Gelligaer a place in history

www.romangelligaer.org

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1975, The Gelligaer Story, Gelligaer UrbanDistrict Council

Andrewartha C, 2004, Roman Gelligaer, pages 3-8 in Gelligaer Volume XIV, Gelligaer Historical Society

Brewer R, 2010, Gelligaer Roman Fort,Gelligaer and Pen-y-Bryn Partnership and Gelligaer Community Council

Broomfield S, 1982, The Penallta ‘Stay-DownStrike’, Feb 1948, pages 27-30 in GelligaerVolume XII, Gelligaer Historical Society

Evans E, 2005, Excavations at Dan Y Gaer and Gelligaer 2004, pgs 45-46 in GelligaerVolume XV, Gelligaer Historical Society

Howells R, 2006, Searching for the Silures; The History Press

Hughes I, 2009, In the Footsteps of SaintCatwg, pages 57-60 in Gelligaer Volume XVII, Gelligaer Historical Society

Jones J, 2003, Gelligaer and Merthyr Common; Morton Priory Press

Jones WRD, 1966, The Norman EnglishInfluence upon Senghenydd, pgs 17-27 in Gelligaer Volume III, Gelligaer Historical Society

Kember, J, 2004, The Inns of the Village of Gelligaer and their inhabitants in the1600’s, 1700’s and 1800’s pages 37-48 in Gelligaer Volume XIV, Gelligaer HistoricalSociety

Meyrick H, The Gelligaer Coalfield and itsPioneers: pages 11-14 in Gelligaer Volume XI,Gelligaer Historical Society

Mills D, 2007, The Norman Church: Not Just at Gelligaer, pages 77-79, in Gelligaer Volume XVI, Gelligaer Historical Society

Olding F, 2010, Gelligaer Common – anArchaeological Surprise; pg 14-18 `in Heritage in Wales, No 46, Cadw

Pearson A, 2004, Archaeological Excavations of the First Roman Fort at Gelligaer and itsEnvirons: an interim note, pages 59-62 inGelligaer Volume XIV, Gelligaer HistoricalSociety

Saunders, E. J, 1960, Catwg Sant and theAncient Parish of Gelligaer, Peter Williams –Bargoed

Thomas DG, 1969, The Gelligaer Story, inGelligaer Volume VI, Gelligaer HistoricalSociety

Thomas DG, 1973, The Harp, pgs 13- 14 inGelligaer Volume X, Gelligaer Historical Society

Whittle E, 1992, A Guide to Ancient andHistoric Wales – Glamorgan and Gwent; HMSO

Williams VA, 1968, The Opening of the Lewis’ School, pgs 59-60, in Gelligaer Volume V,Gelligaer Historical Society

IMAGE CREDITS

Cover • All Gelligaer & Pen-y-Bryn Partnership and Gelligaer Community Councilexcept Roihi stone © Crown copyright (2010)Visit Wales, and Man with cow – Old Gelligaerin Photographs by Maldwyn Griffiths & RichardHerold.

Introduction • Gelligaer & Pen-y-BrynPartnership and Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 1 • Main picture – Caerphilly CountyBorough Council. • Other – Gelligaer & Pen-y-Bryn Partnership and GelligaerCommunity Council.

Page 2 • Main image © Crown copyright:RCAHMW. • Others – Gelligaer & Pen-y-BrynPartnership and Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 3 • © Crown copyright (2010) Visit Wales.

Page 4 • Gelligaer & Pen-y-Bryn Partnershipand Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 5/6 • Main image © Crown copyright:RCAHMW. • Others – Gelligaer & Pen-y-BrynPartnership and Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 7 • Images from Caerphilly CountyBorough Council except old photo, OldGelligaer in Photographs by Maldwyn Griffiths& Richard Herold.

Page 8 • Images from Old Gelligaer inPhotographs by Maldwyn Griffiths & Richard Herold.

Page 9 • Clockwise • Caerphilly County

Borough Council/Arthur Wright collection. • Others – Gelligaer & Pen-y-Bryn Partnershipand Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 10 • Main image from Old Gelligaer inPhotographs by Maldwyn Griffiths & RichardHerold. • Other – Gelligaer & Pen-y-BrynPartnership and Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 11 • Gelligaer & Pen-y-Bryn Partnershipand Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 12 • Clockwise • Historic maps 1875 and1969 © and database right Crown copyrightand Landmark Information Group Ltd. All rightsreserved, 2010. • Photographs from OldGelligaer in Photographs by Maldwyn Griffiths& Richard Herold.

Page 13 • Gelligaer & Pen-y-Bryn Partnershipand Gelligaer Community Council.

Page 14 • Aerial image. Cities Revealed Aerial photography © The GeoInformation®Group, 2010.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With thanks to Gelligaer Historical Society andall those who contributed images (as credited).

Published by Gelligaer & Pen-y-BrynPartnership and Gelligaer Community Council.

Words: Ruth Taylor-DaviesEditor: Kim ColebrookDesigner: Maria Dispirito

IMAGES

Right • Landscape view from Church tower.

Cover left to right: Top row• Harp Inn sign. • Internal feature, St Catwg's Church. • Rural life. Middle row • Ray Norman, owner of the fort site. • Sunburst Mosaic, village centre. • St Catwg's Church. Bottom row • Horeb Chapel sign. • Group of miners at Penallta Colliery. • Lewis' School memorial.

Whilst Gelligaer is probably most celebrated for its Romanheritage, the village and the area that surrounds it havebeen important throughout human occupation. Here you’llalso find Bronze Age burials, Norman churches, Medievalsettlements, ancient pastures, Civil War strongholds, someof the earliest educational provision in Wales, evidence ofthe rise of nonconformity, industry and even a post WWIIhousing boom. This publication is intended to help youplace Gelligaer’s wonderful Roman heritage firmly withinthis rich timeframe.

Why did all this happen around here? The key toGelligaer’s importance is in its location. For millenniapeople have recognised its strategic, spiritual andnurturing potential. The area resonates with heritage, andyou cannot help but feel that Gelligaer has well and trulyearned a place in history.

Prehistoric Past 1

The coming of Rome 2

Celtic Stones & Christian Saints 3

Welsh War Lords and Norman Knights 4

Faith Food & Felons 5

Family Fortunes 7

Seeds of Change 8

Lots to Learn 9

Village Life 10

Extraction & Expansion 11

Gelligaer Still Fighting 13

Introduction

The earliest people to leave us clues oftheir existence within the landscapewere Bronze Age settlers, who came tothe area around 4000 years ago. Theclimate at the time was quite mild, andthe landscape was ideal for supportingtheir pastoral way of life. They were aspiritual people who buried theirleaders in stone vaults or ‘cists’ such asCarn Bugail, up on the highest ridges ofGelligaer Common. We are continuingto learn more about where and howthese people lived – for instance,recent archaeological exploration atLlancaiach Fawr has uncovered what isbelieved to be a Bronze Age settlement.

About 500 years later, a new influx ofpeople known as the Beaker Folk calledGelligaer home. They got their namefrom their distinctive pottery vessels. A tomb from this period was found inthe yard of Llancaiach Isaf Farm whichcontained a beaker, some bronzeornaments and the remains of a small child.

Whilst there are no Iron Age hillfortsaround Gelligaer, it seems likely fromobjects found locally that farmingcontinued in the area. Due to theworsening climate, it is likely that theupland areas of south Wales were usedas seasonal summer pastures.

Place names such as Llwyngoleu (TheGrove of Light), and mysterious objectssuch as the Maen Cattwg cup-markedstone hint at the deeply spiritual,sophisticated and complex peoples thatexisted here for millennia prior to thecoming of Rome.

If you know where to look (and have agood map), relics of our prehistoricpast are still visible in the landscape.Why not take a trip back in time andexplore them for yourself?

1

The Prehistoric Past

Top • Maen Cattwg Stone.

Left • Silure axe.

2

By the time the Romans arrived, theIron Age people in Wales had formed into distinct and organised tribes. Theyhad road networks, traded with othertribes and kept slaves. The women ofthese tribes were well respected andoften held high positions.

One of the most fierce of these tribeswas the Silures. Known as excellenthorsemen, the Silures used chariots inbattle and were notorious foremploying guerrilla tactics. Theirterritory covered all of south eastWales, and geographically Gelligaer layat the centre. Little wonder then thatthis place was chosen by the Romansas a location for a frontier fort.

But there’s more to Roman Gelligaerthan just the stone fort. As well as anearlier wooden fort (in fields just to thenorth of the stone one) excavationsuncovered a parade ground in thegarden of the Old Rectory, a potterykiln in the Church cemetery, a Roman

Baths just south of the Fort and anumber of cremation burials close tothe Roman roadways.

As a frontier stronghold, Gelligaer wasone of a string of forts along a majorRoman road from Cardiff to Brecon.The remains of this Roman highwaycan still be picked out on the Common,as can a series of practice camps –sites where Roman soldiers would finetune their skills at building ‘ditch andbank’ palisade topped defences.

No one can be 100% sure when theRoman army arrived or left Gelligaer,but it seems likely that the stone fortwas occupied initially from around111AD to 130AD and then again at theend of the 3rd/early 4th centuries.

More detail regarding the Roman Fortcan be found in the authoritative guideto the Roman Fort by Richard Brewer.

Today you can roam with the Romansand explore the story of Roman

Gelligaer through on–site panels and aself guided ‘walk and clue trail’ whichcan be downloaded atwww.romangelligaer.org; so off you go,quick march!

Top • Roman practice camps Gelligaer Common. Right • Roman statue head, found locally.

The Coming of Rome

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Although some Roman influencesremained, this period saw a revival oflocal Celtic culture. It also saw theintroduction and expansion ofChristianity. It is likely that most of thepeople lived on the higher groundrather than down in the denselywooded valley floors. So notsurprisingly, echoes of this time can befound on the Common.

Near Carn Bugail stands a slopinglimestone monument known locally asthe ROIHI stone. It once had aninscription which said ‘TES(F) ROIHI’,dating to the late 6th/early 7thcentury. It is sited close to the Romanroad and was once surrounded by asmall enclosure. This seems to suggestthat it marks a grave, and may be athrow back to the Roman custom ofburying the dead near roadways.Another theory states that itcommemorates an Irish warrior

Nia – Froich (Champion of the Heather)showing the influence of the Irish insouthern Wales during this time.Legend has it that the stone leansbecause locals once tried to dig underit in search of treasure, but they wereprevented from finishing the job by aterrible storm.

Another local monument of the period– the Tegernacus Stone – is nowhoused in the National Museum ofWales. Its Latin inscription translates as‘Here lies Tegernacus, son of Martius’.

The spread of Christianity in the PostRoman era led to it being called the‘Age of the Saints’, and Gelligaer has itsfair share of saintly links. The remainsof Capel Gwladys – a 6th centuryreligious enclosure on the Common –are still clearly visible. An inscribedstone from Capel Gwladys is preservedwithin Gelligaer Parish Church. Gwladys

was a daughter of King Brychan andlegend says that in her younger daysshe and her future husband Gwynllywcame across King Arthur and some ofhis companions at Carn Bugail.

Her son Catwg (aka Cadog) went on tobecome an important Celtic saint in the6th century AD. He establishedchurches in Wales (including one atGelligaer), Scotland and notably one inBrittany (Ile de Cado), where he foughtwith the Devil, leaving behind hisfootprint in the stone.

St. Catwg and his monks are said tohave used the Roman road as animportant highway for their missionaryjourneys. It’s a fascinating thought that when you are walking aroundGelligaer, you are following in thefootsteps of a Saint.

• Roihi Stone.

Celtic Stones andChristian Saints

Welsh War Lords andNorman Knights

4

By the 8th century, the Kingdom ofMorgannwg had been established. Thekingdom was divided for administrativepurposes and Gelligaer became part ofthe Senghenydd Cantref, later theLordship of Senghenydd.

The relative peace of post RomanGelligaer came to an abrupt haltfollowing the Norman invasion of 1066.William the Conqueror decided not totake Wales for himself and instead lefthis Marcher Lords (based on the Welshborders) to take whatever lands theycould. Whilst much of Morgannwg fellto Lord Fitzhamon, the area aroundGelligaer retained its native chieftains.In 1094 the Normans attackedGelligaer. This resulted in a bloodybattle in which a number of importantNorman lords were killed. Sir Walter

Scott immortalised the battle thus…‘The sun arose and Rhymney’s wavewith crimson glows’.

In 1158 it was the Welsh who were onthe attack, as local Chief Ivor Bachbroke in to Cardiff Castle. He capturedthe Earl of Gloucester and his family,holding them to ransom in exchangefor the restoration of local people’srights. One of his sons, Gruffudd, wasless of a rebel and married the Earl’sillegitimate daughter. His other sonCadwallon was based at Twyn y Castell.He was an ally of King John. However,their relationship changed and the Kingturned on him, taking two of his sonsas ‘savage revenge’.

The next major local revolt was led byLlywelyn Bren, a descendent of theLords of Senghenydd, who was also

based at the traditional stronghold ofTwyn y Castell. He had held high officein the County until Edward II robbedhim of his status and again deprivedthe locals of many of their rights. As aresult, in 1316 Llywelyn is said to haveraised an army of 10,000 men and heoverran Glamorgan before beingpushed back to Gelligaer. He wascaptured and sent to the Tower withhis wife and children. On his release hereturned to the area, only to beexecuted by Hugh le Despenser, theLord of Glamorgan.

This bloody period in Gelligaer’s historycan still be traced in place names, butif you go exploring, watch out for thosenaughty Normans!

• St Catwg's Church.

Ordinary life in the later medievalperiod revolved around three things,the Church, making a living, andstaying within the law.

Evidence of how people eked out anexistence on the land is shown by theremains of platform houses up on theCommon. The name for these dwellingscomes from the fact that they werebuilt in to the hillsides, with the backends dug in to the bank at the rear,whilst the resulting soil was used tocreate a level platform of ground atthe front. The houses were about 60feet long by 30 feet wide. Excavationsof one such settlement on the slopesclose to Carn Bugail (led by Lady AileenFox in 1938) found pottery andevidence of metal working. It seemsthat the occupants were continuingthe ancient tradition of pastoralfarming in the area. Interestingly thisarea is known as Dinas Noddfa – City

of Refuge. Perhaps the people hereappreciated the benefits of being awayfrom the troubles further south?

Other farms closer to the village havetheir origins around this period,including the ones at Top Hill,Llancaiach Fawr and Gelliargwellt.These lower homesteads would havebeen easier to farm and more fertile.

In any case the people living off theland would have been subject to locallaws and government. This includedpaying taxes (the “toll of the pix”), andfines following periods of revolt.Domestic and minor misdemeanours inthe Lordship of Senghenydd were dealtwith in a lower court, whilst moremajor crimes were considered at aCounty level. Guilty parties faced arange of sentences depending on theircrime, and could have all theirpossessions seized and sold. A newform of punishment introduced by

Edward III circa 1376 was to placepeople in stocks, a very public andhumiliating penalty indeed. TheGelligaer Stocks were in place outsidethe Church until relatively recently. Tofind out their fate, read on.

Land ownership equalled power inmedieval times, and as such, landboundaries were very carefullyrecorded, using features such as rivers,standing stones and even trees asboundary markers. It is said that theboundaries of the Lordship ofSenghenydd were marked once a yearby a ceremony known as Beating theBoundary. This entailed walking aroundthe various boundary markers, andliterally whipping a young boy at eachone… in order that he would always beable to remember where the borders lay!Ceremonies, traditions and superstitionswere essential to local life, and nowhere was this more obvious than inpeople’s religious beliefs.

5

Faith, Food and Felons

The Church of St Catwg in Gelligaertook its current form when it wasrebuilt in stone in the 13th century.Gelligaer parish was wealthy andimportant enough to have a Rector asfar back as Norman times, and in 1366the post was held by a man namedHenry de Staunton. The inside of theChurch would originally have beenbrightly painted, with scenes from theBible in order to share the gospels withthe mainly illiterate congregation. Theoutside would have been lime-washedto heighten its visibility in thelandscape. The original bells were oneof six sets donated by Jasper Tudor tolocal churches. They were a gift tothank the people of Glamorgan forsupporting his nephew, the youngHenry Tudor (Henry VII) in his bid tobecome King. By the time of thereformation, when Henry VIII set up his own Church, Gelligaer was worth£13 10s per annum (well over a year’s

salary for a craftsman at the time),making it one of the richest hillparishes in the diocese of Llandaff.

St Catwg’s has become a storehousefor a number of remarkable artefactsincluding the 10th century stone fromCapel Gwladys which is inscribed witha cross, and of course, the ancientvillage stocks! It is also home to amemorial to Edward Lewis, whobequeathed funds to set up the firstpermanent local school. The Lewis’benefaction boards are also there andthey make captivating reading, but moreof Lewis later... Another interestingfeature is the wood and glass screen tothe Lady Chapel which was donated byDavid Morgan who was married here in1868. He founded a department storewhich was a main stay of Cardiff’sshopping centre for 125 years, until itfinally closed in 2005.

The churchyard is fascinating too, and

amongst the stones is reputed to bethe burial of a Gypsy Queen, quite anunusual find in an Anglican graveyard.

Amazingly St Catwg’s Church hasremained at the heart of the village forover 700 years and still has an activecongregation. The Church is open tothe public on Saturday mornings aswell as for services on Sundays and inthe week, so why not pop in andimmerse yourself in centuries of locallife, tradition and worship.

Clockwise from top left • Platform Houses,Gelligaer Common. • William Greenhill andCharles Edwards pose in the parish stocks for a travelling photographer in this turn of thecentury photograph. • Internal feature, St Catwg's Church. • David Morgan Screen, St Catwg's Church.

6

The Acts of Union (1536-1542) broughtWales under English law, andimportantly saw the abolishment of‘gavelkind’. This was a Welsh traditionwhereby all siblings inherited a shareof their parents’ estate. Whilst fair, thisled to parcels of land and wealth beingever more diluted. Under English law,the estate passed to the oldest son.This resulted in a smaller number ofwealthy land owning individuals. Overa number of generations, this led to theestablishment of a few powerful‘leading families’ within the newCounty of Glamorgan. In the Gelligaerarea, the most important families werethe Thomas’s, the Lewis’s and thePritchards, each of which built housesbefitting their status.

Probably the most celebrated of thesefamilies are the Pritchards. Such wastheir success that by 1599 EdwardPritchard had risen to the lofty status

of High Sheriff of Glamorgan. However,it was his grandson (also namedEdward and also High Sheriff) who wasto play an important role in the CivilWar. Originally a Royalist, heentertained King Charles I during arecruitment drive in Wales. However,being a canny man, Edward was quickto change his allegiance to theParlimentarians when it became obviousthat the King was losing support.Cromwell (leader of the Parlimentarianforces) rewarded Edward’s new foundpuritan sympathies with the role ofGovernor of Cardiff Castle. Pritchardalso played an important role in theBattle of St Fagan’s in 1648.

It is said that it was Edward Pritchardwho (with his reinvigorated religioustendencies) first brought nonconformityto the area, establishing a Baptistcongregation at his home. In time,nonconformity became more popular

than the established Church. Notably,John Wesley (founder of the Methodistmovement) is known to have preacheda sermon in Gelligaer on May 25th1744. A wonderfully simple reminder ofthe heydays of nonconformity is HorebChapel (1848) which lies at the heartof the old Village of Gelligaer.

The Pritchards continued to be animportant family within the locality formany years. More recently LlancaiachFawr passed in to public ownership. Itis now a prize winning living historymuseum where visitors can enjoymeeting characters from EdwardPritchard’s household on the eve of theKing’s visit. It’s the ideal place to get areal feel for life during the Civil War, sowhy not go along? Just be sure not toloose your head!

Clockwise from top left • Llancaiach Fawr. • Llanaciach Fawr - Stewards. • Horeb Chapel.

7

Family Fortunes

Unlike many Valleys communities,Gelligaer retained its rural look and feeluntil relatively recently. In the late19th century agriculture stilldominated Gelligaer’s lowland whilstthe Commoners continued to exercisetheir rights on the higher ground.Farming families were well established,such as the Stradlings of Gelliargwelltwho worked the same 300 acres ofland for hundreds of years until theearly 19th century. Later still,photographs from the 1930’s showcharacters such as William ‘Greenhill’of Green Hill Farm taking a calf toNelson Cattle Market by cart. Whilsturbanisation finally caught up with thesouthern end of the village in the 20thcentury, even to this day there issignificant agricultural activity to itsnorthern fringes.

But that is not to say that Gelligaer waswithout its industries. As far back as1478 there are records of a LlancaiachFoundry. Mining, which had taken placeon a localised scale for centuries,became more widespread from the1760s with numerous small pits anddrift mines being established includingones at Top Hill and Llancaiach.

In 1828 Thomas Powell (who foundedthe Powell & Duffryn industrial empire)opened the Gelliargwellt level. This wasthe site of the so called Gelligaer Riotswhich took place in 1843, when Powelltried to bring in blacklegs to work thecoal whilst his miners were on strike.Powell instructed his manager LewisLewis to bring down men from Dowlaisto work the level, which he did. TheDowlais blacklegs were lodged atGelliargwellt Farm. However following aseries of run-ins at the picket line, Lewiswas forced to swear on a frying pan thathe would not recruit any more ‘scabs’.Only then was he allowed to leave thesite safely with the Dowlais men.

Later the Gelligaer Colliery Co. wasestablished, but due to water in theworkings, the company closed in 1887.Local drift mines continued to beexploited, such as the one operated bythe Edmunds brothers, up on Gelligaermountain which was worked well in toliving memory. However, It was southof the village that the impact of miningwas to be at its greatest, with theestablishment of Penallta Colliery, butmore of that later…

The landscape around Gelligaercontinues to be a fascinating mix ofurban and rural, so no two walks areever the same! Why not get out thereand see for yourself.

Clockwise from top left • William GeorgeWilliams of Pottery Farm Glyn-gaer standsalongside some of his Ayrshire dairy cows. • Mr O. B. Greenaway with a fellow workerand a pit pony working at his brother Tom’ssmall drift mine on Gelligaer Mountain. • Dyffryn Cottages. • William Greenhill in the 1930s at Green Hill Farm, Church Road,Gelligaer preparing to take a calf to the Nelson cattle market.

Seeds of Change

8

In the early 18th century, despite a fewcirculating schools, education wasgenerally reserved for the relativelywealthy. This situation so worried onewealthy landowner of the Parish,Edward Lewis (of the wealthy Lewisfamily mentioned on page 7) that hedecided to leave money in his willspecifically for setting up a school. Hedied in 1728 at only 37 years of age.

The school was to benefit 15 poor boysof the Parish at any one time, and thesum he left was to cover the cost ofpurchasing a building, paying a teacherand to provide for uniforms and othermaterials. As his mother outlived him,it was a condition of his will that hiswishes could not be put in to forceuntil she too had died. On her passing,the will was temporarily disputed by arelative. Finally on the 1st August 1762the school was opened in a smallcottage near the site of the Roman

Fort. There is a plaque therecommemorating Edward Lewis and hischaritable school. The school, now onits third site, near Pengam, still has anexcellent reputation.

Lewis was well ahead of his time.Education legislation began with the1870 Education Act, but it was the1880 Education Act that led to theestablishment of compulsory schoolingfor 5-10 year olds. The leaving age wasgradually increased, but compulsoryeducation up to the age of 16 was notintroduced until 1972.

The connection between Lewis BoysSchool and the Roman Fort continued,when in the 1900s the school masterArthur Wright brought some of hisstudents to the excavations at the fort.Wright was a keen photographer, andglass plates of his photos show pupilsenjoying the dig.

Today the area is served by threeprimary schools, Greenhill, Glyn Gaerand the newly built Welsh mediumprimary, Ysgol Penalltau. Comprehensiveeducation is provided at a number ofsecondary schools around the areaincluding, aptly, Lewis School Pengamand Lewis Girls School.

Lewis knew the importance ofeducation, but his legacy could onlyafford to help a few boys at a time.Fittingly, the site of his first school isnow the focus for helping to educateeveryone about the Roman heritage ofGelligaer. So make sure to attend oryou may get lines!

Clockwise from top left: • Original Lewis'School. • Lewis' School site memorial. • Memorial to Edward Lewis, St Catwg's Church.

9

Lots to Learn

Circa 1900 the village of Gelligaer wasidyllic. The old roadway ran down pastSt Catwg’s, Church Houses and the PostOffice, along Chapel Cottages and pastHoreb Chapel, winding its way downthe hillside, with Twyn y Castell off tothe right. Other features of the villageat the time included the Old Rectory,the cottage which had housed the firstLewis Boys School, Green Hill Farm, anew village school and importantly twopubs, the Cross Inn and the Harp Inn. Avisitor to the village around this timemight also have caught a glimpse ofthe Cardiff Naturalists busy excavatingthe recently discovered Roman Fort.

Second only to the Church, the HarpInn was probably the most importantbuilding in the village.

“The Harp Inn, standing in the shadowsof the Parish Church, with its stables,brewing house, coach house andhandball court, was of great antiquityand its range of buildings gave it

great significance” D Gethin Thomas,pg 10.9, 2010.

In the 18th and 19th centuries it was acoaching inn for the Crosskeys toMerthyr Tydfil stage coach – a veryimportant means of transport prior tothe development of rail and motorvehicles. Also, prior to 1894 The Harphad served as a kind of civic centre.Parish business was often conductedhere, and it was here that agents ofLord Senghenydd (by then the Marquisof Bute) collected ‘chief rents’ from histenants. It also served the social needsof the community as well as offeringrooms to travellers.

The Davies family were landlords of theInn for the best part of two hundredyears, and a number of them wererenowned harpists. Thus when itbecame a requirement in law to givepublic houses a name, ‘The Harp Inn’must have seemed most fitting.

The original Harp Inn was demolished

sometime around the turn of the lastcentury, but the name lives on in a fineVictorian pub which still sits oppositethe Church on the main village square.

Churches, chapels, shops, post officesand pubs in small communities are afinite resource, and the motto ‘use it orloose it’ rings true here. So if you areout exploring Gelligaer, why not makesure you take advantage of what’savailable… you might get a slice ofhistory thrown in for free!

Top • Historic Village Centre circa 1900.Bottom • Historic Village Centre 2010.

Village Life

10

“It was observed in 1906 that the peacethat was then to be found on thepastoral slopes of the Cyllau Valley wassoon to be rudely disturbed by greatindustrial enterprise with a great crowdof people following in its train.”D Gethin Thomas, pg 10.9, 2010.

As D. Gethin Thomas notes above, theturn of the 20th century signified hugechange for the Gelligaer area. Thecatalyst for which was the sinking ofPenallta Colliery, just a few milesdownstream of the village itself.Despite some earlier forays into mining,the area had largely escaped the scarsand urbanisation which had socharacterised much of the Valleysduring the 18th and 19th centuries.

Owned by the Powell Duffryn Company,Penallta originally employed about 270men. However, by the 1930s itsworkforce had grown to over 3,200,and annual production peaked at

975,603 tons of coal. Despite this, theinterwar years saw the coal industrywithin Wales on the decline. DuringWW2 the government took control ofthe Mines, and after the war theydecided that Nationalisation was thebest course of action. An Act waspassed to that effect which led to thecreation of the National Coal Board(NCB) in January 1947.

Nationalisation was intended to ensurebetter safety underground, modernmachinery and practises and a fairerwage system. For the miners ofPenallta, however, change was tooslow. As a result, on February 4th 1948,in a fit of disillusionment, 25 colliersstaged a ‘stay down’ strike, refusing tocome up from the pit for 60 hours. Notleast among their grievances was thefact that the ‘new’ 7 man managementboard contained 5 of the old PowellDuffryn bosses.

Production continued in Penallta untilNovember 1st 1991. Latterly the areaoccupied by the colliery has been underdevelopment. Some of it forms thebasis of a Country Park, other elementsinclude a Business Park and many ofthe remaining fine brick buildings areearmarked for housing.

But how did the Colliery impact uponGelligaer? Initially, the village was little changed. The Harp Inn wasrebuilt, and Harp Terrace emerged some time before 1920. There was little in the way of housingdevelopment in the UK during the1930s due to the general economicconditions of that time. Post WW2,however, the Labour MP Aneurin Bevan (best known for establishing the National Health Service) embarkedupon a national house building scheme.

He introduced the idea of ‘prefabs’,which were quick and relatively

Extraction and Expansion

11

inexpensive to build, yet providedaccommodation that was far betterthan most local people were used to. As part of this scheme, a fairly large development of prefabricatedhouses was built in Gelligaer, occupyingthe area opposite Harp Terrace. Thiswas the first major social housingdevelopment to encroach on the Village itself. However, with the babyboom of the post war years, additionalsocial housing was called for, and bythe end of the 1960s Gelligaer sawhuge changes. The prefabs weredemolished to make way for a newhousing estate which spread further to the west and covered theallotments, as well as much of the land of the former Green Hill andPenwyrlod Farms. This developmentgave us the Gelligaer urban settlementthat we recognise today.

Further housing changes in the villageincluded the demolishing of thecottages near the fort (including thefirst Lewis Boys School) and thebuilding of Gelligaer House, as well asa number of modern private housesspringing up along Church Road andaround the old village centre.

Other alterations to the area includedthe development of the new road toCascade/Penpedairheol circa 1950 (ontop of a former refuse/ash tip) and therealigning of the road away from theCross Inn in the late 1960s.

This ‘new’ elevated roadway along withthe vast housing expansion skew theancient views from the village, andcreate a very different landscape tothat which our Prehistoric, Roman,Medieval and even Victoriancounterparts would have seen.

So, armed with the tools provided bythis project (www.romangelligaer.org)and with your imagination to the fore,why not peel back the layers ofGelligaer and expose in your minds eyethe vistas that once made this littlepatch of countryside important to themight of Rome.

Clockwise from top left • Urban spread. • OS map 1875. • OS map 1969. • This group of miners at Penallta Collieryshows the enormity of the winding wheelsused. • No 2 upcast shaft at Penallta Collieryin the 1940s. The colliery was a provider ofjobs in the area for eighty years. • Mrs ElaineHarris and her children in front of Harp Terrace 1961.

12

Gelligaer –Still Fighting!

13

After decades of general decline which have faced the Valleys as awhole, Gelligaer is once again fightingback. As history has shown, Gelligaerfolk have always been resilient,whether battling with the Romans,raiding the Normans, or taking on theNCB. This spirit is still alive and kicking,with pockets of the community activelyworking to regenerate the area for the benefit of present and futuregenerations.

Recent improvements include theredevelopment of the Church Hall,renovations to St Catwg’s Church, and improvements to the housingstock. Aided by the Council and public

funds, much is now being done torestore Gelligaer’s pride. One suchexample is the Gelligaer Roman Fortproject which owes a debt to the drive and determination of key localindividuals. This project aims to use the area’s rich and intriguing Romanheritage as a catalyst for change ...both social and economic.

It is an interesting turn of history thatthis period in Gelligaer’s story is nowbeing celebrated by local people, whoare realising the potential offered bylegacy the Romans left behind.

Clockwise from top left • Roman Fort sitetoday. • Welcome signs. • View of the Fort.

Fort

Disused level

Cross Inn

Green Hill Farm

Penwyrlod Farm

Maen Cattwg

Top Hill

Gelliargwellt Uchaf Farm

Penallta Community Park

Penallta Industrial Estate

To Llancaiach Fawr

Former Harp Terrace

Gelligaer

Harp Inn

Twyn y Castell

St Catwg’s Church

To ROIHI Stone, Carn Bugail and Dinas Noddfa/Platform Houses

To Practice Camps and Capel Gwladys