Thornhill (; meaning ''draen'' thorn + ''-en'' one + ''pen'' top + 'y' the + ''craig'' rock utated to 'graig' is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

in the north of the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales. It lies south of

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

Description

It is a relatively modern area with housing stock dating mainly from the late 1980s and beyond. The area has a centralised precinct providing services, comprising a community centre (Thornhill Church Centre), a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

, with an integral Post Office and Pharmacy; and the North Cardiff Medical Centre. There are three

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s located in Thornhill: the Old Cottage, Pendragon, and the Ffynnon Wen. Though on Thornhill Road, The Traveller's Rest to the north is on

Caerphilly Mountain Caerphilly Mountain () lies between Cardiff and Caerphilly at the southern edge of the South Wales Coalfield. Its summit is above sea-level. Since 1957 there had been a small wooden snack bar near to the summit. In September 2011 this was repl ...

and in

based on its postcode and council locale. Thornhill Cemetery is a major cemetery located adjacent to Thornhill, in Rhiwbina. Thornhill crematorium was built on this site during the 1950s as a dedicated crematorium. This differs from the crematorium that was set up in nearby

Glyntaff Glyntaff () is a small village to the south-east of Pontypridd, in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales situated in the Treforest ward along with the village of Trefforest. Education Glyntaff is the location of the University of South ...

; this in contrast was a chapel that was originally used for traditional burials and modified to serve as a crematorium. Most of Thornhill's residential development took place during the 1990s. Cardiff Council originally planned Thornhill as "The Villages of Thornhill"; with clusters of houses interspersed by large "green" areas. These green areas were short lived as rapid housing development resulted in homes being built in areas adjoining the "Villages". Thornhill also houses a few tucked away historical sites including the remains of a castle situated close to the Caerphilly/Thornhill border known as Castell Morgraig.

Transport

Thornhill is served by Lisvane and Thornhill railway station which replaced Cefn Onn Halt railway station which closed in 1986. Thornhill is served by

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

services operated by Cardiff Bus. The 27 and 28 service runs through Thornhill and terminates at the Central Bus Station at regular intervals.

Adventure Travel Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk (real or perceived), and which may require special skills and physical exertion. In the United States, adventure tourism has seen growth in l ...

operates its C8 services, running from

Taff's Well Taff's Well () is a semi-rural village, Community (Wales), community and electoral ward located at the south-eastern tip of Rhondda Cynon Taf, north-west of the city centre of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Known locally as the 'Gates to the So ...

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

, via Thornhill and Cardiff city centre.

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

service 25 follows a route along Thornhill road on its way to the

University Hospital of Wales University Hospital of Wales () (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a 1,080-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. It is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Construction started in 1963, and the ...

and Cardiff City Centre. This service replaced the A and B services in 2017. Stagecoach Wales have operated the 86 service since 1 April 2019 after Cardiff Bus withdrew from the route. Cardiff Council tendered for a new operator for two years after designating the 86 service as one of several new 'socially necessary' routes in Cardiff. The

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest 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 ele ...

passes Thornhill between junctions 30 and 32 (but there is no Junction 31).

Education

The area is served by Thornhill Primary School. The nearest secondary school is

Llanishen High School Llanishen High School () is an English-medium secondary school based in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales. It has approximately 1700 students, making it the largest single-site secondary school in Cardiff. It also has a sixth form college for 16–18 ...

. Welsh medium education is provided most locally at Ysgol Y Wern in nearby Llanishen and

Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf is a Welsh medium education, Welsh-medium coeducational secondary school in Llandaff North, a district in the north of Cardiff, Wales; it is the largest of its kind in the country. Of the three Welsh-medium secondary ...

in Llandaf North.

Government

Thornhill falls into the Llanishen Ward on the

City of Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established in 1996 to replace the previous Car ...

. In 2016 Thornhill became one of four new

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

in Cardiff, having previously been part of the

Llanishen Llanishen (, ''llan'' church + ''Isien'' Saint Isan) is a district and community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the 2011 census was 17,417. Llanishen is the home of the former HMRC tax offices, the tallest buildings i ...

community. There is 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. ...

for the area.

Notable people

Axel Rudakubana On 29 July 2024, a mass stabbing targeting young girls occurred at the Hart Space, a dance studio in the Meols Cop area of Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom. Seventeen-year-old Axel Rudakubana killed three children and injured ten others a ...

, murder suspect in the

2024 Southport stabbings On 29 July 2024, a mass stabbing targeting young girls occurred at the Hart Space, a dance studio in the Meols Cop area of Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom. Seventeen-year-old Axel Rudakubana killed three children and injured ten others a ...

, born and raised in Thornhill.

References

External links

*
Cefn Onn Halt station
{{Cardiff Communities in Cardiff