Cyfarthfa High School is a comprehensive school, based in

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is a county borough (since 1908) in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and ...

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 ...

, that was established in 1970. Cyfarthfa means "Place of the barking (dog)" in Welsh and the school

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

reflects this.

Origins

The school was formed by the amalgamation of Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School and Georgetown Secondary Modern School. Cyfarthfa Grammar School, opened in 1913, was based in

Cyfarthfa Castle Cyfarthfa Castle ( cy, Castell Cyfarthfa; ) is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which � ...

operating as separate boys' and girls' schools. In 1945, they amalgamated, and in accordance with the then government policy the school was redesignated as a

Grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

under the name of Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School. Georgetown Secondary Modern School was located at Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil.

Upper School

Initially, the Upper School was located in the Grammar School premises at Cyfarthfa Castle. The Upper School moved to a new campus in Cae Mari Dwn in 1981. The new site is based a few miles away from the lower school and provides a range of purpose based facilities. It has a brick built building with a hall and external playing fields. The two storey site includes a dedicated science wing, sports hall, a range of general purpose classrooms, a flood-lit Astroturf.

Lower School

The original lower school was situated in Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil. At that site it had two wings plus an annex providing science and metalwork facilities. External portable units provided woodwork and language labs. In 1981 the Lower School relocated to the

site, vacated by the Upper School. The lower school was also later vacated in 2013, leaving the school disused The current Lower School premises are within a park with considerable grounds and outstanding gardens as well as a museum and swimming pool.

Notable alumni

Merryl Wyn Davies Philip Madoc Ursula Masson

References

External links

Official site
- Historical Photographs of Cyfarthfa High School.

- Historical Photographs of Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School.
Estyn Report on Cyfarthfa
- Wales' Education Body Report on the school

- 99.6% pass rate at Cyfarthfa {{authority control Secondary schools in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough 1970 establishments in Wales Educational institutions established in 1970