Quakers Yard or Quaker's Yard () is a village in the

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. In , it had an estimated population of , making it the smallest local authority in Wales by population. It is located in ...

, situated where the

Taff Bargoed Valley The Taff Bargoed () is a river and valley near Pontypridd in South Wales, and lies off the Abercynon roundabout on the A470 road, and is approximately 14 miles from Cardiff. The main settlements are Nelson, Edwardsville, Quakers Yard, Treharri ...

joins the

Taff Valley Taff may refer to: * River Taff, a large river in Wales * ''Taff'' (TV series), a German tabloid news programme * Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, an organisation for science fiction fandom People * a demonym for anyone from south Wales * Jerry Taff ( ...

. The settlement is part of the

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 ...

Treharris Treharris is a small town and community (and electoral ward) in the Taff Bargoed Valley in the south of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, South Wales. It is located about west of Trelewis, from which it is separated by the Taff Bargoed river, a ...

History

The early place name for the district was 'Rhyd y Grug' or 'The Ford of the Rustling Waters'. This ford was a simple and easy crossing place of the nearby

River Taff The River Taff () is a river in Wales. It rises in the Brecon Beacons as two rivers, the Taf Fechan ("little Taff") and the Taf Fawr ("great Taff") before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. At Cardiff, it empties into the Bristol Chan ...

, close to its junction with the smaller

Taff Bargoed The Taff Bargoed () is a river and valley near Pontypridd in South Wales, and lies off the Abercynon roundabout on the A470 road, and is approximately 14 miles from Cardiff. The main settlements are Nelson, Edwardsville, Quakers Yard, Treharri ...

river. The ford was replaced in later years by the narrow stone bridge over the River Taff. Quakers Yard railway station opened in 1858. During the early 17th century those who 'dissented' from the King's Religion were persecuted. This often took the form of imprisonment, or death. By about 1650 a 'dissenting group' of

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, independents and

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

were worshipping at nearby Berthlwyd Farm, Pentwyn (Top of the Hill). The Quakers in turn, soon broke away to establish their own separate community. In the year 1667, these Quakers opened their own Quaker burial ground. It was on a piece of land on the Pantannas Estate and was owned by Mary Chapman. In her will of 1700, she left the burial ground to the Quakers. However, this burial ground was very small as the Quakers did not want to draw attention to it. To find this burial ground now is even harder as a new road in Quakers Yard was built through this site.

Notable people

The Jacobite David Morgan, executed for his part in the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

, lived at the farm of Penygraig on the hillside north of Edwardsville. One of the most famous

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

boxers of all time,

Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (12 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He simultaneously held the National Sporting Clubs British flyweight title and the World Flyweight championship from 1916 to 1923. ...

(1892–1969) was born at

Pentwyn Deintyr Pentwyn Deintyr is a hill-top hamlet in the community of Bedlinog and Trelewis, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, south-east Wales. Ordnance Survey mapping places the centre on grid reference ST 096 962 at about 140 m above sea level, straddling the ...

, Quakers Yard. Known as 'The ghost with the Hammer in his hand', he fought 864 contests and lost on 4 occasions only. He was

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

Champion of the World (Universal) from 1916 to 1921.

Andrew Coombs Andrew Coombs is a former Wales international rugby union player. His position is back-row forward or lock forward. Career Coombs attended Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun, and is a fluent Welsh speaker. He played for Newport Youth and Pontypool RFC be ...

was born in Merthyr Tydfil and resided in Quakers Yard. He won 10 full international rugby caps between 2013 and 2014, and also captained the Newport Gwent Dragons region. After retirement from rugby he became a rugby pundit with S4C and BBC Television.

Schools

The primary school Ysgol Gymraeg Gynradd Rhyd y Grug was located in the village until pupils were relocated to

Aberfan Aberfan () is a former coal mining village in the Taff Valley south of the town of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. On 21 October 1966, in the Aberfan disaster, a colliery spoil tip collapsed into homes and a school, killing 116 children and 28 adults. ...

. The redundant school buildings near the confluence of the rivers in Quakers Yard have been demolished.

Railways

Quakers Yard station is located on the Merthyr Line in Treharris. The station was opened as "Quakers Yard Low Level" by 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 ...

in 1858.

Location grid

References

External links

Old Merthyr Tydfil: Quakers Yard
- Historical Photographs of Quakers Yard. {{authority control Villages in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Treharris