Fairwater is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

and suburb of

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to pro ...

in the county borough of

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south ...

, in

south east Wales South East Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales generally corresponding to the preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Gwent. Highly urbanised, it includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport as well as large towns in th ...

, and was built by the Cwmbran Development Corporation between 1963 and 1966.

Development

Cwmbran was the only new town in Wales designated by the

New Towns Act 1946 The New Towns Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to found new settlements or to expand substantially existing ones, to establish Development Corporations to deliver them, and to create a Commission to wind up the C ...

. Cwmbran Development Corporation was formed in 1949 to develop the new town and building of seven new residential areas ( Coed Eva,

Croesyceiliog Croesyceiliog (, ''Cockerel's Cross'') is a suburb of Cwmbran, Wales. Housing Croesyceiliog is primarily a residential district and contains a wide variety of housing from Victorian terraces and even older Welsh cottages to property built betw ...

North and South,

Greenmeadow Greenmeadow is a suburb of Cwmbran in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire, southern Wales, United Kingdom. Not to be confused with Green Meadow Golf Club, which is on the other side of Cwmbran ...

, Oakfield,

Pontnewydd Pontnewydd is a suburb of Cwmbran in the county borough of Torfaen, south-east Wales. It should not be confused with Pontnewynydd in nearby Pontypool. An 18th century settlement within the historical parish of Llanfrechfa Upper, Pontnewydd beca ...

, and

St Dials St Dials is a suburb of Cwmbran in the county borough of Torfaen, in south-east Wales. History Nothing is known about the Saint after which the suburb is named. There was another chapel dedicated to them near Monmouth and belonging to Monmouth Pr ...

) began in 1951, later followed by

Llanyrafon Llanyrafon is a suburb of Cwmbran and a community in the county borough of Torfaen in south east Wales. It lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Etymology Sometimes written on ol ...

. By 1962, when Gordon Redfern took over as chief architect of the corporation, the increased use of cars had to be accommodated in the layout of further housing estates, and Redfern adopted the

Radburn system Radburn design housing (also called Radburn housing, Radburn design'', ''Radburn principle, or Radburn concept) is a concept for planned housing estates, based on a design that was originally used in Radburn, New Jersey, United States. History ...

, used most rigidly in Fairwater (built between 1963 and 1966).

Notable buildings

The remains of Llanderfel Chapel, a medieval chapel important as a stopping point on a pilgrims' route to

Penrhys Penrhys is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated on a hillside overlooking both valleys of Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach. It is situated around 1,100 ft above sea level and is a district of Tylorstown. Until th ...

, are in Fairwater. The pilgrim route is now part of the modern long distance Cistercian Way footpath. The remains are a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Near the site of the chapel is Llanderfel Farm, a 16th-17th century Grade II listed building. Also nearby is Ty'r Ywen Farmhouse and barn which are both 17th century Grade II listed buildings.

Education

There are three primary (infant and junior) schools in Fairwater community: *Blenheim Road Community Primary(formerly fairwater infant and juniors ) *Coed Eva Primary *Henllys Church in Wales Primary *Nant Celyn Primary Cwmbran High (one of two secondary schools in Cwmbran, the other is Croesyceiliog School) is also located in Fairwater.

Governance

The community of Fairwater also includes the estates of Coed Eva, Greenmeadow, and Ty Canol, and includes three

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 to t ...

s for

Torfaen County Borough Council Torfaen County Borough Council () is the governing body for Torfaen, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History The borough council was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as a lower-tier district council with borough status ...

: * Coed Eva, which returns 1 councillor *Fairwater, which returns 2 councillors *

, which returns 2 councillors

References

{{Torfaen Suburbs of Cwmbran Communities in Torfaen Electoral wards of Torfaen