Abersychan is a town 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, t ...

north of

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 r ...

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-w ...

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 ...

, and lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the

preserved county The preserved counties of Wales are the eight current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of Lord-lieutenant, lieutenancy and High Sheriff#England, Wales and Northern Ireland, shrievalty. They are based on the subdivisions of Wales, ...

of Gwent. Abersychan lies in the narrow northern section of the

Afon Lwyd 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 ...

valley. The town includes two schools;

Abersychan Comprehensive School Abersychan School is a state-funded and non-selective comprehensive school in the Pontypool suburb of Abersychan, Wales. Admissions Abersychan School has 920 pupils on roll. It serves the north of Torfaen including the communities of Blaenavon ...

and Victoria Primary School; together with various shops and other amenities including Abersychan Rugby Club. Abersychan was the birthplace of the politicians

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

, Don Touhig and Paul Murphy (MP for Torfaen); and of the

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

ers

Wilfred Hodder Wilfred Hodder (6 May 1896 – 12 November 1957) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s, and rugby league administrator. He played representative level rugby u ...

Candy Evans Arthur "Candy" Evans (18 November 1903 – 7 January 1952) was a Welsh boxer, dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for ...

and Bryn Meredith.

History

Abersychan Limestone Railway, Abersychan

Like many of the 17th century isolated agricultural hamlets in the forested South Wales Valleys, Abersychan became a thriving industrial centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly for iron production. Pendleton Colliery - Illustrated London News 20 Oct 1877

Pendleton Colliery - Illustrated London News 20 Oct 1877

After the discovery of iron stone locally, the principal ironworks were built by the

British Iron Company The British Iron Company was formed in 1824 to smelt and manufacture iron and to mine ironstone, coal, etc. It was re-formed as the New British Iron Company in 1843 and liquidated itself in 1892. British Iron Company (1824-1844) The company was ...

in 1825, served mainly by the LNWR's Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway. The ironwork's main office building and quadrangle were designed by architect

Decimus Burton Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and R ...

, best known for his design of

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1831 or 1832, ...

. The works passed to the New British Iron Company in 1843 and to the

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr c ...

Company in 1852, before closing in 1889. On 6 February 1890, an underground

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

at Llanerch Colliery killed 176. The site of the former ironworks today is a core site of , and a total land area of , includes a number of listed buildings: *Abersychan Limestone Railway: built c 1830 to carry limestone from Cwm Lascarn quarry to the British Ironworks. *Air Furnace at British Ironworks *British Colliery Pumping Engine House: a Cornish beam pumping engine house built by the British Iron Company. Built of sandstone with a slate roof, and retains several fixtures *Cwmbyrgwm Colliery: Site of former colliery including remains of a water-balance headgear, chimney, oval shafts, water power dams, tramroad routes, and waste tips. Various proposals have been made over the years to redevelop the site, currently under the ownership of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tr ...

, but none have so far passed the requirements of

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

Local government

Abersychan constitutes a community and electoral ward of 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 te ...

. The area was part of the ancient parish of

Trevethin Trevethin ( cy, Trefddyn) is a suburb of Pontypool and a community in Torfaen, Wales. It includes two electoral wards (Trevethin and St Cadocs and Penygarn) for Torfaen County Borough Council. It is in the historic county of Monmouthshire. ...

, in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...

. On 3 June 1864 Abersychan was constituted a local government district, governed by a

local board Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

. In 1894 Abersychan became an

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

. The urban district was abolished in 1935, with most of its area passing to Pontypool urban district, and a small area going to

Abercarn Abercarn is a small town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History An estate at ...

UD. In 1974 the area became part of the borough of Torfaen, in the new local government county of Gwent. The community of Abersychan was formed in 1985, but no

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. I ...

has yet been formed. Abersychan and Cwmavon is now a ward for the Pontypool Community Council.The Torfaen (Communities) Order 1985 (1985 No. 129) In 1996 Torfaen became a unitary authority. The Abersychan community includes Abersychan, Cwmavon,

Garndiffaith Garndiffaith is a village located in Torfaen, south east Wales. It is a small rural area situated between Talywain and Varteg, three miles north of the town of Pontypool and 3.5 miles south of the town of Blaenavon (a World Heritage Site). The ...

, Pentwyn,

Talywain Talywain () is situated in Garndiffaith, Abersychan and Pentwyn in Torfaen in south east Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Old mining area It is a semi rural area that has a long heritage in coal mining. The old British C ...

Varteg Varteg is a village in the county borough of Torfaen in Wales. Location It lies near Abersychan on the hills above the valley of the Afon Llwyd, between Pontypool and Blaenavon. History and Amenities Varteg owes its origin to the fact tha ...

, and Victoria Village.

Local Transport

The nearest railway stations to Abersychan are Pontypool & New Inn (3 miles),

Llanhilleth Llanhilleth () is a village, community and an electoral ward on the A467 road between Ebbw Vale and Crumlin in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. Two large mounds in the field behind the Carpenter's Arms are the remains of the medieval Llanhilleth castle ...

(3.5 miles) and

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wit ...

(7 miles). Abersychan was served by the following (disused) stations: * Abersychan and Talywain railway station * Abersychan Low Level railway station

Places nearby

Pentwyn

''Pentwyn'',

is a small village located in the district of Abersychan. It contains a post office, several houses and a small play park. The village has a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

team (Pontnewynydd CC) and is located right next to the old railway line. The cricket club celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2006 with a successful tour to

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland. The village has superb views over the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

and Newport to the south.

Victoria Village

''Victoria Village'' is a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

located in the district of Abersychan. It comprises a small village school and a number of houses. A small group of houses on Incline Road mark the beginning of the village and the village boundary is near Cwmavon. Victoria Primary School is also in this area, housed in large grounds. Many homes are built around the school's boundaries. Victoria Village primary school was opened in 1903 and closed by the council in 2018. The last head of the school was Miss Joy Dando. And caretaker Miss Debbie Williams.

References

{{Commons category-inline Towns in Torfaen Local Government Districts created by the Local Government Act 1858 Communities in Torfaen Electoral wards of Torfaen