Penrhiwceiber is a small
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
village and
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
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 ...
) in the county borough of
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vil ...
that lies south of the town
Aberpennar
Mountain Ash ( cy, Aberpennar) is a town and former community in the Cynon Valley, within the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 11,230 at the 2011 Census, estimated in 2019 at 11,339. It includes the districts and ...
and north of the village of
Tyntetown, and is one of many villages that lies within the
Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining valley in Wales. Cynon Valley lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash is in the south of t ...
. Prior to 1870 the area was heavy woodland, but the opening of the Penrhiwceiber Colliery in 1878 saw its rapid expansion into a thriving village.
Etymology
Penrhiwceiber, according to Thomas Morgan in his 1887 publication, should be worded as ''Pen-Rhiw-Cae-Byr'' - 'Top of the hill of the little field'. Other thoughts refer to the word ''ceiber'', which means joist, beam or rafter and may suggest a place where timber was plentiful, which would certainly describe the area, which was a heavy woodland, before the coming of the coal trade.
History
Penrhiwceiber was once a heavily wooded area with steep sloping mountainsides up until the last 20 years of the 19th century. According to the 1871 Census Records the village of Penrhiwceiber is not listed, however in 1881 the Census lists a number of streets within the village of Penrhiwceiber, notably Railway Terrace, Cynon Terrace, Glanlay Street and Penrhiwceiber Road.
This rapid growth was connected to the burgeoning coal trade and the construction of the Penrikyber Colliery in 1878. The sinking of the colliery was first attempted in 1872 by a Mr. Thomas of
Cwmbach
Cwmbach is a village and community (and electoral ward) near Aberdare, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Cwmbach means 'Little Valley' in Welsh (Cwm = valley, Bach = little). Cwmbach has a population of 5,117 (mid-2017 estimate). ...
on behalf of a group of businessmen who set themselves up as the Penrhiwceiber Navigation Collieries Company.
After facing problems such as running water and soft sand beds, the first commercial coal was raised from the mine in 1879, though the pit was serviced by a simple wooden headgear with a single rope.
Growth was rapid, and in an 1896 report by the Inspector of Mines, the colliery was employing 1,463 men. By 1908, that number was close to 1,800.
In 1909 the colliery suffered a pit fire which saw the lives of 30 men saved by the actions of the fire brigade. There was one fatality.
The school primary school in the area is Penrhiwceibr Primary School (Welsh: Ysgol Gynradd Penrhiwceibr) which was originally built in 1881 and which provides further evidence as to the rapid growth of the village, with its having to be enlarged on three separate occasions: in 1893, 1895 and 1901.
This growth was to continue into the 20th century until in 1920 the Kelly's Trade Directory was able to list over one hundred commercial properties for Penrhiwceiber, as well as railway stations (
Penrhiwceiber railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Train at Penrhiwceiber station (geograph 5293095).jpg
, borough = Penrhiwceiber, Rhondda Cynon Taf
, country = Wales
, coordinates ...
) on both the Great Western and Taff Vale railways, religious buildings including Carmel Chapel (1880), Moriah Chapel, Bethel Eglwys-y-Wesleyaid (1884), Saint Winifred's Church (Welsh: Eglwys Santes Gwenffrewi) (1883), and the Penrhiwceiber Workmen's Hall and Institute (
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
: ''Neuadd a Sefydliad y Gweithwyr Penrhiwceibr'') built in 1888.
In Penrhiwceiber there is a clock tower memorial that was erected in memory of those who died while serving in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
,
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
Penrhiwceiber Workmen's Hall and Institute (
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
: ''Sefydliad a Neuadd y Gweithwyr Penrhiwceibr'') was opened in the village in 1888 and restored in 1992. It remains one of the most prominent landmarks in the village. The former public library, on Rheola Street, closed in 2014.
Coal mining
Penrhiwceiber was an important area for
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 ...
for the first half of the 20th century, it was home to two Coal Mines, which were:
* Penrhiwceibr Colliery - Begun in 1872 by a Mr. Thomas of Cwmbach, at one point in 1923 there were over 2200 employees, but Penrhiwceiber Colliery closed on 8 October 1985.
* Cwm Cynon Colliery - Begun in 1889 it closed in 1949, in 1945 there were 644 people employed there. At its peak there were 1950 people working there.
Where Penrhiwceiber Colliery once sat, is now a local park and football and rugby fields which is locally known as Glasbrook Field. Where the Cwm Cynon Colliery once sat is now an industrial park and an industrial estate with few factories known as (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: ''Cwm Cynon Business Park'') and the Ystad Ddiwydiannol Cwm Cynon (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: ''Cwm Cynon Industrial Estate'').
Religion
Penrhiwceiber falls within the historic Parish of
Llanwynno
Llanwonno ( cy, Llanwynno) is a hamlet high up in the hills between the historic mining valleys of the Rhondda and the Cynon in Rhondda Cynon Taf, deep in the heart of the South Wales Valleys. Llanwonno consists of St Gwynno's Church and an inn ...
,
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, 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 bishop ...
. The local
St Winifred's Church (Welsh: Eglwys Santes Gwenffrewi) was built in 1883.
The other church, All Saints (Tyntetown), was built in 1903 to serve the two communities of Tyntetown and Ynysboeth. Originally a daughter church of Penrhiwceiber, it became an independent parish fairly early on, before rejoining Penrhiwceiber in 1972. There used to be a Salvation Army corps in the village.
There were a number of nonconformist chapels at Penrhiwceiber including
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
(Baptist),
Carmel
Carmel may refer to:
* Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea
* Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
* Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order
Carmel may also ...
(Independent) and
Hermon
Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the ...
(Calvinistic Methodist).
Penrhiwceiber is home to ''Cylch Meithrin Penrhiwceiber'' which is a Welsh language pre-school for local children. Penrhiwceiber is generally known as "Ceiber" to the locals. To the east of the village lies Mynydd Twyn Brynbychan which is around 1,500 ft above sea level, the village is one of the steepest in Wales, and possibly the United Kingdom. The community and electoral ward of Penrhiwceiber includes both the village itself as well as the districts of
Perthcelyn and
Miskin
Miskin ( cy, Meisgyn) is a village approximately south of Llantrisant in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
The origin of the village was a small hamlet known as New Mill, which grew up around New Mill farm. Miskin is part of th ...
.
Governance
Penrhiw-ceibr (formerly Penrhiwceiber) is the name of the
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 ...
which is coterminous with the community. The ward elects two county councillors to
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Rhondda Cynon Taf) is the governing body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The council headquarters are located in the community of Cwm Clydach o ...
. The ward has been represented since 1995 by both
Labour Party and
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
councillors, though both councillors were from Labour between 2004 and 2017.
In a surprise result at the May 2017 council elections, veteran Labour councillor Jane Ward lost her seat to Gavin Williams, of the new
Cynon Valley Party.
References
External links
Penrhiwceiber Community websiteWelsh Coal Mines - research the local pit historieswww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Penrhiwceiber and surrounding area
Location Grid
{{authority control
Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Coal mining in Wales
Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf