Pontygwaith, Rhondda

This article is about the village Pontygwaith in the Rhondda. For the Pontygwaith in Treharris see Pontygwaith.

Pontygwaith (Welsh language: "Bridge to work" or "Bridge of the Ironworks") is a small village located in the Rhondda Fach valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.

History

Pontygwaith takes its name from a blast furnace built in the early 16th century, though by 1863 it was described as a shapeless ruin^[1] The location of the furnace was at the north end of what today is Furnace Road and the only documented proof of the structure is in a contract drawn up in 1614 between John Hanbury of Pontypool and Richard ap Rhys of Llantrisant for the supply of charcoal to the "furnace of Penrees" (Penrhys).

Transport

Between 1849 and 1856, the Taff Vale Railway opened the Maerdy Branch from Porth, including a station at Pontygwaith. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1964, and the line closed completely and was lifted from June 1986 after coal from Mardy Colliery was raised through Tower Colliery. Since 2005, the southern section from Porth to Pontygwaith is now the A4223 Porth and Lower Rhondda Fach Relief Road (Porth Bypass).^[2] The upper section including the section passing Pontygwaith has become a branch of the Taff Trail cycleway.

References