Merthyr Dyfan or Dyfan is a northeastern suburb of

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

, in south

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 ...

, formerly an independent medieval village. It is also an

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and a formal electoral ward of the Vale of Glamorgan. It borders

Colcot Colcot is a northern district of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, in the Dyfan ward of South Wales. Dyfan ward is situated in the north west of Barry and its most northern edge is on the green belt of the town. Port Road West runs through the ward and is ...

to the west,

Buttrills Buttrills is a northwestern-central district of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, in south Wales. It is also an electoral ward of the Vale of Glamorgan, the population of which taken at the 2011 census was 6,357. The centre of education in Barry i ...

to the southwest and

Gibbonsdown Gibbonsdown, colloquially known as 'Gibby', is a residential area and electoral ward situated in the north east of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Gibbonsdown borders Merthyr Dyfan to the northwest and Cadoxton to the southeast. Crime In ...

to the southeast. Its main roads are Merthyr Dyfan Road, a hilly road leading down from the

A4050 road The A4050 road connects Barry, Vale of Glamorgan with Culverhouse Cross on the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales. It is approximately long, and is the key link road between the M4 motorway and Cardiff International Airport. 2008 road improvement ...

(Port Road) which leads into

Wenvoe Wenvoe ( cy, Gwenfô) is a village, community and electoral ward between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby are the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the site of the former HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

; and Skomer Road which separates it from Gibbonsdown and eventually also leads to the A4050 road. Merthyr Dyfan contains an old parish church, Barry Rugby Club,

Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School Pencoedtre High School, formerly called the Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School, is located in Merthyr Dyfan on the outskirts of the town of Barry near Cardiff in Wales. It was opened in 1971 (Pencoedtre High School in 2018). Bryn Hafren Comprehen ...

and the Master Mariner Pub and Holm View Leisure Centre, although the last two could be considered to be in northern Gibbonsdown.

History

Although the usual modern meaning of the Welsh word ''merthyr'' (from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''μαρτυς, μαρτυρος'' "witness") is '

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

', the word formerly also indicated a martyrium, a martyr's grave or a structure or church erected at such a grave. Similar examples, all in south Wales, are Merthyr Cynog, Merthyr Tydfil, and

Merthyr Mawr Merthyr Mawr is a village and community in Bridgend, Wales. The village is about 2½ miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 267. The community occupies the area west of the Ewenny River, be ...

. Of the

Dyfan Saint Dyfan is a highly obscure figure who was presumably the namesake of Merthyr Dyfan ("martyrium of Dyfan") and therefore an early Christian saint and martyr in southeastern Wales in Roman or Sub-Roman Britain.Bartrum, Peter C"Dyfan, St.", i ...

who presumably inspired the name, nothing seems to be known, although the

Iolo Manuscripts Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg (; 10 March 1747 – 18 December 1826), was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg" From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclop ...

collected by Edward Williams have led to his popular conflation with the St Deruvian who was added to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...

legends in the 12th century. Owing to Williams's numerous forgeries and additions to other texts, however, this identification is now generally discredited. Baring-Gould notes Deruvian's "whole history, from beginning to end, is a pure fabrication, and the church of Merthyr Dyfan has been made to serve as a peg to hang it on".Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. II, pp. 394–395.
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1911. The earliest historic church at the site was credited (and then dedicated) to St Teilo in the 6th century. The current church is Norman, built in the early 13th century, and was consecrated by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

William de Burgh William de Burgh (; ; ; la, de Burgo; c.1160–winter 1205/06) was the founder of the House of Burgh (later surnamed Burke or Bourke) in Ireland and elder brother of Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent and Geoffrey de Burgh, Bishop of Ely. I ...

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...

in 1250. The church fell into neglect during the Reformation period but was fully restored in the late 19th century. In 1970 it underwent renovation: amongst other things, the windows were reglazed and the church was reroofed in Welsh slate. It is now formally dedicated to both Saints

and

Teilo Saint Teilo ( la, Teliarus or '; br, TeliauWainewright, John. in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. XIV. Robert Appleton Co. (New York), 1912. Accessed 20 July 2013. or '; french: Télo or '; – 9 February ), also known by his ...

and as recently as 2010 the local parish continued to claim it to be the oldest Christian site in Wales, citing the legends concerning King Lucius.The

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

.
The Parish of Merthyr Dyfan: Barry, South Wales
. Parish of Merthyr Dyfan (Merthyr Dyfan), 2010. Hosted at the Internet Archive. Accessed 3 February 2015. The village of Merthyr Dyfan grew up during the medieval period. The centre of the original village and church are located in what today is the southwesternmost part of Merthyr Dyfan district. It was originally located around above sea level. The centre of the medieval village was excavated by a local man, G. Tyley, between 1968 and 1978. In 1969 he excavated and examined an old corn-drying kiln at the site. The Merthyr Dyfan Chapel is located near the Barry Cemetery to the south, which is actually in the district of

. Housing development grew up along Merthyr Dyfan hill, north of the original village, in the early 1950s, and the area to the northwest became a council estate, Colcot. Further extensive development took place between the 1960s and the 1980s, with the building of Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School, and housing estates to the east and southeast (Lundy Park). Holm View Leisure Centre was built around 1990. File:Pendine Close, Merthyr Dyfan Barry.jpg, Pendine Close File:Tennyson Road, Merthyr Dyfan, Barry.jpg, Tennyson Road File:Merthyr Dyfan park.jpg, Merthyr Dyfan park, vicinity of the medieval village File:Merthyr Dyfan Road, Barry.jpg, Foot of Merthyr Dyfan Road

References

External links

{{authority control Neighbourhoods of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan