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 joins the Taff Valley. 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 ...

of Treharris.

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, close to its junction with the smaller Taff Bargoed 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, 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 (1892–1969) was born at Pentwyn Deintyr, 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 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. 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 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