Ystrad Mynach is a town in the

Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (on ...

in the

Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough () is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are, Risca, Ystrad Mynach, Newbrid ...

, within the ancient county of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, Wales, and is north of the town 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 ...

. The urban area had a population of 19,204 in 2011. Before the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

and the coming of

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

in the

South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield () 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, especially in the South Wales ...

the valley was rural and farmed. It lies in the

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 ...

Gelligaer Gelligaer (; ) is a community in the County Borough of Caerphilly, Wales, in the Rhymney River valley. As well as the village of Gelligaer, the community also includes the small towns of Hengoed and Ystrad Mynach. The population of the communi ...

Etymology

In the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

, ' is a wide flat bottomed

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

and ' means "monk". The form ' is sometimes found in historical records, which Hywel Wyn Owen states is a dialect form of '. As there is a lack of evidence for monks settling in the area, the word may have been the name of a tributary of the

Rhymney River The Rhymney River () is a river in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales, flowing through Cardiff into the Severn Estuary. The river formed the boundary between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire until in 1887, the parishes ea ...

. It has been suggested that, rather than referring to a monastic institution, ' is ' "place" + ', a suffix associated with the names of marshy floodplains, also found in nearby

Llanbradach Llanbradach is a village in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It lies within the historic boundaries of Glamorgan, less than north of the town of Caerphilly. It is part of the community of Llanbradach and Pwll-y-Pant. It is mostl ...

and

Llancaiach Llancaiach is a hamlet just north of the village of Nelson, Caerphilly, Wales. It is close to Llancaiach Fawr Manor, a Tudor manor house and living history museum. Railway History A station was opened by the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford R ...

. Prior to erection of defences on the River Rhymney in the 1960s the town was indeed subject to periodic flooding.

Amenities and history

The town houses a number of

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

offices, as well as the Ystrad Mynach campus of Coleg y Cymoedd, a

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

college established in 1959 to provide training for local

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

miners and merged with neighbouring

Coleg Morgannwg Coleg Morgannwg (English: ''Glamorgan College'') is a former further education college located at four main campuses across Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. In 2013, Coleg Morgannwg merged with Ystrad Mynach College to become Coleg y Cymoedd. The c ...

to form Coleg y Cymoedd in 2013. The nearby

Penallta Colliery Penallta Colliery was a coal mine, located close to Hengoed in the Rhymney Valley in the South Wales Valleys. A Mining in Wales, coal mine which in 1935 held the European record for coal wound in a 24-hour period, it is now the site of an origina ...

was the last

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

to close in the valley. Other notable buildings and structures are the

Ystrad Mynach railway station Ystrad Mynach railway station is a railway station serving the town of Ystrad Mynach, south Wales. It is a stop on the Rhymney Line of the Valley Lines network. The nearest bus interchange is Blackwood Interchange, away. From 2020, the rail l ...

, the viaduct, a sculpture to commemorate the areas industrial heritage, a community hospital, a number of schools, and the Beech Tree, Coopers Arms and Ye Olde Royal Oak

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s. From 1927 to 1996, Ystrad Mynach hosted the 'F' division headquarters of Glamorgan Constabulary (from 1968,

South Wales Police South Wales Police (; SWP) is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. It is headquartered in Bridgend. The force was formed as South Wales Constabulary on 1 June 1969, by the amalgamation of the former Glamorgan Constabulary, Car ...

was a location for one of

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

's ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

'' episodes. Records show that Ystrad Mynach railway station was in existence in 1857, when it was known as Ystrad Junction. A new Local General Hospital

Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr () is a community hospital at Ystrad Mynach in Caerphilly County Borough in Wales. It is managed by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. History The hospital was commissioned to replace Aberbargoed Hospital, Caerphilly Dis ...

was opened in late 2011. Work started on the Ystrad Fawr site in September 2007. It is located between the A469 Caerphilly to Newbridge Road and the old Caerphilly Road between Ystrad Mynach and Llanbradach. This replaced the services provided by the previous

Ystrad Mynach Hospital Ystrad Mynach Hospital () was a community hospital in Ystrad Mynach, Wales. It was managed by Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board. History The hospital was established by converting a war-time miners' hostel located on the western side of the Caerp ...

. Situated to the north of Ystrad Mynach, is a collection of houses called Tredomen; these houses were built to house the workers of the since-demolished Tredomen Works. They are socially graded houses – ranging from two-up two-down, to a five-bedroom manor in Park Lane with adjoining servants' quarters. In February 2018 the Beech Tree Fish Bar was severely damaged in a car crash, and the incident made national news. No-one was killed, but three people were taken to hospital. In June 2017 a portion of the town playground was set on fire by an

arsonist Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, waterc ...

. In April 2019 13-year-old Carson Price was found unconscious in the playground after he had overdosed with the

psychoactive drug A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system acti ...

ecstacy. He was taken to hospital, but later died.

Religion

The Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

for Ystrad Mynach and Llanbradach is Holy Trinity. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, built in 1855–1857, by architect John Norton, for Revd George Thomas whose family were locally important landowners from Llanbradach. Bryn Seion Welsh Church is a nondenominational church. Situated on Lisburn Road, it was built as a Baptist chapel during the mid-nineteenth century. It contains a mosaic, approximately square, with the name of the chapel, the chapel logo, the year of its construction, 1906 and geometric patterns. The

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church, on Lewis Street, was enlarged in 2013 to accommodate both worship and community groups. The Siloh

Calvinistic Methodist The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

chapel was opened on 10 May 1910, when the town was expanding following the opening of Penallta colliery in 1905–1910. Bethany

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

is located on Lisburn Road.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Ystrad Mynach, at

and county borough level: Gelligaer Community Council and

Caerphilly County Borough Council Caerphilly County Borough Council () is the governing body for Caerphilly County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. The last full council elections took place 5 May 2022. Political control The first election to the new council was h ...

. Caerphilly County Borough Council has its main offices at Penallta House in the Tredomen area of Ystrad Mynach. Ystrad Mynach historically straddled the

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es of

and

Llanfabon Llanvabon (also known as Llanfabon) is an area and former parish in South Wales. As described in 1849, it comprised two hamlets, in the union of Merthyr Tydfil, hundred of Caerphilly, county of Glamorgan, 9 miles (S. S. E.) from Merthyr Tydfil; c ...

, both of which were in the county of

. Much of the boundary between the two parishes was the stream called Nant Caiach (roughly following Nelson Road, the A472), with Gelligaer to the north and Llanfabon to the south. Holy Trinity Church was built in 1855–1856 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

within the parish of Llanfabon. In 1890 Holy Trinity was made the parish church for a new ecclesiastical parish of Ystrad Mynach, covering parts of the civil parishes of Llanfabon and Gelligaer. For civil purposes, Ystrad Mynach continued to straddle Gelligaer and Llanfabon. Llanfabon was administered as part of

from 1893, whilst Gelligaer became an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

in 1908. Caerphilly Urban District and Gelligaer Urban District were abolished in 1974, with both areas becoming part of Rhymney Valley District, being the first time that a district-level authority had covered all of Ystrad Mynach.

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 ...

were established to replace the old parishes at the same time, with the communities initially using the boundaries of the abolished urban districts, and so Ystrad Mynach straddled the communities of Gelligaer and Caerphilly. The community boundaries were amended in 1985 to put Ystrad Mynach entirely within the community of Gelligaer. The

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

defines Ystrad Mynach as a built-up area sub-division within the wider

Newport built-up area The Newport Built-up area (previously known in official statistics as the Newport Urban Area) is an area of land defined by the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics (ONS) for population monitoring purposes. It is an urban conurbation a ...

. The Ystrad Mynach sub-division covers Ystrad Mynach itself and Gelligaer,

Hengoed Hengoed () is a village on the west side of the Rhymney Valley - between Ystrad Mynach to the south and Cefn Hengoed to the north. Across the valley it looks towards Maesycwmmer. The village is in the county borough of Caerphilly, in the t ...

Maesycwmmer Maesycwmmer () is a village and community (Wales), community in the centre of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly County Borough in Wales, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshir ...

, and Penpedairheol, and had a population of 19,204 at the 2011 census. For postal purposes, Ystrad Mynach is not considered a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

, but instead comes under the Hengoed post town, CF82. Gelligaer Community Council calls Ystrad Mynach a town, whereas all the other places it covers (including Hengoed) it calls villages.

Sport

Ystrad Mynach Netball Club Established in 1974, Ystrad Mynach Netball Club caters to members from age 7 and up – running teams in both the junior and senior leagues. An affiliated member of Wales Netball, it has five competitive teams in the South East Wales Netball Association (SEWNA) League, along with Under 10s, 12s, and 14s in the junior league.

Penallta Rugby Football Club

Penallta RFC Penallta Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Ystrad Mynach in the county borough of Caerphilly. Penallta RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons. History Penallta Rugby Fo ...

is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club is based in Ystrad Mynach. The Rugby Club was inaugurated by a group of miners from Penallta colliery in 1952. It is an affiliated member of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

and plays in the Welsh National League. Since 2000, Penallta RFC has been one of the most successful rugby clubs in Wales, winning numerous titles at all levels. Penallta won the Worthington Welsh District's Cup at the Millennium Stadium in 2001, the Swalec Plate at the Millennium Stadium in 2012 and the National Plate at the Principality Stadium both in 2017 and 2022.

UCY - Union Cycliste Ystrad Mynach

UCY - Union Cycliste Ystrad Mynach was founded in May 2013 by Arwel James and Gethin Smallwood. The club caters for male and female cyclists from teenage upwards. As of October 2020, the club has around 100 members. It is a social cycling club which focuses on local sportives and charity cycling events. The club has affiliation to Welsh Cycling and British Cycling and regularly receives Sports Wales funding for training equipment and venue hire to encourage off season fitness. Qualified coaches support development and rider safety.

Centre for Sporting Excellence

The

CCB Centre for Sporting Excellence The CCB Centre for Sporting Excellence (Welsh: Canolfan Rhagoriaeth Chwaraeon Brwrdeistaf Sirol Caerffili) was opened in May 2014. The CCB Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly, Wales, is a sports facility located in and run ...

was erected on Caerphilly Road in May 2014. The centre has taken its place on the land of the old

and was built in conjunction with many partners, including Heron Bros Ltd Of Northern Ireland, at a cost of around £6 million. The facility is run by

and it is hoped the local community will use the centre to create a thriving sporting culture within the region.

Valley Greyhound Stadium

The Valley Greyhound Stadium is a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

stadium in Twyn Road sandwiched between the Caerphilly Road and A469 and on the east bank of the

(on the north side of the Dyffryn Business Park). It opened in 1976.

New Cottage Dance Centre

The New Cottage Dance Centre is on The Bridge in Ystrad Mynach and is home to dance teams. The 'Ystrad Fawr' formation teams have been successful in the British Championships. Their teams being former British Champions. In 2016, the 'Ystrad Fawr Dancers' entered the talent contest,

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

and made it through the heats. On 21 May, it was then announced that the team got through to the semi-finals. They competed in the semi-final (23 May) and finished ninth place.

Notable natives / residents

Paul Atherton Paul Atherton (born 20 March 1968) is a London-based filmmaker. He produced and directed ''The Ballet of Change'', a series of four short films that were projected onto London landmarks. His video-diary ''Our London Lives'' is in the permanent ...

, film producer/director *

Richard Brake Richard Colin Brake (born 30 November 1964) is a Welsh and American actor. Following his film debut in '' Death Machine'' (1994), Brake had a supporting role as Joe Chill in ''Batman Begins'' (2005). He subsequently appeared in numerous horror f ...

, actor *

Mervyn Burtch Mervyn Burtch MBE (7 November 1929 – 12 May 2015) was a Welsh composer, best known for his work with children's music projects. Life and career Burtch was born in Ystrad Mynach, Wales. Except for his two years of National Service in the RAF ...

, composer *

Andy Fairweather Low Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner (band), Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton ...

, guitarist *

Morgan Lindsay Lt Col Henry Edzell Morgan Lindsay (13 February 1857 – 1 November 1935) was a British Army officer who served with the Royal Engineers in various campaigns in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a keen amateur sportsman, who played for ...

, (1857–1935), British Army officer and racehorse trainer *

Lauren Price Lauren Louise Price (born 25 June 1994) is a Welsh professional boxer, former amateur boxer and former kickboxer and footballer. She has held the unified WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO, and ''Ring'' female welterweight since March 7, 2025. She was the ...

, Olympic Gold Medal winner *

Greville Wynne Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919 – 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret ...

, spy

References

External links

Ystrad Mynach CollegeWelsh Coal Mines - check out the local pit historyUnion Cycliste Ystrad Mynach
{{authority control Towns in Caerphilly County Borough