Sebastopol, Torfaen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sebastopol | |
| Principal area | Torfaen |
|---|---|
| Ceremonial county | Gwent |
| Constituent country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Pontypool |
| Postcode district | NP4 |
| Dialling code | 01495 |
| Police | Gwent |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| European Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | Torfaen |
| List of places: UK • Wales • Torfaen | |
Sebastopol is the southernmost suburb of Pontypool, Torfaen in Wales. It is named in honour of the Russian city Sevastopol (also known as Sebastopol) that was taken during the Crimean War. It is a fairly affluent area but does contain a subtantial number of local authority/ex-local authority housing known as the Kemys Fawr Estate.
[edit] The town itself
Today Sebastopol is a large community that is all but merged with nearby Griffithstown. Like nearby New Inn, Sebastopol doesn't have a central village area, but is spread out along its main thoroughfares South Street & Greenhill Road.
The town boasts little infrastructure due to its proximity with Griffithstown. There are just two general shops: a newsagent on South Street and a general store on The Avenue (Kemys Fawr Estate). There is the locally-renowned Page's Fish & Chip Shop as well as a barber shop, printer, a garage door operation and poodle parlour. A large number of second hand cars salesrooms are based on Station Rd. "The Crown", "The Open Hearth", "Sebastopol Social Club" and "The Waterloo" are the local pubs. There are two churches: Penry Gospel Hall and St. Oswald's Anglican Church, but most ecclesiastical needs are met by Griffithstown. Kemys Fawr Infant & Nursery School is located on the Kemys Fawr Estate and provides education for 3 - 7 year olds, but children must then attend Griffithstown Junior School for further schooling. There is also a special needs school: Crownbridge School, catering for pupils in the age range 3 - 19 with severe learning difficulties. There is a park near Kemys Fawr Infant & Nursery School with an adventure playground and football pitch.
The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal runs through Sebastopol from Brecon on its way to Newport.
[edit] Neighbours & snobbery
There is a great deal of snobbery in the surrounding communities regarding Sebastopol. Many see it as an inferior place to live due to the high number of local authority owned houses. Some of the more affluent residential roads in Sebastopol (The Avenue, West Avenue, The Ellipse, parts of Greenhill Road & East Avenue) insist their houses are located in nearby Griffithstown to increase house prices and ease sales.
[edit] Future developments
Since 1996 local residents have been fighting long and hard with developers and Torfaen County Borough Council to prevent plans for a new village being built on a large greenbelt zone to the south of the town. To be known as "South Sebastopol", the sprawl of new housing would join the Pontypool district suburbs of northern Torfaen to the Cwmbran district suburbs of southern Torfaen.
