Tycroes
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Tycroes is a village in
Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...
, Wales. As measured in the 2011 Census, the population of Tycroes
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
was 2,438 persons (50.5% male, 49.5% female). At the 2011 Census all the population was counted in
Llanedi Llanedi () is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Once the name of a parish, Llanedi is now a community taking in the hamlet of Llanedi and the villages of Hendy, Fforest (suburbs of Pontarddulais) and Tycroes. The community popula ...
community. The built-up area with Capel Hendre had a population of 3,752. The village forms the westernmost fringe of the
Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
valley and rests mainly on the
anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
coal measures In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal ...
, part of the
South Wales coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espec ...
. It straddles the
A483 The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry and W ...
Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
to
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
Trunk road and has a
linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship (''function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear r ...
structure, having developed substantially along roads which meet at the centre of the village. The trunk road is in the main artery from north to south of the country and is connected to the
M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...
network which affords transportation from
mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
to Ireland. The rail link at nearby Pantyffynnon contributes a daily service to Swansea,
Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...
and
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
.
Topographical Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
ly, the village slopes in a general south west to north east direction thus affording panoramic views of the Black Mountain in the east with its peaks - Tair Cairn 482 m, Garreg Lwyd 616 m and behind them
Fan Hir Fan Hir is a peak at the eastern end of the Black Mountain (''Y Mynydd Du'') in the Brecon Beacons National Park (''Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog'') in southern Wales. It is a subsidiary summit of Fan Brycheiniog. It falls within the coun ...
802 m. To the south there are views from Betws Mountain to Mynydd y Gwair above
Garnswllt Garnswllt () is a rural village in the City and County of Swansea, Wales falling within the Mawr ward. It lies in the far north of Swansea near the border with Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a ...
. To the north there is the limestone ridge from
Llandybie Llandybie ( cy, Llandybïe , " Saint Tybie's church") is a community which includes a large village of the same name situated north of Ammanford in Carmarthenshire, Wales. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, Llandybie village itself is ...
to Upper Tumble. The Fferws brook which flows from the west to the east divides the local authority administrative areas between Llanedi and Llandybie Community Councils. The name Fferws is possibly derived from the fact that the river flows over mineral rocks which contain
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
(ferrous being the chemical name for iron). Others say it derives from a delightful house that once stood on its banks - "fairhouse".


History

Pre-nineteenth century the area was sparsely populated owing to the agricultural land being poor of quality. The best land was found to be along the banks of the River Loughor where two properties of notable character stood. The first is
Plas Mawr Plas Mawr ( en, Great Hall) is an Elizabethan townhouse in Conwy, North Wales, dating from the 16th century. The property was built by Robert Wynn, a member of the local gentry, following his marriage to his first wife, Dorothy Griffith. Plas ...
also known Plas Llanedy and Cwrt y Ceidrim. The main portion of the house dates from the 16th century. This was the seat of the Penry family and their descendants, Jones. William Penry and his son Henry were High Sheriffs in 1736 and 1756 respectively. The Penry family descended from Bleddyn ap Maenarch and were at Cwrt y Ceidrim in the
Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
. In 1876, Plas Mawr Estate nearly was offered for sale. Later the Buckley family acquired it and in 1921 they offered for sale the freehold farm . A field belonging to the farm was called Ynys y Capel and, according to tradition, a chapel had once stood there; another tradition states that a 'tunnel' connected the mansion to
Carreg Cennen Castle Carreg Cennen Castle (Welsh: ''Castell Carreg Cennen'') is a castle sited on a high rocky outcrop overlooking the River Cennen, close to the village of Trap, four miles south east of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, Wales. ''Castell Carreg Cennen' ...
. It is also rumoured that
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
rested there during his campaign in the principality during the
Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641 ...
in Wales. Today Plas Mawr has now been restored and is the family home of the Wiley and Waters family. The other property is Erw Wasted located three-quarters of a mile from Plas Mawr. This was the home of the Price family from the 17th century. Francis Price was the High Sheriff in 1723. Later in the 18th century the price family moved to Plas Newydd in Llanedy. The village owes its existence to the development of the
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
industry during the 19th century. A few shallow shafts and drift was constructed to the rear of Bethesda Chapel at Mynydd Bach. Mynydd Bach was the former name for the village or hamlet. A tramway ran from the mine along Pontardulais road, part of Tycroes road and Heol Brown to the Brown Colliery at Waun y Wernos beyond Heol Brown and then to the sidings of the old Wernos Colliery. The
placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
"Tycroes" is derived from the cottage or house (Ty) that stood at the crossroads, which is now the village square. In 1900 the village consisted of less than 100 homes but today there are about 800. The population at the turn of the century was approximately 400 and today is 2,122. Since 1965 and especially during the house building boom of the early 70s, housing development erupted spreading its wings in all directions and this changed the face of the village. Frontage development took place along the existing roads and private housing estates at Penygarn Road, Pontardulais Road and the lower end of Tycroes Road. This trend reflects Tycroes's attractive situation. The Brynhafod area reminds us of the connection with
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. A Canadian
maple tree ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
grows at the bottom of the garden of 'Fernhill' (on Ammanford Road) where in previous years the Parry family once lived and some members of the family emigrated to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century and became a prominent family in Hamilton City,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Mining is no longer a major source of employment. Local employment opportunities are varied and limited but is improving with the continued extension of factory units at nearby Capel Hendre and Cross Hands Industrial estates.


Education

From 1863 till 1904,
primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...
was provided at the local Church School, which is today used as the Church Hall. In 1904 the present county Primary School was built and was then known as the Board school. It is now known as Ysgol Tycroes, it is a mixed gender school, and only teaches in English, though Welsh is taught in the curriculum and spoken widely.


Places of worship

There were no
places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...
in the village pre-1870 and people had to walk either to St. Edith's Church in Llanedi or the chapels in Ammanford (then known as Cross Inn) or to Capel Hendre and Saron. It was in 1876 that the first chapels were built; Moriah (Congregational) was the 'daughter' of Christian Temple Ammanford and Caersalem (
Calvinistic Methodist Calvinistic Methodists were born out of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival and survive as a body of Christians now forming the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Calvinistic Methodism became a major denomination in Wales, growing rapidly in the 1 ...
) was the 'daughter' of Capel Hendre. Then at the earlier part of this century Bethesda (Baptist) was built in 1913 and building work commenced at St. Edmund's Church on 29 January 1914. Later in 1932 the Neuadd Efengylu, locally known as the Mission Hall or Gospel Hall, was opened.


Governance

A separate electoral ward in the same name still exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 2,438.


Facilities

There are good facilities available at the
village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
, church hall, and the Scout's hall for the social, cultural, community events and other functions. The Senior Citizens Association, St. Johns Ambulance Brigade, Local Charities Committee, Ysgol Feithrin are some of the institutions which are accommodated at these halls, not forgetting the Mobile Library which visits every Thursday between 9:30-12:30 at Pant y boblen car park. The village hall was originally built as a
Billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...
hall. It was later sold to the 'Urdd Gobaith Cymru' who later sold it to the Miners Welfare Association - and is today the village hall. The
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
club at Penygarn Road provides good recreational facilities for both children, youth and senior players and, over the years, has produced some fine rugby players who were honoured to represent their country. The rugby club Also provides the village with great entertainment including the now established annual music event Party on the Pitch. Lately a
football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural tu ...
has been provided by the County Council at Heol Brown where the public park is also located.


Party on the Pitch

Tycroes RFC is also the host of the annual family fun day and musical event Party on the Pitch. Organised and run by a volunteer committee the event hosted 3,000 people in 2010. The event has welcomed 80's star Chesney Hawkes, 60's chart toppers the Animals and Spencer Davis and X Factor finalist Lucie Jones to the village in recent years. Party on the Pitch 2014 will be held on Saturday 7 June. Party on the pitch 2015 and 2016 featured Craig Gallivan performing


References


Sources


Carmarthenshire County Council - Tycroes stats


External links


Photos of Tycroes and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Villages in Carmarthenshire