Van ( cy, Y Fan) is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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 ...

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

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 ...

, situated in the east of the town of

. It contains the vast housing estate of Lansbury Park and the estates of Porset Park, Castle Park, Mornington Meadows and Badgers Wood. Van mainly consists of residential properties, one industrial estate and only one public house - The Fisherman's Rest. Nearly all of the property in Van is of post war construction. The area is served by one large primary school - St James. The same name is given to the electoral ward of Caerphilly County Borough council that also covers Van. According to the

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

Van had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 5,050., decreasing to 4,923 in 2011 census. For political administration Van is served by a Community Council that meets monthly.

Van Castle

In the 1580s, permission was given to Thomas Lewis to use stone from nearby

Caerphilly Castle Caerphilly Castle ( cy, Castell Caerffili) is a medieval fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of Glamorgan, and saw extensi ...

to build a manor house. The resulting building was known as Van Castle, Castell y Fan, or simply 'The Van'. The building was seen as an innovation of its day but its construction led to the further dilapidation of the original castle in Caerphilly. Van Castle was abandoned in the mid-18th century when the Lewis family moved to St Fagans Castle.

Industrial Heritage

Van industrial heritage revolved around the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

, where many of the engine and repair works were housed and the T Ness, Caerphilly Tar Distillation Works, which ceased operations in 1985.

Notes

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Van and surrounding area
Villages in Caerphilly County Borough Communities in Caerphilly County Borough {{Caerphilly-geo-stub