Tonypandy (, ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

located in the county borough 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, ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

, lying in the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

Fawr Valley. A former industrial

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 ...

town, the town was the scene of the 1910 Tonypandy riots. The community boundaries of Tonypandy are drawn relatively tightly around the central part of the urban area. According to the 2011 UK Census, the population of the community was 3,750. The

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

defines a larger "Tonypandy built-up area" covering much of the Rhondda Fawr valley and the lower Rhondda Fach valley, which had a population of 62,545 in 2011. They also define a smaller "Tonypandy built-up area sub division" which had a population of 17,789. The town is served by Tonypandy railway station on the Rhondda Line.

Toponymy

Tonypandy means ''fulling mill lea'', from Welsh ''ton'' (archaic ''tonnau'') for lea, layland, pasture, grassland or unploughed land; ''pannu'' for

fulling Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...

and ''tŷ'' for house (cf. pandy). (See also Tonna.)

History

Pre-industrial

The Tonypandy area contains several

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

sites, the main one being Mynydd y Gelli. Located to the north-west of the town, the remains of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement Hen Dre'r Gelli lies on the slopes of Mynydd Y Gelli hill between Tonypandy and Gelli. Near the same location are several

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s. Tonypandy is also the site of one of two permanent

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

fortifications found within the

Valley. Named Ynysygrug, it was a lesser

motte and bailey 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, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

earthwork defence consisting of a wooden tower surrounded by a small fortified courtyard. Built around the 12th or early 13th century, the remains of the fortification were mostly destroyed during railway construction works in the 19th century. The fortification was for many years wrongly thought to be the burial place of Rhys ap Tewdwr or a druidic worship site. The regional library service recounts that the name 'Tonypandy' means ''the meadow of the fulling mill'' which was established there in 1838. "E. D. Lewis in his work ''The Rhondda Valleys'' provides us with an outline history of the mill that once stood in Tonypandy, and from which the town took its name".

Industrial era

In the mid-19th century, the Rhondda began its industrial transformation after the successful excavation of coal. With the extension of 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 ...

Treherbert Treherbert () is a village and community (Wales), community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan. Treherbert is the upper mo ...

and Maerdy in 1856, the Rhondda grew as

absentee landlord In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 b ...

s switched their interests from farming to mining. The Tonypandy riots of 1910 and 1911 were a series of violent confrontations between coal

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

and police that took place at various locations in and around the

mines of the Cambrian Combine, a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

of mining companies in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Tonypandy, unlike the surrounding villages, then grew as a financial and social hub, providing services and amenities for the neighbouring communities.

Sports and recreation

In the early part of the 20th century, Tonypandy was home to Mid-Rhondda RLFC, one of the first Welsh

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

teams. Although surviving only one season, the club transformed into Mid-Rhondda AFC, one of the most notable association football teams the Rhondda has produced. Both Mid-Rhondda teams played at the Athletic Ground, now known as "the Mid" . The pitch is notable as having hosted the first international match between the

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

teams on 20 April 1908. It was also used as the opening venue for the 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, when the visiting

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

rugby league team began its campaign with a match against Mid-Rhondda. When the Mid-Rhondda RLFC collapsed in 1909, the committee refocused on creating an association football team. In 1912 Mid Rhondda F.C. was formed, winning the South League Second Division in 1919–20.

Governance

In 1988 Tonypandy became a county

to Mid Glamorgan County Council, electing one county councillor in 1989 and 1993. Tonypandy Town Hall was erected as a theatre in 1892. Since 1995 Tonypandy has been a ward, coterminous with the community boundaries, which elects a county borough councillor 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 ...

. In 2012 the electorate was 2,739.Rhondda Cyon Taff County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre (

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

). Retrieved 26 June 2022. At every Rhondda Cynon Taf election the seat has been won by the Labour Party, apart from the 1999 election when then ward was won by

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

. Between 2004 and 2017 the Labour councillor was Craig Middle and, since May 2017, the councillor has been Gareth Wyn Hughes.

Notable people

:''See :People from Tonypandy'' * Willie Llewellyn (1878 – 1973), Welsh national rugby captain and three times Triple Crown winner * Writer Rhys Davies (1901 – 1978) * George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy (1909 – 1997) was educated at Tonypandy Grammar School.George Thomas (Lord Tonypandy)
at Port Talbot Historical Society. Accessed 29 April 2016 * Boxer

Tommy Farr Thomas George Farr (12 March 1913 – 1 March 1986) was a Welsh boxer from Clydach Vale, Rhondda, nicknamed "The Tonypandy Terror". Prior to 1936, Farr boxed in the light heavyweight division, in which he was the Welsh champion. He became Br ...

(1913 – 1986), the "Tonypandy Terror", trained there, living in adjoining

Clydach Vale Clydach Vale ( and adjoining ''Blaenclydach'') is a village in the Community (Wales), community of Cwm Clydach, northwest of Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is named for its situation on ...

* Brothers Donald Houston (1923 – 1991) and Glyn Houston (1926 - 2019) were both actors * Len Rawle (b. 1938), organist and organ builder/restorer * Footballer and club manager Nathan Jones (b. 1973) * Footballer Alex Lawless (b. 1985) * Singer and actress Sophie Evans (b. 1993) * Stuart Richardson (b. 1973) Former bassist of

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets or LOSTPROPHETS) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The group was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruit ...

and current bassist for No Devotion

References

External links

Tonypandy Online (Community Website)
{{authority control Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Valley Towns in Rhondda Cynon Taf Wards of Rhondda Cynon Taf Mid Glamorgan electoral wards