Whitchurch, Cardiff

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Coordinates: 51°31′N 3°13′W / 51.52°N 3.22°W / 51.52; -3.22
Whitchurch
Welsh: Yr Eglwys Newydd

Whitchurch Hospital
Whitchurch

 Whitchurch shown within Cardiff
Population 15,649 
Principal area Cardiff
Ceremonial county Cardiff
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CARDIFF
Postcode district CF14
Dialling code 029
Police South Wales
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK Parliament Cardiff North
Welsh Assembly Cardiff North
List of places
UK
Wales
Cardiff

Whitchurch (Welsh Yr Eglwys Newydd eglwys church + newydd new) is a suburb in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is approximately 3 miles north of the centre of the city on the A470 road and A4054 road. Its estimated population as of 2004 was 15,649. It falls within the Whitchurch & Tongwynlais ward.

History

Whitchurch draws its name from White Church. The first mention of the area was in 1126 when the land was granted to Llandaff Cathedral and a chapel was built where Old Church Road now stands. It remained a dependency of the cathedral until 1845 when it became a separate parish.

After much resistance to the Norman conquest of England, the area succumbed to the Normans in 1266 who created the manor of Whitchurch which included Llandaff North and Rhiwbina, and who built Castell Coch to protect the approach to Cardiff in Tongwynlais. The castle became a ruin by the 16th century, possibly attacked by Owain Glyndŵr.

Until the early 18th century there were no more than around 300 people living in about 50 farms and cottages in Whitchurch, but by the end of the 19th century, this had risen to nearly 5,000.

An education report of 1847 reported that 8% of Whitchurch's children attended school. In 1854, the area's first national school was built, charging 2d a week. Whitchurch High School opened in 1937.

In the 19th century, the Bute family assumed responsibility of Whitchurch Common. Their attempt to produce wine on the slopes below Castell Coch was short-lived, bottling 40 gallons in 1887.

The modern Cardiff Mental Hospital, later Whitchurch Hospital, opened in 1908 accommodating 750 patients and quickly gaining a national reputation for its research.

In 1898 and 1922, parts of Whitchurch were absorbed into Cardiff, becoming amalgamated as a suburb of the City of Cardiff in 1967.[1]

Between 1951 and 1961, the population of the parish rose from 19,827 to 27,325.

Melingriffith Tin Works

Main article: Melingriffith Tin Plate Works

Built in 1749, the Melingriffith Tin Plate Works in north Whitchurch, on the bank of the River Taff opposite Radyr, was built on or near the site of an old corn mill that had operated as far back as the late 12th century. Melingriffith was the largest working tin factory in the UK, until the much later construction of the Treforrest Tin Works.[2]

The tin mills were powered exclusively by water drawn from the River Taff down the Melingriffith feeder stream, a water course that doubled as a canal that carried raw iron ore from the Pentyrch Iron Works until around 1815, when the Pentrych tramroad was completed. The tramroad crossed the River Taff over the Iron Bridge. The feeder’s lock was permanently closed in 1871 when it was bridged over, but traces of it still remain.

The tin works closed in 1957, and today the only signs that the works ever existed at all are the mostly dry bed of the original Melingriffith feeder stream that still runs down from the River Taff from just above the Radyr weir, and the recently restored water pump standing opposite Oak Cottage. The works site itself has been completely cleared, and is now a modern housing estate.

The Melingriffith feeder stream made its way to the original Glamorganshire Canal, where they ran in parallel through the tin works and out the other side at Melingriffith Lock. Where they had come together north of the tin works, any overflow from the canal was originally designed to empty into the feeder. This point is now at the southern end of the Glamorganshire Canal Local Nature Reserve and all the water from the canal runs into the feeder before disappearing into a piped water course that passes under the modern housing estate.

At the southern end of the housing estate, the feeder re-emerges at the point where the Melingriffith water pump stands, the pump originally designed to pump water from the feeder into the Canal at Melingriffith Lock. Today, the Glamorganshire Canal has been almost totally overbuilt. Ty Mawr Road has replaced the route of the canal from Melingriffith all the way to Whitchurch.

Contemporary Whitchurch

Whitchurch Library
Whitchurch centre

With the expansion of Cardiff in the 20th century, Whitchurch is no longer a separate village; although residents, old and new, refer commonly to "The Village" in preference to acknowledging its suburban status. The modern suburb contains a number of schools, a shopping centre, Whitchurch Library, Whitchurch Hospital, a psychiatric hospital originally built in the Edwardian era. In addition, adjacent to Whitchurch Hospital is Velindre Hospital, a major cancer hospital in Wales. Whitchurch High School is the largest school in Wales.

The national office of the Presbyterian Church of Wales is located at the Tabernacle Church, Whitchurch.

The Conservative Party in Wales formerly had its headquarters at Penlline Road, Whitchurch.

Whitchurch also boasts its very own community magazine, which was launched in December 2008. 'Whitchurch and Llandaff Living' has a distribution of 6000 copies across Whitchurch, Llandaff North and Llandaff and is published bimonthly.[3]

Transport

Whitchurch lies between two urban rail line on the Valley Lines network. The Merthyr Line runs through neighbouring Llandaff North stopping at Llandaf railway station, near Whitchurch. Trains run between the Cardiff Valleys and the Vale of Glamorgan via Cardiff city centre. Whitchurch (Cardiff) railway station is located on the Coryton Line where trains run between Coryton and Radyr via the city centre.

Cardiff Bus services 21, 23, 24, 25 and 35 run through parts of Whitchurch to Cardiff city centre.

The A470 road runs through the east of Whitchurch towards Merthyr Tydfil and North Wales.

References

  1. ↑ Morgan, Dennis (2003). The Illustrated History of Cardiff's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 1-85983-354-3. 
  2. ↑ Meligriffith Tin Works
  3. ↑ Whitchurch and Llandaff Living

External links

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