Dowlais
| Dowlais | |
| Welsh: Dowlais | |
  Dowlais Dowlais shown within Merthyr Tydfil | |
| Population | 6,646 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SO075075 |
| Principal area | Merthyr Tydfil |
| Ceremonial county | Mid Glamorgan |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Merthyr Tydfil |
| Postcode district | CF48 |
| Dialling code | 01685 38 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney |
| Welsh Assembly | Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney |
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Dowlais is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. As of 2001, it has a population of 6646.[1] The name is derived from the Welsh du meaning 'black' and glais meaning 'stream'. Dowlais is notable within Wales and Britain for its historic association with ironworking; once employing, through the Dowlais Iron Company, roughly 5,000 people, the works being the largest in the world.
Notable buildings
Little remains of the works that once sustained the community throughout the Victorian era until the 1930s, the two notable buildings that remain are the Engine House, now occupied by O.P. Chocolates, which took up the site in 1963, and the stable block which is now sheltered housing.
Dowlais House, which has now been demolished, was once home to John Josiah Guest and Lady Charlotte Guest, and it was at Dowlais House that Lady Guest translated the Mabinogion. The Guest Memorial Library (1863); commissioned by Lady Guest and designed by Charles Barry, still stands.
Sport and leisure
Dowlais is home to rugby union club, Dowlais RFC.
Notable residents
- Laura Ashley, fashion designer
- Dai Astley, association footballer
- Richard Davies, actor
- Thomas Nathaniel Davies, artist
- David William Evans, lawyer and international rugby union player
- Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans, royal physician
- Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, industrialist
- John Josiah Guest, engineer
- Robert Alwyn Hughes, artist
- Heinz Koppel, artist
- Robert Rees, tenor
- Glanmor Williams, historian
External links
- Old Merthyr Tydfil: Dowlais - Historical Photographs of Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil.
- Photos of Dowlais and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
References
- ↑ Dowlais Ward 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics: National Statistics. UK government. Retrieved 14 May 2009
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