Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

Barry ( cy, Y Barri; ) is a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resurrected Barry Island Pleasure Park. According to Office for National Statistics 2016 estimate data, the population of Barry was 54,673.

Once a small village, Barry has absorbed its larger neighbouring villages of Cadoxton and Barry Island, and now, Sully. It grew significantly from the 1880s with the development of Barry Docks, which in 1913 was the largest coal port in the world.

Etymology

The origin of the town's name is disputed. It may derive from the sixth-century Saint Baruc who was buried on Barry Island where a ruined chapel was dedicated to him. Alternatively, the name may derive from Welsh ', meaning "hill, summit". The name in Welsh includes the definite article.

History

Early history

The area now occupied by Barry has seen human activity in many periods of history. Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age microlith flint tools have been found at Friars Point on Barry Island and near Wenvoe and Neolithic or New Stone Age polished stone axe-heads were discovered in St. Andrews Major. A cinerary urn (pottery urn buried with cremation ashes) was found on Barry Island during excavations of Bronze Age barrows and two more were found in a barrow at Cold Knap Point. A large defended enclosure or Iron Age promontory hillfort was located at the Bulwarks at Porthkerry and there was evidence of the existence of an early Iron Age farmstead during construction of Barry College off Colcot Road.

In Roman times farmsteads existed on the site of Barry Castle and Biglis and there were verbal reports of discovery of a cemetery including lead coffins with scallop-shell decoration. Both St. Baruc's Chapel and St. Nicholas Church have re-used Roman bricks and tiles incorporated in their building fabric and a Roman villa was discovered in Llandough. In 1980 a Roman building consisting of 22 rooms and cellars in four ranges around a central courtyard was excavated at Glan-y-môr and is believed to be a third-century building associated with naval activity, maybe a supply depot.

The Vikings launched raids in the area and Barry Island was known to be a raider base in 1087. Flat Holm and Steep Holm islands in the Bristol Channel have their name Holm name derived from a Scandinavian word for an island in an estuary. The excavation of the Glan-y-môr site revealed the site had been reused in the 6th and 7th century and also between AD 830 and 950 as a dry stone sub-rectangular building with a turf or thatched roof.

Medieval Barry

The main feature of the area at this time was the island in the Bristol Channel, separated from the mainland by a tidal estuary. It is described in Giraldus Cambrensis or Gerald of Wales' ("Journey through Wales", 1191). He states that Barry derives its name from St. Baruc whose remains are deposited in a chapel on the island. The local noble family who owned the island and the adjoining estates took the name of de Barri from the island.

Following the Norman conquest of England the area was divided into manors with the Barry area split into two large lordships, Penmark and Dinas Powys. Penmark was split into the sub-manors of Fonmon, West Penmark and Barry. Dinas Powys was split into the sub-manors of Cadoxton and ('Highlight'). The sub-manor of Barry was granted by the de Umfraville family to the de Barri family and the seat of the manor was Barry Castle, located on high ground overlooking the Bristol Channel, a site occupied in Roman times by a native homestead. The castle was a small fortified manor house, built to replace an earlier earthwork. By the late 13th century the castle had two stone buildings on the east and west sides of a courtyard. Early in the 14th century the castle was strengthened by the addition of a large hall and gatehouse on its south side, the ruins of which are all that survive today. By now Barry had grown into a village and port with its own church and watermill but in the 14th century its population was drastically reduced by the Black Death and the consequences of the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. It took the population some 300 years to recover and once more hold the title of village, essentially a sparsely populated area with a few scattered farms and much of the land a marsh that a small river flowed through. By 1622 the pattern of fields, where enclosure was almost complete, around Barry village was pretty much as it was to remain until the growth of the modern town. According to the 1673 hearth tax list the parish contained thirteen houses.

Whitehouse Cottage, the oldest existing inhabited house in modern Barry, dates from the late 1500s with the east end of the building added in around 1600. It overlooks the sea at Cold Knap.

Industrial history

By 1871 the population of Barry was over 100, with 21 buildings, the new estate-owning Romilly family being involved in the buildup of the village but it remained a largely agricultural community. It grew when it was developed as a coal port in the 1880s. The coal trade was growing faster than the facilities at Tiger Bay in Cardiff ever could and so a group of colliery owners formed the Barry Railway Company and chose to build the docks at Barry. Work commenced in 1884 and the first dock basin was opened in 1889 to be followed by two other docks and extensive port installations. The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks whose trade grew from one million tons in the first year, to over nine million tons by 1903. The port was crowded with ships and had flourishing ship repair yards, cold stores, flour mills and an ice factory. By 1913, Barry was the largest coal exporting port in the world. Barry Council Office and Library was completed in 1908.

Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry which, with Cadoxton, soon formed a sizeable town. The railways which had played a major part in the development of the dock helped make Barry Island a popular resort. Barry Memorial Hall on Gladstone Road was inaugurated in November 1932, and obtained its name to honour those locals who lost their lives in World War I.

During its industrial peak a number of ships sank off the Barry coast.

Barry Scrapyard

Following the rise of diesel and electric power on the UK railways, the marshalling yards at Barry Docks became the largest repository of steam engines awaiting scrapping in the UK. Dai Woodham owned the Woodham Brothers Scrap yard and he allowed rail preservation organisations to buy back the locomotives at the scrap value, allowing around 200 of the 300 locomotives to be saved for future generations, although during the years of storage many were vandalised or looted by souvenir hunters. When interviewed just before his death, Woodham was reluctant to take full credit for this and pointed out that the town of Barry with its redundant sidings was the major factor in allowing these locomotives to be saved.

Modern times

Barry is the administrative centre of the Vale of Glamorgan, and home to Barry Town United F.C.

The road from Bonvilston was originally the B4266, as only Pontypridd Road within the town still is, and the road from Highlight Park right through the Vale to Bridgend was the B4265, as beyond Cardiff International Airport it still is. Since the 1970s, parts of these roads are numbered A4226, with the result that the A4226 radiates from Weycock Cross roundabout in ''three'' directions.

Although still a port, Barry is more of a manufacturing town and as a service centre for the Vale of Glamorgan. Barry Docks and the adjoining industrial area form the largest employment centre in the town. The docks, whose road links were dramatically improved with the opening of the Docks Link Road in 1981, now have direct road access with the M4 motorway. The docks can handle vessels up to 23,000 tonnes and the first-class tidal position close to the deep-water channel of the Severn Estuary, allows for scheduled sailings. With its transit sheds, warehouses and open storage, the docks are equipped to handle bulk cargoes but with the scrapping of their former electric cranes, ships’ own derricks have to be used or cranes hired in by ABP as required. Two roll on/roll off berths are available and have been used by routes to Ireland and West Africa. As at January 2016, Intermodal rail freight traffic is being operated from No. 2 Dock. With a new presence on the Mole in No. 1 Dock and the provision of a concrete slipway from it, leisure rowing and dinghy sailing is available (2016).

The town has a town council which is controlled by the Labour Party.

The majority of industrial firms are located in the dock area. The largest are the chemical producing concerns such as Cabot Carbon and Dow Corning who not long ago completed the development of the largest silicones plant in Europe. Other main employers in Barry Docks are Jewson Builders' Merchants, Western Welding and Engineering, Bumnelly, and Associated British Ports Holdings who, since 1982 have run the docks as successors to the British Transport Docks Board.

To the west of Barry is Porthkerry Park. This is a large area of open space, with woodlands, streams, and access to a pebbly beach. In the park is the former Barry Railway Company viaduct with 13 arched spans standing 110 ft high. Following the closure of the Vale of Glamorgan line to passengers between Barry and Bridgend in 1964, it was reopened on 10 June 2005 and for most of its 19 miles, provides a scenic view and link to Llantwit Major and beyond to Bridgend.

Barry Island

The Barry Island peninsula was an island until the 1880s when it was linked to the mainland as the town of Barry expanded. This was partly due to the opening of Barry Dock by the Barry Railway Company. Established by David Davies, the docks now link up the gap which used to form Barry Island.

There is a railway station to access the island at Barry Docks, there is also a heritage railway station which houses refurbished steam passenger trains. The railway is open to the public and holds events involving a large steam engine replica of Thomas the Tank Engine.

Barry Island is now known for its beach and Barry Island Pleasure Park. From 1966, the island was home to a Butlins Holiday camp, which was closed in 1987 and taken over by Majestic Holidays who renamed it Barry Island Resort. Between Butlins' closure and Majestic's reopening the camp was used as for filming scenes in the "Shangri-La" holiday camp from the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''Delta and the Bannermen''. The camp closed in 1996 after Majestic had a disagreement with the local council, who refused an entertainments licence unless work was carried out to improve the now 30-year-old site. It was redeveloped for housing between 1997 and 2003 with the remaining two camp buildings and outdoor pool demolished in early 2005.

The preserved Vale of Glamorgan Railway runs on Barry Island.

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