Hirwaun (, ; ) is a village 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 ...
at the north end of the
Cynon Valley 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, ...
,
South Wales
South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. It is NW of the town of
Aberdare
Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...
, and comes under the Aberdare
post town
A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...
. At the
2001 census, Hirwaun had a population of 4,851; increasing at the 2011 census to 4,990. The village is on the
Heads of the Valleys
The A465 is a Trunk roads in Wales, trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in south Wales. The western half in Wales is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section fro ...
Road and at the southern edge of the
Brecon Beacons National Park
Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (), is a National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (), the mountain range at its centre. The national park ...
.
Etymology
Hirwaun (also formerly spelled as Hirwain, Herwain and Hyrwen) derives from two common
Welsh toponyms: ''hir'' meaning "long" and 'gwaun'' (mutated to ''waun'') meaning moorland.
Writing in 1887,
Thomas Morgan stated that the correct name is ''Hirwaun Gwrgant'', meaning Gwrgan's "gwaun". This name comes from its association with Gwrgan ab Ithel (1033–1070), a
king of Morgannwg who is said to have freely given a portion of the ''gwaun'' (named "Y Waun Hir") to his poor subjects and all other Welshmen for raising corn, and the breeding of sheep and cattle. Morgan further states that in olden times the ''gwaun'' extended from Blaengwrach (near Rhydgroes) to
Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to:
* ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia
* Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus''
See also
* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...
, a length of nearly ten miles.
History and background
Hirwaun has an industrial background centred around the Hirwaun Ironworks. After the ironworks closed, coal mining continued, and was a major employer until the second half of the 20th century.
The Crawshay family were powerful, almost all-powerful in the production of steel, and the Hirwaun Ironworks had produced cannons used on
HMS Victory
HMS ''Victory'' is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line. With years of service as of , she is the world's List of oldest surviving ships, oldest naval vessel still in Ship commissioning, commission. She was ordered for the Roy ...
. The family owned a large portion of Hirwaun and even used their own currency, the "Hirwaun Guinea", to pay employees, a form of
truck system
Truck wages are wages paid not in conventional money but instead in the form of payment in kind (i.e. commodities, including goods and/or services); credit with retailers; or a money substitute, such as scrip, chits, vouchers or tokens. Truc ...
which stopped employees travelling to Cardiff or spending their money outside the controlled economy of the village.
Following the
miners' strike in 1984–5, the only deep coal mine left in Wales was the nearby
Tower Colliery
Tower Colliery ( Welsh: Glofa'r Tŵr) was the oldest continuously working deep- coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was loc ...
, which
British Coal shut in 1994. The colliery was then bought out by its workers, after which it reopened in 1995. It finally closed in 2008.
Industry
Anthony Bacon started iron production at
Cyfarthfa in 1765. His business partner, Francis Homfray, ran the works during the Napoleonic Wars. The finished product was transported to the port of Cardiff by mules and pack-horses.
The works later passed through a succession of owners before being purchased in 1819 by
William Crawshay of Cyfarthfa. Crawshay expanded the works, leading to a population influx into the locality. By 1830, nearly 900 men were employed at the Hirwaun works, and in the same year the first railway steam engine seen in the locality began to operate from the works.
The ironworks remained in family hands until its closure in 1859. The ironworks'
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
In a ...
s required coke, which spurred an increase in local
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
.
Government
Hirwaun had its own seat on Glamorgan County Council from 1889. The first member elected was Sir
William Thomas Lewis, later Lord Merthyr. Hirwaun was also part of the
Aberdare Urban District Council area.
Until 2022 Hirwaun was the name of an
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 t ...
to
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council () is the governing body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, one of the principal areas of Wales. The council headquarters are at the Llys Cadwyn development in Pontypridd.
History
The council was established on 1 Ap ...
, electing one county borough councillor. Following a boundary review, it was merged with neighbouring Rhigos to become '
Hirwaun, Penderyn and Rhigos', electing two councillors.
Gallery
Macmillan Walk with Ryan Jones Hirwaun to Abercynon, April 26th 2008 Photo 1.jpg, Macmillan Cancer Support Charity Walk with Ryan Jones
Ryan Paul Jones (born 13 March 1981) is a Wales former international rugby union player who played at number eight, blindside flanker or second row. He was involved in three Grand Slam wins, in 2005, as captain in 2008, and 2012. He is one ...
Hirwaun to Abercynon, April 26, 2008
Macmillan Walk with Ryan Jones Hirwaun to Abercynon, April 26th 2008 Photo 2.jpg
Macmillan Walk with Ryan Jones Hirwaun to Abercynon, April 26th 2008 Photo 3.jpg
Religion
St Lleurwg's Church
Saint Lleurwg's
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
is in the centre of the village, in the ecclesiastical parish of Hirwaun. It was opened by
Alfred Ollivant,
Bishop of Llandaff
The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.
Area of authority
The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's cathedra, seat is in the Llandaff Cathedral, Cathedral Chu ...
in July 1858. The sister church in the parish, in
Penywaun, is dedicated to
Saint Winefred.
Saint Therese Of Lisieux Church
The first Roman Catholic Church was established in the Mission Room overlooking the Iron Works (built 1880 demolished in 1969). The present day church was built in 1965.
Nonconformist chapels
There were a number of nonconformist chapels in Hirwaun village, most dating from its early days as an industrial settlement when large numbers of people arrived from rural Wales. The chapels included
Ramoth (Baptist),
Nebo (Congregationalist) and
Soar (Wesleyan Methodist).
During the
1904-05 Religious Revival,
Evan Roberts, the main instigator of the movement, visited the village.
Architecture
Unlike most
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield () extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales ...
villages, Hirwaun has an array of different
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
housing styles, often cheek-by-jowl in small blocks. This is due to developments to satisfy different needs at different times, with much
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
in the last few decades. So Hirwaun has a discontinuous, hotch-potch feel to it that marks it out as unusual in the
South Wales Valleys.
The tower blocks
Hirwaun made local news in May 2004 when its two 1960s-built tower blocks were demolished by
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
detonation. Their demise marked the end of a major landmark in the
Cynon Valley and was symptomatic of a broader failure in the design of British public housing.
Hirwaun Common development
Currently the patch of green land known as Hirwaun Common is being
strip mined again. This was first done in the 1940s and 1950s.
Transport
The village was originally served by
Hirwaun railway station on the
Vale of Neath Railway, which arrived in 1851. At Gelli Tarw Junction east of the station, the mainline from to met the
Vale of Neath Railway branch to and the
Aberdare Railway. South of the station were the goods yard and sidings which served the various industries in the area, including Hirwaun Ironworks, Tower Colliery, two brickworks, and Penderyn quarry tramway.
With the
Beeching Axe in 1963, the lines south to Neath and north to Merthyr and the former Aberdare Railway were all closed. Hirwaun station was demolished. The line north to Aberdare on the
Merthyr Line to was only kept open for coal traffic to Tower Colliery, which moved its
coal washery and loading facility onto the site of the former sidings near the Rhigos industrial estate.
After the second closure of Tower in early 2008, in November 2009 the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) asked
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
to conduct a feasibility study on reopening the line to Hirwaun for passenger services. After clearing the line of vegetation, Network Rail submitted its report to WAG. Currently, no decision has been made as to whether the line from Hirwaun to Aberdare will reopen. The Robertstown crossing will be a deciding factor. However, the Welsh Government have added the extension of the line to the map of the
South Wales Metro
The South Wales Metro () is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network being developed in South East Wales around the hub of railway station.The development will also include the electrif ...
Light Rapid Transit System, which is planned to take over the line from
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...
to Aberdare and then to Hirwaun.
Sports
Hirwaun Recreational Ground, known locally as the Welfare Ground, is the main sporting facility in the village. The ground has one soccer field, one Rugby Union field, two tennis courts (hard surface) and a bowling green. The ground has its own dedicated floodlit training area.
Rugby
Hirwaun RFC currently play rugby football in the Welsh Rugby Union League (SWALEC League) 3b South Central.
Association Football
Hirwaun has Hirwaun FC (formerly Glancynon FC) playing association football in the
Aberdare Valley Football League premier division.
Squash
The village has a squash team called Hirwaun Squash Federation, formed in 2012. Founded by local lads Greg Williams and Jamie Evans, they play from the local Aberdare Sports Centre and compete in the South Wales Squash Association leagues.
Notable people
:''See also
:People from Hirwaun''
*
Gareth Evans, film director
References
Sources
Books and journals
*
*
*
Online
*
External links
Hirwaun Historical Society
{{authority control
Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Glamorgan electoral wards