Cwmcarn is a village situated in the
Ebbw valley
The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River (Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself fed ...
in south
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, in the
historic boundaries of
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
. It grew with 19th-century
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
, but is now known for its extensive mature forestry and greenery, that attract thousands of visitors and
mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...
enthusiasts each year.
Pre-industrial history
Significant settlement at Cwmcarn came with
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
migration of local tribes from the
Gwent levels Gwent may refer to:
Places
*Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later
*Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...
to the uplands of
Mynydd y Grug
Mynydd y Grug is a hill lying just west of the village of Cwmfelinfach and about 4 km to the northeast of Caerphilly in Caerphilly county borough in South Wales. Its summit was formerly at a height of around 358 m, but since the top has been ...
,
Mynydd Machen
Mynydd Machen or Machen Mountain is a hill lying between the town of Risca and the village of Machen in Caerphilly County Borough in south Wales. Its summit is crowned by a trig point and a mast.
Geology
The hill lies at the southeastern ext ...
and
Mynydd Maen (
Twmbarlwm) and led to a later
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
(900–55 BC)
hillfort to be constructed by the
Silures
The Silures ( , ) were a powerful and warlike tribe or tribal confederation of ancient Britain, occupying what is now south east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas. They were bordered to the north by the Ordovices; to the east by the Dobunn ...
on
Twmbarlwm.
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
forces took control of most of what became the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
province of
Britannia Superior
Britannia Superior (Latin for "Upper Britain") was a province of Roman Britain created after the civil war between Septimius Severus and Claudius Albinus. Although Herodian credits Severus with dividing Roman Britain into the Northern territory ...
in 43 AD but then took a further 25 years to gain control of the present day South Wales valleys.
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
control remained established until
full scale withdrawal in the 5th century AD when the Kingdoms of
Gwent and
Glywysing were established. Gwent was defined as the land between the
River Usk
The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...
and the
River Wye
The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...
and Glywysing, the land between the
River Usk
The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...
and the
River Tawe
The River Tawe (; cy, Afon Tawe ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Pa ...
. Cwmcarn, located where the Carn and Ebbw river valleys meet, being situated within the Welsh Kingdom of
Glywysing.
The
Welsh placename
The place-names of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significant features of ...
of Cwmcarn came about in 942 when Llywarch ap Cadogan gave Villa Treficarn Pont ('estate near the bridge over the Carn') to a
Bishop of Llandaff named Wulfrith with King Cadell's guarantee, i.e. the place where the Carn meets the Ebbw (now Cwmcarn).
Following the
Norman invasion of Wales the separate townships of
Abercarn
Abercarn is a small town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.
History
An estate at ...
, Cwmcarn and
Newbridge were given a
manorial
Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...
title of Abercarne. The three townships were also within the boundaries of the ancient parish of
Mynyddislwyn
Mynyddislwyn was a civil parish and urban district in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It was abolished in local government reorganisation in 1974. It is named for the Mountain in its centre MynyddIslwyn (Islwyn Mountain or Islwyn's Mountain, Islwy ...
and remained therein up until comparatively recent times.
Economic activity
Coal mining
Cwmcarn lies at the south-eastern edge of the
South Wales coalfield. The
colliery development in the Cwmcarn area started in 1836, when a single shallow, 180 ft downshaft, the Abercarn No.6., was sunk into the Rock (or Tillery) seam, for the nearby
Prince of Wales Colliery
The Prince of Wales Colliery was a coal mine that operated for over 130 years in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It was permanently closed in 2002 after geological problems were found to make accessing remaining coal reserves unprofitable, ...
at
Abercarn
Abercarn is a small town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.
History
An estate at ...
operated by the
Monmouthshire Iron and Coal Company
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
. The second shaft was excavated by the
Ebbw Vale Steel Iron & Coal Company to target the deeper No.4 Steam and Black Vein seams. The colliery was run as an individual unit until it was later acquired by
Partridge Jones and John Paton and Company in 1935. It was closed by the
National Coal Board in November 1968 and the site was cleared after becoming uneconomical to run.
The
Cwmcarn Forest Drive now runs over the shafts of the colliery and a relics of colliery buildings can still be seen on the slope above the old shaft. The present day lake that is stocked by the Cwmcarn Angling Association was originally down stream of the colliery's washery.
Manufacturing
A telecoms factory located between the
Ebbw River and the A467 road was part of the
British Post Office
gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Post Office Logo.svg
, type = State-owned private company limited by shares
, genre =
, predecessor = General Post Office
, foundation = 1987
, founder =
, location_c ...
and
British Telecom
BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...
before being sold to
STC plc, Northern Telecom (
Nortel), and more recently
Solectron
Solectron Corporation was an electronics manufacturing company for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It was the first electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry in 1977. Solectron's first customer designed and distributed an electr ...
. The factory closed during Spring 2007.
Cwmcarn Forest Drive
To the east of the village of Cwmcarn is the popular Cwmcarn Forest Drive, a popular 7 mile drive through hills and forests on the flanks of the mountain of
Twmbarlwm which is operated by
Natural Resources Wales. The area is popular as a tourist site and a location for mountain biking, and has seen significant recent development as the world-class Y Mynydd Mojo
DH Track mountain biking trail is attracting an increased volume of visitors. A new £2 million visitor centre has been opened.
In the summer of 2018 the area suffered a spate of extensive fires which were deliberately set and "killed many of the newly-planted saplings on the hillsides."
The area was also a victim of the spread of
phytophthora ramorum, which had required the felling of "vast swathes" of larch trees in the area to prevent the disease spreading further.
Natural Resources Wales project manager for Cwmcarn, Geminie Drinkwater, stated in September 2019
that alongside local activist Robert Southall and Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive,
they are now "planting countless native trees, to repopulate Cwmcarn's ancient woodland"
and are "looking to improve the forestry and restore it as a tourist hotspot" in conjunction with the local activist group.
References
External links
Mountain Biking in Cwmcarn - MBWalesCwmcarn United RFCNew Life Christian Church
{{authority control
Villages in Caerphilly County Borough