Llantwit Fardre () is a large 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 ...

(and

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 ...

) situated on the A473, Pontypridd to

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, road near the Welsh towns of

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

and

Llantrisant Llantrisant (; "Parish of the Three Saints") is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the t ...

. Llantwit Fardre is also the name of the old

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and the

area that takes in the villages of Llantwit Fardre, Tonteg and Church Village. It is in the county 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, ...

. The

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

has constructed a bypass to reduce traffic congestion on the A473 road at Tonteg, Church Village and Llantwit Fardre. The Church Village bypass, as it is known, has been built as a single carriageway, with crawler and overtaking lanes around roundabouts, and was opened for traffic in September 2010.

Etymology

It is believed the name Llantwit Fardre is derived from an old

Welsh Language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

name meaning The Church of St Illtud (Llantwit), on the Home Farm of the Prince (Faerdref) and relates to the land surrendered to the prince of the District by his subject to provide him with an income.

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Illtud was a 5th-century

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

priest who built his second church roughly in the area where the present church stands. He was later famed as the Saint of the Five Keys of youth, learning, chivalry, priesthood and knighthood.

History and amenities

The parish has a fairly well preserved 12th century

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

with an intact

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, called Tomen-y-clawdd, which is located in the parish village of Tonteg. Coach company Edwards Coaches is based in the town, and was established in 1925. A station called Llantwit Fardre (and formerly Llantwit Dyffryn Red Ash Colliery) served the village on the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway.

Employment

Industrialisation began in Llantwit Fardre in the late 17th century with the introduction of stone quarrying and

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 ...

. With the decline of coal mining the local populace tend to commute to work. Between 1959 and 1973 Gilbern cars were manufactured in the village.

Sport

Llantwit Fardre has

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, cricket and netball clubs. Llantwit Fardre RFC are a

team who play in the WRU Division 1 East Central; Llantwit Fardre AFC are a local football club that have a team playing in the South Wales Amateur Football League.

Local government

Llantwit Fardre is the name of a community ward for Llantwit Fardre Community Council, electing four of the twelve community councillors. Llantwit Fardre Parish Council was originally formed under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, with the first meeting held on 1 January 1895. It became a

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. ...

in 1974, after local government re-organisation, when Welsh parish councils were re-titled. The council have the motto, "Goreu arf arf ddysg" (''"The best tools are the tools for learning"''), carved over the entrance to the Carnegie Hall. Llantwit Fardre is also the name of a county ward 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 ...

, with boundaries matching the community ward, covering Llantwit Fardre village and Efail Isaf. The ward elects two county councillors. On 2 May 2008, Joel James, a British Conservative Party politician became the first Tory councillor to be elected to the county council for the Llantwit Fardre seat.

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llantwit Fardre and surrounding area

References

{{authority control Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf Wards of Rhondda Cynon Taf