Varteg is a village in the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Location

It lies near

Abersychan Abersychan is a town and community (Wales), community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the Monmouthshire (historic), historic county of Monmouthshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county o ...

on the

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

s above the valley of the

Afon Llwyd The Afon Lwyd or Afon Llwyd ( en, 'grey river') is a long river in south-east Wales which flows from its source northwest of Blaenavon, through Abersychan, Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, Llanfrechfa and Cwmbran before flowing, at Caerleon, into the R ...

, between

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...

and Blaenavon.

History and Amenities

Varteg owes its origin to the fact that the land lease for the Blaenavon Ironworks was too big, and portions were sublet to the Nantyglo Company and part taken up by a partnership called Knight and Company which opened an iron furnace in 1802. By 1825 the Varteg works was taken over by Kenrick and Company which had three blast furnaces, by 1839 there were five furnaces in operation. In 1847 it was owned by Williams and Co with a total of eight furnaces at Varteg, Golynos and Pentwyn. From 1854 to closure in 1868 it was owned by the Golynos Iron Co. After the end of iron making, coal mining became the biggest employer. Varteg has one of the three

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

medium

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in Torfaen, namely Ysgol Bryn Onnen. The others are Ysgol Gymraeg Cwmbrân, in Cwmbrân, and Ysgol Panteg, in Griffithstown. It also has a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

which dates back to the 18th century. In 2013, a controversy erupted when Glamorgan Power chose a site for open coal mining 120 metres away from the village's primary school, Ysgol Bryn Onnen. The Torfaen council previously rejected the company's plans to mine more than 256,000 tonnes of coal from the area, citing Welsh environmental regulations requiring a buffer zone of at least 500 metres around any planned open-cast mining operations. The headmaster of Ysgol Bryn Onnen school, Ryan Parry, spoke against the proposal, citing health concerns and impact on learning. Also in 2013, the village made international headlines when it was reported the

Welsh Language Commissioner The Welsh Language Commissioner () is a Welsh Government officer, overseeing an independent advisory body of the same name. The position was created following the passing of the ''Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011'', effective on 1 April 2012 ...

had proposed changing the official spelling of the town's name to 'Y Farteg' in-line with Welsh orthography.Welsh villagers turn noses up at stink name change
''3 News NZ''. 25 September 2013.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Varteg and surrounding area
* Villages in Torfaen {{Torfaen-geo-stub