Caerphilly County Borough Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili (Welsh) | |
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.jpg) .jpg)  Left to right:
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 Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Working Together for the Good of All | |
 Caerphilly shown withinWales | |
| Coordinates:51°39′22″N3°10′59″W / 51.656°N 3.183°W /51.656; -3.183 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Wales |
| Preserved county | Gwent |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | Tredomen Park,Ystrad Mynach |
| Government | |
| • Type | Principal council |
| • Body | Caerphilly County Borough Council |
| • Control | Labour |
| • MPs | 3 MPs
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| • MSs | 3 MSs |
| Area | |
• Total | 107 sq mi (277 km2) |
| • Rank | 16th |
| Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total | 176,865 |
| • Rank | 5th |
| • Density | 1,650/sq mi (638/km2) |
| Welsh language(2021) | |
| • Speakers | 10.5% |
| • Rank | 2nd |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-CAY |
| GSS code | W06000018 |
| Website | caerphilly |
Caerphilly County Borough (Welsh:Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili) is acounty borough in thesouth-east ofWales. It is governed byCaerphilly County Borough Council.
Its main and largest town isCaerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are,Risca,Ystrad Mynach,Newbridge,Blackwood,Bargoed,New Tredegar andRhymney.
Caerphilly County Borough is in southeast Wales and straddles the border between the historic counties ofGlamorgan andMonmouthshire. It is bordered byCardiff to the southwest,Newport to the southeast,Torfaen to the east,Blaenau Gwent to the northeast,Powys to the north,Merthyr Tydfil to the northwest andRhondda Cynon Taf to the west.[4]
The northern part of the borough is formed by the broad expanse of theRhymney Valley. TheRhymney River rises in the hills in the north and flows southwards for about thirty miles, looping round to the east just to the north ofCaerphilly before reaching theBristol Channel. Some of the larger towns areBedwas,Risca,Ystrad Mynach,Newbridge,Blackwood,Bargoed,New Tredegar andRhymney. The valley also includes the communities ofAbertysswg,Fochriw,Pontlottyn,Tir-Phil,Brithdir,New Tredegar,Aberbargoed,Rhymney andYstrad Mynach, and the towns ofBargoed and Caerphilly.[4]
Located on the edge of theSouth Wales Coalfield this area was sparsely populated with livestock husbandry being the main occupation. Farmers in their remote farmhouses on the windswept pastures might dig themselves some bucketfuls of coal for their hearth. Things began to change with the development of the iron industry, the start of theIndustrial Revolution. In 1752, a 99-year lease was granted for a parcel of land in the Rhymney Valley which gave the lessees the right to mine coal and iron ore. Other such transactions followed, pit shafts were dug and the coal industry developed.[5] By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were forty coalmines in the valley.[6]
One of the pits sunk in the late nineteenth century was the Elliot Colliery. At its peak before World War I, it was producing over a million tons of coal a year and employing nearly three thousand people. The coal eventually became depleted and the colliery closed in 1967. Most of the site was cleared but the East Winding House survives and is now aGrade II listed building, and a museum of the coal industry in the area has been opened on the site.[7] All the pits in the valley were closed by the end of the twentieth century; the spoil heaps were removed and the area was landscaped so that it is not now apparent that the valley ever had an industrial past.[6]
The county borough was formed on 1 April 1996 by the merger of theRhymney Valley district ofMid Glamorgan with theIslwyn borough ofGwent.[8] In 2008, as a result of representations from different communities in the borough, a draft plan was put forward proposing various changes to the borders between communities.[9]
Caerphilly County Borough Council is the governing body for the county borough. It has 69 seats and is majority controlled byLabour.[10]
Caerphilly County Borough is represented in theHouse of Commons by threeUK Parliament constituencies. These are:[11]
The Caerphilly constituency is the only one wholly within the county borough council's boundaries, whereas Newport West and Islwyn crosses boundaries withNewport, and Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney withBlaenau Gwent.[11]
In theSenedd, the county borough is currently represented by threeSenedd constituencies:[11]
The latter constituency crosses boundaries withMerthyr Tydfil County Borough.[11]
TheSouth Wales East region also includes the county borough, and is represented by twoConservative and twoPlaid Cymru MSs.[18]
From the2026 Senedd election, the borough will be represented by the proposedBlaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni andCasnewydd Islwyn constituencies, each returning six MSs, following theSenedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024.[19]
The following people and military units have received theFreedom of the County Borough of Caerphilly.
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There are many rugby union clubs throughout the county.[30] These are:
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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