, at a length of 3,300 yards was the longest rail tunnel in Wales and the seventh longest in Britain. Due to an issue with the weight the engines could pull, the rail link was never the success it was hoped to be, though it did prove popular with day-trippers from the Rhondda, visiting

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

and the Gower. The station was closed in 1970. In the hills above Blaenrhondda lies Blaenrhondda Road Cutting, a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. It was given this status for its rock exposures showing sediments that formed on the flood plain of a river delta during the Carboniferous period, approximately 310 million years ago.

External links

Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Services

Celtic Heritage
BBC Wales

References

{{authority control Rhondda Valley Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf