Penygraig 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 ...

in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf,

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 ...

. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is within the historic county boundaries of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. The name Penygraig is Welsh for 'head of the rock'.

Early history

The original settlement which is now Penygraig was called Ffrwd Amos, though as with the rest of the Rhondda before industrialisation the only settlements were farmsteads. In 1832, Soar, one of the first baptist chapels in the Rhondda was built at Penygraig by preacher David Williams.

Industrial Penygraig

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 ...

began in Penygraig in 1857 when Thomas Ellis sank a drift mine. In 1858 Moses Rowlands and Richard Jenkins discovered a seam at Penygraig and would later form the Penygraig Coal Company. The Company sank the first deep pit in the village, The Penygraig Colliery; after which the village would be named. After the Penygraig Colliery showed a successful profit the Naval Colliery Company opened a second deep pit, The Pandy, which reached the steam coal seam in 1879. The Pandy was then sold to the New Naval Colliery Company after three disasters, which then opened three more deep mines The Ely, the Nantgwyn and the Anthony Pits. The New Naval company would then become part of the Cambrian Combine, owned by Viscount Rhondda. The Ely Colliery would be the centre of the Cambrian Combine dispute, which in turn would lead to the Tonypandy Riot.

The Naval Colliery pit disasters

The first of three disasters to occur at the Naval Colliery happened on 4 December 1875 when a flood broke through into the mine, resulting in two miners drowning and the lives of many others placed at risk. Then on 10 December 1880 a gas explosion took the lives of 101 miners out of the 106 who were working in the mine at the time. This was followed on 27 January 1884 when another explosion led to the death of fourteen men. These disasters are likely factors in the Naval Colliery Company selling the mine in 1887.

Governance

The Penygraig community is coterminous with the electoral ward of Pen-y-craig which elects two county councillors 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 ...

. Since 1995 representation has mainly been either by the Labour Party or Plaid Cymru. Between 2004 and 2017 both councillors were from the Labour Party,Rhondda Cyon Taff County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre. Retrieved 27 October 2018. though at the May 2017 election Plaid Cymru won both seats.County Borough Council Elections 2017
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Retrieved 27 October 2018.

Sport and leisure

Penygraig is home to

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 ...

team Penygraig RFC, which during the late 19th and early 20th century was one of the most notable rugby clubs in the Rhondda, producing

international players Dai Evans and Jack Rhapps, and was the early club of

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

rugby representative Percy Bush.

Notable people

:''See :People from Penygraig'' Penygraig, like many of the villages of the Rhondda, also produced notable boxers, including Tom Thomas, who in 1908 became the first British national middle-weight champion, and in 1909 was the first winner of the Lonsdale Belt at the same weight. * Leanne Wood, the former leader of Plaid Cymru, was born and still lives in Penygraig. * Gwyn Martin, photographer and author, grew up in Penygraig. * Ricky Wright (ring announcer), Master of Ceremonies for professional boxing and Mixed Martial arts.

External links

Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Services, Heritage Trail:Penygraig

References

{{authority control Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Valley