Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful (Welsh) | |
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 Coat of arms | |
| Motto(s): | |
 Merthyr Tydfil shown withinWales | |
| Coordinates:51°45′N3°23′W / 51.750°N 3.383°W /51.750; -3.383 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Wales |
| Preserved county | Mid Glamorgan |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Named after | Merthyr Tydfil |
| Administrative HQ | Civic Centre, Merthyr Tydfil |
| Government | |
| • Type | Principal council |
| • Body | Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council |
| • Control | Independent |
| • MPs | Gerald Jones (L) |
| • MSs | |
| Area | |
• Total | 43 sq mi (111 km2) |
| • Rank | 21st |
| Population (2024)[4] | |
• Total | 58,972 |
| • Rank | 22nd |
| • Density | 1,370/sq mi (529/km2) |
| Welsh language(2021) | |
| • Speakers | 8.9% |
| • Rank | 15th |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-MTY |
| GSS code | W06000024 |
| Website | merthyr |
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough (Welsh:Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is acounty borough in thesouth-east ofWales. In 2024, it had an estimated population of 58,972,[4] making it the smallest local authority in Wales by population. It is located in the historiccounty ofGlamorgan and takes its name fromthe town with the same name. The county borough consists of the northern part of theTaff Valley and the smaller neighbouringTaff Bargoed Valley. It borders the counties ofRhondda Cynon Taf to the west,Caerphilly County Borough to the east, andPowys to the north. The area was awardedcounty borough status in 1908 until the original county borough was abolished in 1974. In 1996, Merthyr Tydfil became a principal area and one that is styled as a "county borough" in recognition of its historical status.
What is nowMerthyr Tydfil town centre was originally little more than a village. Anironworks existed in theparish in theElizabethan period, but it did not survive beyond the early 1640s at the latest. In 1754, it was recorded that the valley was almost entirely populated byshepherds. Farm produce was traded at many markets and fairs, notably the Waun Fair aboveDowlais.[6]
What is now Merthyr Tydfil County Borough was situated close to reserves ofiron ore,coal,limestone and water, making it an ideal site forironworks. Small-scale iron working and coal mining had been carried out at some places inSouth Wales since theTudor period, but in the wake of theIndustrial Revolution the demand foriron led to the rapid expansion of Merthyr's iron operations in the northern half of the County Borough. TheDowlais Ironworks was founded by what would become the Dowlais Iron Company in 1759, making it the first major works in the area. It was followed in 1765 by theCyfarthfa Ironworks. ThePlymouth Ironworks were initially in the same ownership as Cyfarthfa, but passed after the death ofAnthony Bacon to Richard Hill in 1788. The fourth ironworks wasPenydarren built byFrancis Homfray andSamuel Homfray after 1784.
The demand for iron was fuelled by theRoyal Navy, who neededcannon for their ships, and later by the railways. In 1802,Admiral Lord Nelson visited Merthyr to witnesscannon being made.
Several railway companies established routes that linked Merthyr with coastal ports or other parts of Britain. They included theBrecon and Merthyr Railway,Vale of Neath Railway,Taff Vale Railway andGreat Western Railway. They often shared routes to enable access to coal mines and ironworks through rugged country, which presented great engineering challenges. In 1804, the world's first railwaysteam locomotive, "The Iron Horse", developed by theCornish engineerRichard Trevithick, pulled 10 tons of iron on the newly constructedMerthyr Tramway fromPenydarren toAbercynon.[7][8] A replica of this now resides in theNational Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Thetramway passed through what is arguably the oldest railway tunnel in the world, part of which can still be seen alongside Pentrebach Road at the lower end of the town.
The1801 census recorded the population of Merthyr as 7705, the most populousparish in Wales (however, the built-up area ofSwansea, covering several parishes, then exceeded 10,000). By 1851 Merthyr had overtaken Swansea to become the largest town in Wales with 46,378 inhabitants. By this time,Irish immigrants made up 10% of the local population, and there were substantial numbers ofEnglish, together with someSpaniards andItalians.[6] A Jewish community was established some time after 1841, and by 1851, they were able to establish a small prayer hall. The charmingMerthyr Synagogue was consecrated in 1875 and a cemetery at Cefn-Coed was established in the 1860s.
During the first few decades of the 19th century, the ironworks atDowlais andCyfarthfa continued to expand and at their peak were the most productive ironworks in the world. 50,000 tons of rails left just one ironworks in 1844, to enable expansion of railways acrossRussia toSiberia. At its peak, the Dowlais Iron Company operated 18blast furnaces and employed 7,300 people, and by 1857 had constructed the world's most powerful rolling mill. The companies were mainly owned by two dynasties, the Guest andCrawshay families. One of the famous members of the Guest family wasLady Charlotte Guest who translated theMabinogion into English from its originalWelsh. The families also supported the establishment of schools for their workers.
Thomas Carlyle visited Merthyr town in 1850, writing that it was filled with such "unguided, hard-worked, fierce, and miserable-looking sons of Adam I never saw before. Ah me ! It is like a vision of Hell, and will never leave me, that of these poor creatures broiling, all in sweat and dirt, amid their furnaces, pits, and rolling mills."[9]
TheMerthyr Rising of 1831 were precipitated by a combination of the ruthless collection of debts, frequent wage reductions when the value of iron periodically fell, and the imposition oftruck shops. Some workers were paid in specially minted coins or credit notes, known as "truck" which could only be exchanged at shops owned by their employers. Many of the workers objected to both the price and quality of the goods sold in these shops.
Some 7,000 to 10,000 workers marched and, for four days, magistrates and ironmasters were under siege in the Castle Hotel, and the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr.[6] Soldiers, called in fromBrecon, clashed with the rioters, and several on both sides were killed. Despite the hope that they could negotiate with the owners, the skilled workers lost control of the movement.
Several of the supposed leaders of the riots were arrested. One of them, Richard Lewis, popularly known asDic Penderyn, was hanged for the crime of stabbing a soldier named Donald Black in the leg. Lewis became known as the first localworking-class martyr.
Alexander Cordell's low-brow novelThe Fire People is set in this period. A more serious political history of these events,The Merthyr Rising was written by the Merthyr-bornMarxist writer ProfessorGwyn A. Williams in 1978.
The rising helped create the momentum that led to theReform Act. TheChartism movement, which did not consider these reforms extensive enough, was subsequently active in Merthyr.
The steel and coal industries began to decline afterWorld War I, and by the 1930s, they had all closed. By 1932, more than 80% of men in Dowlais were unemployed; Merthyr experienced an out-migration of 27,000 people in the 1920s and 1930s, and aRoyal Commission recommended that the town's county borough status should be abolished.[6] The fortunes of Merthyr revived temporarily duringWorld War II, as war-related industry was established in the area. In the post-war years the local economy became increasingly reliant onlight manufacturing, often providingemployment for women rather than men.
In 1987, the ironfoundry, all that remained of the former Dowlais ironworks, finally closed, marking the end of 228 years continuous production on one site.
Immediately following theSecond World War, several large companies set up in Merthyr. In October 1948 the American-ownedHoover Company opened a largewashing machine factory and depot in the village ofPentrebach, a few miles south of the town. The factory was purpose-built to manufacture the Hoover Electric Washing Machine, and at one point Hoover was the largest employer in the borough. Later theSinclair C5 was built the same factory.
Several other companies built factories, including the aviation components company Teddington Aircraft Controls, which opened in 1946. The Teddington factory closed in the early 1970s. The local Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind, founded in 1923, remains the oldest active manufacturer in the town.[10]
TheGurnos housing estate was established by Merthyr Tydfil Council in the early 1950s and expanded over many years.Cyfarthfa, the former home of the ironmasterWilliam Crawshay II, an opulent mock-castle, is now a museum. It houses a number of paintings of the town, a large collection of artefacts from the town's Industrial Revolution period, and a notable collection ofEgyptian tomb artefacts, including severalsarcophagi.
On 21 October 1966 a colliery tip slid down a mountain atAberfan, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Merthyr, covering the village school and causing theAberfan disaster.
In 1992, while testing a newangina treatment in Merthyr Tydfil, researchers discovered that the new drug had erection-stimulating side effects for some of the healthy volunteers in the trial study. This discovery would go on to form the basis forViagra.[11]
In 2006 inventor Howard Stapleton, based in Merthyr Tydfil, developed the technology that has given rise to the recent mosquitotone orTeen Buzz phenomenon.[12]
In 2006, a largeopen castcoal mine, which will extract 10 million tonnes of coal over 15 years, was authorised just east ofDowlais as part of theFfos-y-fran Opencast mine.
Merthyr Tydfil has a long and variedindustrial heritage, and was one of the seats of theIndustrial Revolution. Since the end of theSecond World War, much of this has declined, with the closure of long-establishedcoal mining collieries, and bothsteel andironworks. Despite recent improvements, some parts of the County Borough remain economically disadvantaged, and there is a significant proportion of the community who are long-termunemployed.
In Britain today, Merthyr Tydfil:
A Channel 4 programme rated Merthyr Tydfil as the third worst place to live in Britain in 2006 following areas of London.[14][15][16]
However, in the 2007 edition of the same programme, Merthyr had 'improved' to fifth worst place to live.[17]
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council is the governing body for the area. It consists of 30 councillors representing 11wards.
The currentMember of Parliament for theMerthyr Tydfil and Aberdare constituency isGerald Jones MP, while the currentMember of Senedd for theMerthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency isDawn Bowden MS. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is set to become part of the newPontypridd Cynon MerthyrSenedd seat in2026.
The county borough is divided into twelvecommunities. Only one of the communities has a community council, beingBedlinog (also coveringTrelewis), in theTaff Bargoed Valley to the east of the borough. The Bedlinog community covers the area that was transferred to the borough of Merthyr Tydfil in 1974 fromGelligaer Urban District under theLocal Government Act 1972.[18]
Merthyr Tydfil was anancient parish within the county ofGlamorgan. As well as the village of Merthyr Tydfil itself, the parish covered much of the upperTaff Valley, including settlements stretching fromDowlais in the north toAberfan andTreharris in the south.[19] It was governed by its parishvestry, in the same way as most rural parishes. As the area rapidly developed during the industrial revolution, it was decided that a more formal type of local government was required, particularly to oversee sanitation and public health in the parish.[20] The parish was made aLocal Board District on 19 June 1850, governed by an elected local board of health.[21]
Under theLocal Government Act 1894, local boards such as the Merthyr Tydfil Local Board were reconstituted asurban districts with effect from 31 December 1894. Shortly afterwards the new council commissioned the construction ofMerthyr Tydfil Town Hall, which opened in 1898.[22] The Merthyr Tydfil Urban District was elevated tomunicipal borough status in 1905.[23]
Three years later, in 1908, the borough was elevated tocounty borough status, taking over the county-level services previously provided byGlamorgan County Council in the area.[6] This was despite protests from the southern part of the borough, where it was claimed that links were stronger withPontypridd.[24][25] In 1935, aRoyal Commission argued that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, then heavily burdened by the cost of maintaining many unemployed people, should be abolished and merged with Glamorgan. The county council refused the proposal.[25]
County boroughs were abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, when a system of upper-tier counties and lower-tier districts was applied across Wales. On 1 April 1974 Merthyr Tydfil became a lower-tierdistrict withborough status within the new county ofMid Glamorgan. The new borough was also given a larger territory than the old county borough, gaining the parish ofVaynor fromBrecknockshire and theBedlinog ward fromGelligaer Urban District. Civil parishes in Wales were replaced at the same time withcommunities, with the borough of Merthyr Tydfil initially comprising three communities in 1974: Merthyr Tydfil (covering the area of the pre-1974 county borough), Vaynor, and Bedlinog.[26] The communities within the borough were reorganised in 1983, when the Merthyr Tydfil community was split into ten communities:Cyfarthfa,Dowlais,Gurnos,Merthyr Vale,Pant,Park,Penydarren,Town,Treharris, andTroed-y-rhiw.[27][28] Of the twelve communities in the borough, only Bedlinog has a community council.[18]
Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw Wales divided into unitary authorities, called either counties or county boroughs. Merthyr Tydfil became a county borough again on 1 April 1996, taking over county-level functions from the abolishedMid Glamorgan County Council.[29]
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is home to several established choirs who perform frequently in the local area and abroad. They include Ynysowen Male Choir, Treharris Male Voice Choir, Dowlais Male Voice Choir, Merthyr Tydfil Ladies Choir, Cantorion Cyfarthfa, and the mixed-voice choir Con Voce. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough has held many cultural events. Local poets and writers hold poetry evenings in the town, andmusic festivals are organised atCyfarthfa Castle and Park. With this in mind,Menter Iaith Merthyr Tudful (The Merthyr Tydfil Welsh Language Initiative) have successfully transformed the Zoar Chapel and the adjacent vestry building in Pontmorlais into a community arts venue:Canolfan Soar and Theatr Soar, who now run a whole programme of performance events and activities through both the Welsh and English languages, together with a cafe and book shop, specialising in local interest and Welsh language books and CDs.
Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association, working in partnership with Canolfan Soar, has been successful in raising funding to turn the Pontmorlais area into a cultural quarter. With references to the 1831Merthyr Rising and the red bricks of its facade, a new arts and creative industries centre was launched inMerthyr Tydfil Town Hall onSaint David's Day 2014 under the name "Redhouse Cymru".[30]
Merthyr has several historical and heritage groups:
Merthyr Tydfil's Central Library, which is in a prominent position in the centre of the town, is aCarnegie library.
Merthyr Tydfil hosted theNational Eisteddfod in 1881 and 1901 and the nationalyouthEisteddfod in 1987.
Since 2005 a free multi-cultural festival, Global Village, has been held in Cyfarthfa Park, featuring music, dance, literature, arts and crafts, food and information stalls, workshops and performances from cultures from across the globe, includingAfrican music anddance,Thai dance,Japanese Taiko drumming,Native American Hoop Dance,didgeridoo music,Welsh harp,Irish folk music,Welsh folk dance,Indian dance andmusic,Portuguese Fado singing and much more.[34]
Merthyr, like nearbyAberdare, is also known for its thriving music scene. The county borough has produced several bands which have achieved national success, includingThe Blackout fromHeolgerrig andMidasuno fromTroedyrhiw. Since 2011 Cyfarthfa Park has now also become the home of the Merthyr Rock Festival, and from 2009 until 2012 a weekend Welsh language music festival, Bedroc, was held atBedlinog, featuring major Welsh language acts, together with local artists including Welsh language activistJamie Bevan with bands Y Betti Galws and Y Gweddillion (The Remnants).[35]
The County Borough is located in aSouth Wales Valleys environment overlapping into the south of theBrecon Beacons National Park, and this, along with the area's rich history, means it has huge potential fortourism in Wales.National Cycle Route 8 passes through the County Borough. TheBrecon Mountain Railway is located within the Brecon Beacons National Park, in the north of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, starting at Pant and currently[when?] running to Dolygaer (though there are plans to extend it further). TheFforest Fawr Geopark, designated in 2005 in respect of the area's outstanding geological and cultural heritage, also falls within the northern border of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. The borough was awarded European funding[when?] as part of the Interreg Collabor8 project, and will be working in partnership with theBrecon Beacons National Park Authority to promote the region across Europe.
TheTaff Bargoed Valley is increasingly becoming an area for outdoor activities and is home toParc Taff Bargoed and the Summit Centre (formerly Welsh International Climbing Centre). Settlements of interest includeBedlinog,Quakers Yard,Nelson,Trelewis, andTreharris.
Road improvements mean the county borough is increasingly acommuter location and has shown some of the highest house price growth in the UK.[36][37]
Regular rail services operate fromMerthyr Tydfil railway station, through stations atPentrebach,Troedyrhiw,Merthyr Vale andQuakers Yard in the County Borough toCardiff Queen Street andCardiff Central. Public transport links toCardiff are being improved.[38]
Modern-day Merthyr relies on a combination ofpublic sector andmanufacturing andservice sector companies to provide employment. TheWelsh Assembly Government has recently opened a major office just outside the town centre[39] near a largetelecommunicationscall centre (T-Mobile).Hoover (now part of theCandy Group) has itsregistered office in the town and remained a major employer until it transferred production abroad in March 2009, resulting in the loss of 337 jobs after the closure of its factory.
Penydarren Country XI Cricket Club is the oldest established cricket club in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough.Penydarren Country XI Cricket Club was founded in 1971 and currently[when?] play at the ICI Rifle Fields Ground. The club's most successful players[when?] are Paul Crump andKerry Morgan.
Merthyr is particularly known for itsboxers, bothamateur andprofessional. Famous professional pugilists from the town include:Johnny Owen,Howard Winstone andEddie Thomas.
In sporting terms, Merthyr is widely recognised[dubious –discuss] for the town's football team,Merthyr Town. 'The Martyrs' currently compete in the EvostickSouthern Football League and play home games atPenydarren Park. The club had their proudest moment in 1987, when having won the Welsh Cup and qualified for theEuropean Cup Winners Cup, they beat Italian football team Atalanta 2–1 at Penydarren Park.
The town was once home to a fully professionalFootball League club,Merthyr Town F.C., which folded in the 1930s and Merthyr Tydfil AFC were founded in 1945. The year of 2008 marked the centenary of football having been played atPenydarren Park (1908 – 2008). After going into liquidation in 2010, the club switched grounds to.Treharris Athletic Western F.C. play at theAthletic Ground in Treharris. The club play in theWelsh Football League Division Two.[40]
Merthyr Tydfil Golf Club is situated on the southeastern slopes ofCefn Cil Sanws, a rough gritstone and limestone hill in the north-west of the County Borough. It is one of the highestgolf courses in Britain. Morlais Castle Golf Club is situated adjacent to the ruins ofMorlais Castle on Morlais Hill, approximately 2 km to the east and at about the same altitude.
Merthyr RFC, is known as 'the Ironmen'. Merthyr RFC was one of the twelve founding clubs of theWelsh Rugby Union in 1881.Bedlinog RFC, known as 'the Foxes' andDowlais RFC were formed in the 1970s (though there were earlier versions of both).
Merthyr Tydfil is home to theTydfil Wildcats Rugby League team who played at The Cage in Troedyrhiw until September 2010. For 2011 the club is hosted byDowlais RFC[out of date].Merthyr Tydfil was one of the first rugby league sides formed in Wales in 1907 and notably beat the first touring Australian side in 1908.
Merthyr Tydfil College is the mainfurther education provider in the area.
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Among those born in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough are:
Other notable residents include, and have included, poet, journalist andWelsh NationalistHarri Webb, General Secretary of thePCStrade unionMark Serwotka, poet, author and Welsh language activistMeic Stephens, poet, author and journalistGrahame Davies.Sam Hughes began his career as a noted player of theophicleide in the Cyfarthfa Brass Band. One of the first twoLabour MPs to be elected to parliament was the ScotKeir Hardie, who was elected by theMerthyr Tydfil constituency. Notable descendants of Merthyr Tydfil include the singer-songwriterKatell Keineg, whose mother is a native of Merthyr Tydfil, also the "Chariots of Fire" athleteHarold Abrahams' mother Esther Isaacs and the grandfather ofRolf Harris both came from Merthyr Tydfil. The 1970s juvenile groupThe Osmonds are of Welsh descent and have traced their ancestry to Merthyr Tydfil.[45]A number of artists and poets, includingCedric Morris,Heinz Koppel,Arthur Giardelli and Esther Grainger, were also drawn to Merthyr town and Dowlais during the 1940s, establishing the Merthyr Tydfil Educational settlement and the Dowlais Art Centre/Settlement.[46][47]
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