![Hen Dŷ Cwrdd, Cefn Coed y Cymer, Merthyr Tudful](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Hen_D%C5%B7_Cwrdd%2C_Cefn_Coed_y_Cymer%2C_Merthyr_Tudful.jpg)
Cefn-coed-y-cymmer () is a small community on the northwestern edge of
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is a county borough (since 1908) in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. It is situated in the neck of land between the rivers
Taf Fawr and
Taf Fechan
The River Taff ( cy, Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan (''little Taff'') and the Taf Fawr (''great Taff'') before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with the R ...
at their confluence (Welsh: 'cymer'). The village lies within the community of
Vaynor
Vaynor ( Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551.
Location
It is about f ...
. Immediately to the north of the village is the hill of
Cefn Cil Sanws
Cefn Cil Sanws is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. The summit at 460m above sea level is crowned by a trig point. The steep cliffs of Darren Fawr and Darren Fach defend its west ...
on the southern slopes of which is Merthyr Tydfil Golf Club. The village is bounded both to the north and the west by the
Brecon Beacons National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...
.
Notable features of the village are the
A465
The A465 is a trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in South Wales. The western half is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section from Abergavenny to the Vale of N ...
''Heads of the Valleys Road'' and the impressive curving Cefn Coed Viaduct. The viaduct, which spans the Taf Fawr river, came into being as part of the Merthyr- Pontsticill junction line. This additional line extended the
Brecon and Merthyr Railway and was only agreed following a special Act of Parliament in July 1862 to allow its construction.
Spelling of the name
Cefn-coed-y-cymmer is in fact a poor Welsh spelling used as an English form of the name (there is no doubling of "m" in standard Welsh spelling, and the hyphens are unnecessary). This form can be seen, for example, on the Ordnance Survey six-inch to the mile map 1888-1913.
The standard Welsh spelling for the village is Cefncoedycymer, though road signs show Cefn Coed y Cymer. The latter is in fact the non-habitative name (such names, referring to geographc features, are spelt in Welsh with the elements separated) and is the name of the hill after which the village is named. In standard Welsh spellings, settlement names are spelt with the elements run together, hence Cefncoedycymer.
Other spellings are found in an English context, such as Cefn coed y cymer and Cefn Coed-y-cymmer.
The meaning is “the hill (cefn) of / by / at Coed y Cymer”, where “Coed y Cymer” is “the wood (coed) at the confluence (y cymer)”, where the Taf Fechan river joins the Taf Fawr river to form Afon Taf (the river Taff).
Coed y Cymer was a dense woodland here that was felled in 1765 to provide wood for Anthony Bacon’s blast furnace at his Cyfarthfa ironworks.
The short form of the village name in Welsh is Y Cefn, hence Pont y Cefn (“the Cefn bridge”), an old bridge by the modern river bridge carrying the A4054 Brecon Road over the Taf Fechan. In English the short form locally is Cefn (“Her brother lives in Cefn”) and to be more specific about which Cefn is being referred to (there are many villages with the short form “Cefn”), Cefn-coed / Cefn Coed is used (“she attended Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Chapel in Cefn Coed”).
In place names in Welsh, the definite article might be omitted (though understood to be present) and so “Cefncoedcymer” is also found – an internet search will show such instances of this spelling.
As the village is on the northern boundary of the Gwentian dialect area of the Welsh language (i.e. the south-east of Wales), local pronunciations have shown typical Gwentian features, with “cefan”
ke·vanfor “cefn”
ke·vɛn “co'd”
ɔ:dfor “coed”
ɔi̯d and “cymar”
kəmarfor “cymer”
kəmɛr though with the disappearance of traditional spoken Welsh in the area they are probably not often heard nowadays, if at all.
Viaduct
Cefn viaduct is the third largest in Wales and is a
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
. It was designed by Alexander Sutherland in conjunction with
Henry Conybeare
Henry Conybeare (22 February 1823 – 23 January 1892) was an English civil engineer and Gothic revival architect who designed two notable churches and greatly improved the supply of drinking water to Mumbai.
Early life in England and work in Ind ...
and partly built by
Thomas Savin and John Ward. In early 1866, the project faced disaster when Savin and Ward suffered serious financial and legal difficulties. It was eventually completed with the assistance of Alexander Sutherland. He produced an alternative route into Merthyr, curving the viaduct, so that the railway line avoided property owned by ironmaster
Robert Thompson Crawshay. It cost £25,000 to build (equivalent to £ million in ).
It consists of 15 arches, each one 39 feet 6 inches wide, and is 770 ft. long with a maximum height of 115 ft. It was planned to be constructed entirely of limestone like the nearby Pontsarn Viaduct but a trade union strike by stonemasons in February 1866 caused the company to buy 800,000 bricks and use bricklayers to complete the 15 arches. It was completed on 29 October 1866, three years after the main line which linked it with
Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
. The last trains travelled over the viaduct in the mid 1960s and it subsequently fell into disrepair. It was refurbished by
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is the governing body for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.
History
The parish of Merthyr Tydfil was governed by a local boar ...
with assistance from a grant from the National Lottery. It has now become part of the
Taff Trail
The Taff Trail ( cy, Taith Taf) is a popular walking and cycle path that runs for between Cardiff Bay and Brecon in Wales. It is so named because it follows the course of the River Taff. Along much of its length, it follows the National Cycl ...
, route 8 of the National Cycleway.
Jewish cemetery
Beyond the last buildings of Cefn, parallel to the
A470
The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigat ...
Merthyr to Brecon road, lies another site of historical interest. This is the Jewish cemetery, one of the largest in Wales outside Cardiff. It was established and consecrated in the 1860s by the then thriving Merthyr Hebrew Congregation. The growth of the Jewish population in the area was mainly linked to the expansion of the mining and ironworks industry in the locality. Many were refugees from Russia, Poland and Romania, fleeing religious persecution. The cost of the land for the cemetery was mainly paid for by the local community, but contributions were also made by Jewish communities and individuals across Britain, the largest amount being £10 from the politician and philanthropist, Baron
Lionel de Rothschild
Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (22 November 1808 – 3 June 1879) was a British Jewish banker, politician and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. He became the first practising Jew to sit ...
. Initially the cemetery was simply a burial ground, with no building on the site. In the late 1890s a simple brick built prayer house (ohel) was constructed, again using funds raised by the local Jewish community. In 1935, the cemetery was extended, with the new section being formally consecrated in October 1935. A map of the cemetery is held in the archives at Merthyr Tydfil Central Library. The map shows the location of approximately 570 graves, and gives the names and dates of death of many of the deceased. Towards the end of the twentieth century, the Jewish population declined. The community has now left the
Merthyr
Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
area and responsibility for maintenance of the cemetery has been transferred to the Local Authority.
[Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (http://www.merthyr.gov.uk/residents/births-deaths-marriages/family-history-search/) Retrieved 18 January 2016]
References
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Villages in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
History of Merthyr Tydfil
Grade II* listed bridges in Wales
Grade II* listed buildings in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough