Graigwen (English translation = White-Rock) is the name of the large hill (Graigwen Hill) and the village or district located thereon, sited to the north of

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

town centre and south of Glyncoch and Ynysybwl 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 ...

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 ...

, Wales, and within the ancient parish of Llanwonno (

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 ...

). It falls within the Rhondda and Pontypridd Town electoral wards, and comprises the sub-districts of Pantygraigwen, Penygraigwen, the Whiterock Estate, and Lanwood. It is also bounded by the districts of

Pwllgwaun Pwllgwaun (or Pwll-Gwaun) is a village and small suburb of Pontypridd within the 'Rhondda' electoral ward, bordered by Hopkinstown and Graigwen hill to the north and east, the hillsides of Maesycoed above, and is located along the banks of the riv ...

and

Hopkinstown Hopkinstown ( cy, Trehopcyn) is a small village to the west of Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, alongside the River Rhondda. Hopkinstown is a former coalmining and industrial community, now a district in the town of Po ...

. Graigwen is characterised by a mixtured of the typical terraced housing to serve the nearby Tŷ-Mawr and Great Western collieries, substantial Victorian housing built originally to house the gentry and whitecollar workers of Pontypridd, modern housing estates, farms/rural land and woodland. The main steep road running through Graigwen is called Graigwen Road, which continues on to Llanwonno, Ynysybwl and the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ('' ...

and

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 ...

beyond. Graigwen was once home to the Daren-Ddu Colliery located in Lan Wood and numerous coal levels and stone quarries were cut into its hillsides. The large adjoining Craig-yr-Hesg quarry in neighbouring Glyncoch historically supplied much of Pontypridd's buildings with their finely dressed stone, and continues to do so today. Graigwen is served by one pub - the Tŷ Mawr Hotel in Pantygraigwen, (which was used in the BBC Wales soap '' Belonging''), one club - the Pontypridd District Club, a garage and two news agents/grocery stores one of which previously served as Graigwen Post Office. It is also home to the Glamorgan Mission For The Deaf, Coedylan Primary School and until recently Coedylan Lower Comprehensive (now derelict) before it eventually moved to the Albion site alongside the Upper campus at nearby Cilfynydd to form Pontypridd High School. Lan Wood, Lan Park Road and Coed-y-Lan are so called because of their proximity to Lan Farm above. Graigwen was also once home to one of the oldest chapels in the South Wales Valleys known as the Carmel Baptist Chapel built in 1810, however this was demolished some time ago and is today occupied by the Plas Carmel retirement flats. Also in this area once was located the infamous Rhondda Cutting to the

Taff Vale Railway The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stag ...

which featured in the nearby rail accident at

in 1911.

References

{{authority control Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf