Machen (from

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

' "place (of)" + ', a personal name) is a large village three miles east of

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

, south

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 ...

. It is situated in the Caerphilly borough within the historic boundaries of

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 ...

. It neighbours

Bedwas Bedwas is a town situated two miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly county borough, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshi ...

and

Trethomas Trethomas () is a small village northeast of Caerphilly, southeast Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It neighbours Bedwas and Machen, and forms a council ward in conjunction with ...

, and forms a

council 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 ...

in conjunction with those communities. It lies on the

Rhymney River The Rhymney River () is a river in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales, flowing through Cardiff into the Severn Estuary. The river formed the boundary between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire until in 1887, the parishes ea ...

Mynydd Machen Mynydd Machen or Machen Mountain is a hill lying between the town of Risca and the village of Machen in Caerphilly County Borough in south Wales. Its summit is crowned by a trig point and a mast. Geology The hill lies at the southeastern ext ...

(Machen Mountain) provides a view over the village. It is possible to walk up to and along the top of the mountain, where a number of large boulders are present. Machen has a successful boules (petanque) team that are located at the rugby club. The team has had a team in the first Division of the boules in Gwent (BIG) league for the last four years.

Industrial history

From the 17th century onward Machen was a village rooted in the iron and coal industries. Though little trace remains, the village was the site of the Machen Forge and several coal mines. A local history trail visits some of these sites. Machen Forge was an early adopter of the

Osmond process Osmond iron (also spelt osmund and also called osborn) was wrought iron made by a particular process. This is associated with the first European production of cast iron in furnaces such as Lapphyttan in Sweden. Osmonds appear in some of the ear ...

for the production of wrought iron. Machen railway station, which closed in 1964, was an important junction on the

Brecon and Merthyr Railway The Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway (B&MR) was a railway company in Wales. It was originally intended to link the towns in its name. Finding its access to Merthyr difficult at first, it acquired the Rumney Railway, an old plateway, an ...

, with a branch to Caerphilly on the

Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway The Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway was built to bring the coal output of the Aberdare and Rhondda valleys directly to Alexandra Docks at Newport. It was a little over in length, running from Pontypridd to a junction near Caerphil ...

, closed to passengers in 1956. A multiple-arch railway viaduct can still be seen where it used to carry the eastbound branch of the Caerphilly Branch line over the river. It was built to allow the heavy trains out of Caerphilly to bypass the 1 in 39 incline up into Machen. The westbound branch crossed the Rhymney river at Fountain Bridge before rejoining the eastbound branch at Gwaun-y-Bara. The 'Fountain Bridge' where the main road between Trethomas and Machen crossed the railway was so named because, for many years, prior to road alterations, there was a free-running spring at the roadside close to the site of the bridge. The point where the spring emerged was fashioned into a stone 'fountain well' which was regrettably demolished during the road works to improve the road. A residual branch of the B&MR remains open to service the Hanson Aggregates quarry at Machen. At Waterloo there was a Tinworks that supplied materials to the aircraft factory that once stood near the foundry above Royal Oak at Machen. Close to the Waterloo Tinworks, but on the other side of the railway became the factory that was Coates Brothers Paint Works, which later evolved into the Valspar paint division and later again became associated in the production of Inks and dyes. Nothing remains of the now demolished factory buildings, but plans for housing developments are in place.

Sister cities

Sautron Sautron (; ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique ''département'' in western France. Geography Sautron is located 10 km north west of Nantes, close to the Nantes-Vannes expressway. Surrounding communes are Vigneux-de-Bretagne, Orvault, ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(since 1993).

Notable people

:''See :People from Machen'' Notable people from Machen include - * Ron Davies, often claimed as the "architect of Welsh devolution". He was honoured as a member of the

Gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

with the bardic name "Ron o Fachen" (Ron from Machen). * Alfred Edward Morgans (17 February 185010 August 1933), Premier of Western Australia for just 32 days in 1901, was born in Machen. *Hazel Short (née Spargo, 1927–2017), local campaigner and resident of Machen for her entire life. * Ian Thomas (born 1979), former

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club () is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Gla ...

cricketer, is from Machen. He played for Glamorgan between 1998 and 2005, winning two one day league winners trophies with the club. He is also known for having scored the first televised

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

century in 2004 (116 Not Out against Somerset).

Health research

Men from Machen participate in one of the world's longest running epidemiology studies, the

Caerphilly Heart Disease Study The Caerphilly Heart Disease Study, also known as the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS), is an epidemiological prospective cohort, set up in 1979 in a representative population sample drawn from Caerphilly, a typical small town in South Wales, ...

. Since 1979, a representative sample of adult males born between 1918 and 1938, living in Caerphilly and the surrounding villages of Abertridwr,

, Machen,

Senghenydd Senghenydd (, ) is a former mining village in the community of Aber Valley in South Wales, approximately four miles northwest of the town of Caerphilly. Historically within the county of Glamorgan, it is now situated in the county borough of Cae ...

and

, have participated in the study. A wide range of health and lifestyle data have been collected throughout the study and have been the basis of over 400 publications in the medical press. A notable report was on the reductions in vascular disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment and dementia attributable to a healthy lifestyle.

Community Archives Wales

In 2008 Machen Remembered, the local archive group, received assistance from Community Archives Wales, to instruct their members in using computers to scan and upload their comprehensive Machen archive onto the Community Archives Wales website. This has been a great success with many of Machen's pictures now available for viewing on the website.

Community Groups

Machen Rural Market is a monthly social hub delivered by Cotyledon Business and Management CIC. The ethos of the market is to bring locally grown produce and craft to local communities.

Other uses

* ''Angeology'' – The Fourth Heaven, Machanon or Machen is ruled by

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, "Is the site of the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy Temple and its Altar" (Godwin, p. 122). It is said to house the city of Christ and is the native seat of the angels.