Author: merthyr.history@gmail.com

Grade II* Listed buildings

Fifty years ago today a number of Merthyr’s buildings were given a Grade II* listing by CADW. Below is a list of all the Grade II* listed buildings in Merthyr.

Name

 Location
Grid Ref.
Geo-coordinates		 Date Listed

Notes

Cefn Railway Viaduct

 Cyfarthfa
SO0304907597
51°45′31″N 3°24′22″W		 7 Nov 1951 Viaduct A dual-listed (see below) structure built in 1866 to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Taf Fawr. It was designed by Henry Conybeare and Alexander Sutherland at a cost of £25,000.  The fifteen arches of the 36.6 m (120 ft) high viaduct follow a gentle curve of 235 m (771 ft).
Cefn Railway Viaduct Vaynor
SO0304007795
51°45′38″N 3°24′23″W

7 Nov 1951

 Viaduct A dual-listed (see above) structure built in 1866 to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Taf Fawr. The viaduct has tall, slender limestone piers, a material originally intended to be used throughout, however, the arches were completed using a contrasting red brick due to a trade union strike by stonemasons.

Pont-y-Cafnau

 Park
SO0376507138
51°45′17″N 3°23′44″W

22 August 1975

 Bridge An ironwork bridge spanning the River Taff constructed in 1793. The name, meaning “bridge of troughs”, comes from its unusual three tier design of a tramroad between two watercourses, one beneath the bridge deck and the other on an upper wooden structure which is no longer present. Pont-y-Cafnau is also designated as a scheduled monument.

Town Hall

 Town
SO0489306371
51°44′51″N 3°22′40″W

22 August 1975

 Town hall A Large municipal building designed by Edwin Arthur Johnson in the early Renaissance style and built 1896–98 by Harry Gibbon. Built of red Cattybrook brick with orange terracotta dressings on a base of Pennant Sandstone. Following restoration work it became the Red House, an arts centre, in 2014.

Pontsarn Railway Viaduct

 Pant
SO0454309921
51°46′47″N 3°23′06″W

22 August 1975

 Viaduct A dual-listed (see below) structure built in 1866 to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Taf Fechan. It was designed by Henry Conybeare and Alexander Sutherland. The viaduct is 28 m (92 ft) high and 128 m (420 ft) long.

Pontsarn Railway Viaduct

 Vaynor
SO0453409918
51°46′47″N 3°23′07″W

22 August 1975

 Viaduct A dual-listed (see above) structure built in 1866 to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Taf Fechan. It is constructed of limestone and has tall, slender piers with segmental arches. The Cadw description has seven arches, Newman has eight.

Former Guest Memorial Library

 Dowlais
SO0699107880
51°45′43″N 3°20′57″W

22 August 1975

 Library A two-storey cruciform building of 1855–1863 built as a memorial to John Josiah Guest of the Dowlais Ironworks. The Dowlais workmen intended for the library and reading room to be funded by subscription, but rising costs led to the building being completed by the company at a total cost of £7,000.

Dowlais Works Blast Engine House

 Dowlais
SO0690907739
51°45′38″N 3°21′01″W

22 August 1975

 Engine house A 54 m (177 ft) long and 15 m (49 ft) high red brick industrial building constructed in 1905–07 to house three blowing engines as part of the Dowlais Ironworks. The works went into decline in the 1930s and in the late 20th century the building was being used by a chocolate company.

Quakers Yard Railway Viaduct

 Treharris
ST0885396473
51°39′35″N 3°19′09″W

1 April 1988

 Viaduct A tall stone-built viaduct with six arches that spans both the River Taff and the Merthyr Tramroad. It was constructed 1840–41 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as part of the Taff Vale Railway and widened by 1861.

Ynysfach Engine House

 Cyfarthfa
SO0452406096
51°44′44″N 3°23′04″W

5 Nov 1995

 Engine house Built in 1836 as part of the Ynysfach Ironworks, it originally housed an engine made at the Neath Abbey Ironworks. This four-storey building of blue Pennant Sandstone with white ashlar dressings fell into disuse when the Ynysfach works closed in 1874. In the 1980s It was restored and became a museum until closed by the Leisure Trust.

Greenfield Bridge, Penydarren Tramroad

 Treharris
ST0902496544
51°39′37″N 3°19′00″W

20 February 2003

 Bridge A single arch Pennant Sandstone structure built to replace an earlier wooden bridge that collapsed in 1815 when a train was passing over it. The semi-circular arch has span of 19.2 m (63 ft) at a height of 8.4 m (28 ft) above the river. It is part of the Merthyr Tramroad scheduled monument.

Victoria Bridge, Penydarren Tramroad

 Treharris
ST0942396281
51°39′29″N 3°18′39″W

20 February 2003

 Bridge A single high-arch bridge over the River Taff similar in design to the nearby Greenfield bridge. Built in 1815 to replace a wooden bridge of 1800–02 it was originally as part of the Merthyr Tramway but is now a footbridge. It is part of the Merthyr Tramroad scheduled monument.

NOTE
The two viaducts constructed as part of the Brecon and Merthyr Railway both straddle the borders of neighbouring historic communities so have separate designations for each of these locations.

The Gravestones at Vaynor Churchyard

by Alison Davies

Looking at the old postcard of Vaynor churchyard below there are many different types of headstones, tombs and memorials.

Towards the new church you can see the change in memorial style, size and colour. From the 1850s striking new memorials were made from imported marble and became fashionable, gleaming white in the landscape they caught the eye. Many of these stones still stand but now discoloured with time and not so visible and striking.

In the oldest part of the churchyard below the old church you can see the headstones are plainer, shorter and smaller with the exception of a few more recent stones the headstones are of local stone, limestone, sandstone and Breconshire sandstone known for its beautiful red colour. A small stone of Brecon red sandstone quarried from the edge of Pontsticill with Llandetty marks the grave of Nicholas David of Pontysticill Smith (Smithy) who died 1786 aged 74.

Although the role of a headstone was to mark the burial spot and record the departed, today they tell us so much more about local history, geology and the relationship to the landscape around. We can now also distinguish the type of stones used, their design the symbols, their meanings and the style of lettering, it’s like piecing together a jig-saw puzzle.

Although there has been a church on the site at Vaynor since 874 then 1295 when the old church that we know today was built, there are no known graves from the Middle Ages up to the 1700s. Many burials were either not marked or marked only by a simple small stone which has been lost through time.

In Vaynor the earliest grave that remains visible today is a beautiful ledger stone marking the grave of the Rev William Watkin Rector at Vaynor Old Church from 1688 until his death in 1704. The Rev Watkin was buried inside of the old church, under the alter. When the church was taken down the stone became open to the elements. It is beautifully carved in relief with the inscription encircling around giving his family lineage.

It reads:

Here lieth the body of William Watkins , rector of this parish.

Son to Watkin John of Panty (Pandy) he married Jane daughter to William Garston of Newcourt in Herefordshire, Gent, by whom he had issue, William, John, Samuel Benjamin, Walter, Edward, Nathaniel, Mary and Elinor, He died – April 1704. Aged 43.

(Coat of arms of the Herbert Family)

There is a similar style stone in Brecon cathedral dated 1676. However, the Breconshire historian Theophilus Jones writing in the 19th century questioned his authority to use the crest. Nevertheless it’s a beautiful stone, however, in the last few years this stone has cracked in half although it is still in its original place.

Ledger stones are inscribed stone slabs usually laid flat into the floor of a church or on the earth to mark the place of burial. There are several ledger stones in Vaynor old Churchyard and quite possibly more as they are easily broken or tend to get covered over, especially when lying flat on the ground. Another ledger stone on the edge of the pathway marks the grave of David Jenkin of Penderyn Parish who died April 1784 aged 78 and his wife Anne died December 1786 aged 81.

Both long lived. The quality of the lettering is simply beautiful and looks like it was carved yesterday.

Just below the old Church is a mysterious Ledger stone marking the grave of Thomas Edmund The famous Racer who died 1785.

His story was well known into the 19th century and was written about in the 1890s by historians including Rev J E Jenkins Rector of Vaynor, William Morgan Vaynor Handbook and Charles Wilkins History of Merthyr Tydfil. Thomas was a runner who won many races. Many fortunes were made and some lost when betting on his races. He died young at the age of 34 and his death is recorded in the parish records for 1785.

The inscription at the top of the stone reads

Here Lie the Body of
Thomas Edmund
Who was interred here May
10th 1785, aged 34 years

(The bottom of the stone reads )

The Famous Racer.

The inscription although clear and readable is sited above another faded illegible inscription. The style of the faded inscription appears earlier in date. Was the stone re cut with Thomas’s epitaph? I find it a bit of a mystery. The faded text may have been naturally worn away by the elements however there is no damage to support this in the upper text referring to Thomas. Usually any text at the top of the stone marks the start so the oldest at the top. Whatever is added below therefore comes later. Although you can see the shape of the faded text on the stone but it’s unreadable. I tried ‘grave rubbing’ to get an imprint, but with no luck. I also photographed it from different angles and edited the resolutions to try and improve it with no great success.

The answer may lie with historian William Morgan writing in 1896 a few years after Rev J.E Jenkins. William Morgan referred to the stone as

‘A memorial stone to perpetuate the Memory of Thomas Edmund’.

Perpetuate – to keep on going (I had to google that). So although Thomas Edmund died 1785 there is every possibility that his epitaph which we read today was not added until a hundred years later on a previously used stone, perhaps to keep his story alive?

To see more of Alison’s fantastic research about Pontsarn and Vaynor, please follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/747174317220437

Porcine pranks

by Carolyn Jacob

In Reminiscences of Merthyr Tydfil by Charles Wilkins, Red Dragon Vol II Aug. – Dec 1882. He recalls the fun of his school boy days and one memory of a farmer who drove into the High Street a small group of very large pigs for sale. Weary of standing on a crowded road, the creatures laid themselves down in a closely packed manner which is peculiar to them upon large lapping cellars doors in front of a popular public house. Under their great weight the doors gave way and all the pigs were precipitated into the vaults below. The pigs quickly knocked over a barrel of beer and enjoyed its contents; they then overturned a number casks of beer, smashed jars of spirits and bottles of wine and altogether behaved themselves in an outrageous manner.  They were having such a good time that they refused all attempts to get them into the daylight again. Word got around and soon an excitable crowd gathered to watch the piggies’ pranks. The whole crowd helped to get the drunk pigs out into the fresh air again but they were so drunk that they had to be carried ‘home’.

My Street – Part 5

by Barrie Jones

Chapter Four

Wheatley Place

Wheatley Place was the last street built in this the first phase of the Keir Hardie Estate building programme. The programme commenced in late 1946 and the first house in the development, number one Aneurin Crescent was let in January 1948. Tenants of Wheatley Place moved into their new homes in the summer of 1948.

The street comprises of twenty-two properties, three concrete, (Wimpy No Fines), and nineteen prefabricated, (BISF). The houses are numbered from one to forty-three, odd numbers only, perhaps in anticipation that the ‘green’ opposite would be built on sometime in the future. The street is unusual in so far as that number one is one half of a semidetached concrete house, the pair of which is number thirty-four Glasier Road. The house is tucked around the corner from Wheatley Place, so there must have been some confusion when persons were trying to find number one. In fact, before the estate was completed the Housing Manager obtained approval to have house numbers fitted to the doors of all the estate’s houses to avoid this sort of problem. Located at the top of the street are numbers three and five, the remaining two concrete houses in the street. The street descends from its junction with Jowett Avenue levelling off as it approaches number thirty-three. The last house in the street, number forty-three, is a prefabricated house paired with number thirty-seven Aneurin Crescent.

The following families were first allocated houses in Wheatley Place in 1948:

 

House Number Tenant  Housing List Number
One Davies 3025
Three ? –
Five ? –
Seven Richards 692
Nine Jones 2479
Eleven Scriven 3051
Thirteen Curtis 1005
Fifteen Pratt 2772
Seventeen Johnson 2634
Nineteen Egan 779
Twenty-one Moran 2631
Twenty-three Chamberlain 1189
Twenty-five Davies –
Twenty-seven Coombes Key Worker
Twenty-nine ? –
Thirty-one Regan 3048
Thirty-three Bowen 859
Thirty-five O’Neill 1556
Thirty-seven Jones 2222
Thirty-nine Howells 3259
Forty-one Thomas 2023
Forty-three Richardson 3031

In August 1948, my parents with my two older brothers moved into number thirty-seven. My father was demobbed from the Royal Navy in June 1946 and my two brothers were born in 1946 and 1947, respectively. At that time, my parents were living with my father’s parents in number twelve Union Street, Thomastown. My father recounted that to better his chance of securing a council house he paid a visit to Councillor Claud Stanfield at his home in Troedyrhiw. My grandfather was born in Troedyrhiw and many of my father’s aunts and uncles lived in the village and so the family were known to Councillor Stanfield. As well as being the Troedyrhiw Ward councillor, he was also the local insurance agent for a Friendly Society, which would involve calling on numerous families in the village. It is not certain that my father’s lobbying had any influence in securing a council house, his waiting list number was quite low, 2222, but Councillor Stanfield may have hastened the housing allocation. Two months following the move, my mother gave birth to me in the front bedroom of number thirty-seven. So, I may have been the first born on Keir Hardie Estate.

In July 1948 the Home Office, in consultation with the Ministry of Health, offered an additional allocation of twenty houses to meet general housing needs on the understanding that twenty houses on various sites in the borough were made available for occupation by police officers. Number one Wheatley Place was selected for one such police house and Police Constable (PC) Davies was the first police tenant; later PC Vernon Conway assumed the tenancy.

The County Borough’s expansive post-war house building programme occurred during a time of industrial relocation and growth and new housing was essential for key workers as well as new families and it was the Council’s policy to ensure suitable housing for such workers. In May 1947, the Housing Committee re-emphasised its intention that one in ten new council properties would be allocated to key workers. On the Keir Hardie Estate this ratio was not achieved with only eighteen first lettings from a total of two-hundred and seventy-six houses. Number twenty-seven Wheatley place was allocated to Mr E. F. Coombes, of Hoover Ltd., who moved in with his wife and two children. Sometime later, Mr Coombes purchased a property elsewhere and moved out of the street, when older his son Ernest (Ernie) joined the Merthyr Borough Police Force.

Growing up in the 1950s, the Second World War was still fresh in the memories of those living on the estate and Mrs Richardson of number forty-three was a war widow. Her husband Ernest had been killed soon after the Normandy landings (1944), leaving Mrs Richardson to raise her children, twins Eric and Eileen, on her own. Being one of the older boys in the street, Eric would take the lead in some of our street activities, especially the construction of our November the Fifth bonfire which was always built on the green space between the boundary fence of the Mardy Hospital and the rear of numbers fifty-two and fifty-four Aneurin Crescent.

In 1948 the National Service Act introduced peacetime conscription into the armed services. From the 1st of January 1949 all healthy males between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one were required to serve a period of service of eighteen months. Men working in ‘essential services’: mining, farming, and the merchant navy were exempt from call up. National service ended gradually from 1957 with the last national service man leaving service in May 1963. I recall that two boys on either side of our house were called up; Mr O’Neill’s son from number thirty-five went into the army, and Eddie Howells from number thirty-nine went into the Royal Navy.

One of the characters in the street was Mr Davies of number twenty-five, known to us ‘locals’ as Dai Brecon. Dai took great enjoyment in annoying our pet dog, Peg, who would bark at him every time he passed our house. Other than chasing motor bikes, Peg never barked at anyone else in the street.

My father relaxing in the back garden of number thirty-seven with our pet dog Peg by his side.

The green between Jowett Avenue and our street was an ideal play space for us children with trees to climb etc. The road around the green, the “block” was used as a cycling and running track and races were a favourite pastime with the finishing line by the lamppost on the flat stretch near our house.

My mother sitting in the front garden of number thirty-seven, in the background is part of the ‘Green’ and above that part of Jowett Avenue.

Conclusion

As stated in my introduction Wheatley Place does not have as long a history as other streets in Merthyr Tydfil, just under seventy-seven years, nevertheless, it has a story to tell. Also, my account only covers the street up to 1980 and a lot more has happened in or near the street since then; a murder in Greenwood Close and more expansion of the Estate on the remaining part of the ‘Green’ are just a few examples. Others may accept the baton to tell more of the story of Wheatley Place, whilst after reading my account others may wish to tell the story of their own street.

Although prefabricated buildings have a long life, they are not expected to remain standing as long as those built under more traditional methods, my only hope is that Keir Hardie Estate and Wheatley Place in particular, have more years before and more stories to tell.

The Growth of Football in Merthyr Tydfil – part 4

Transcribed by Phil Sweet

These articles which appeared in three consecutive editions of the Merthyr Express in March 1921 are Harvey Boots’ own reminiscences of the development of three football codes in the town up to that date.  

ARTICLE 2 MERTHYR EXPRESS 12TH MARCH 1921 (continued)

THE GROWTH OF FOOTBALL IN MERTHYR

(By Harvey Boots)

Meanwhile we of the Rugby Club were left in a quandary. The membership of the team that had been doing so well for us the previous season, and had raised the status of the club to a position it had never attained before, went over to the new game. A few remained true to the amateur cause, but we were left with little more than a skeleton of a team. Worse still all our supporters left us; our gates dwindled down to zero; while the other code grew in proportion. However, we kept pegging away, but things were going from bad to worse, our exchequer was dry, and we were owing the bank a bit. We continued for two or three seasons and the struggle was a long and costly one. To give an idea of how wealthy (?) we were becoming, on one occasion we played Cross Keys (a club now at the prominent head of all Welsh Clubs) to a gate of 17s 6d. On this princely sum we had to pay the return visit to Cross Keys. We were not forgotten entirely by the tradespeople of Merthyr at this period.

Several came to our aid, and one, in particular, rendered us very valuable financial assistance. I refer to Mr. J. T. Harrap. We had only to state our case and he was ever-ready to come to our help, but this sort of thing couldn’t go on indefinitely. We were in arrears with our rent, and when making application for Penydarren Park for what was eventually the last time, we found an offer had been made on behalf of the other club at a rental of £200, which was just double what we were charged. This, I am happy to say was turned down by the Athletic Club, although we, at this time, owed £100 for rent and no prospects of paying it.

We felt at this time that since we had been engaged for a number of years in fighting the battles of Welsh Rugby, it was time the parent body came to our assistance, and so began the beginning of the end. I went to Cardiff to interview them on innumerable occasions; as did W. T. Jones and E. Biddle, but all to no purpose. Although they had some thousands of pounds on deposit, they evidently thought it was a real pleasure for us, as private individuals, to keep on shelling out the money to keep the game alive. We wanted to book the Park again for the coming season, and although we owed the Athletic Club £100, they very kindly offered to forgo this, and write it off as a bad debt if the Welsh Union became guarantors for the rent in future. Down we go again to meet these gentlemen with this new proposal. “We don’t want financial assistance,” we told them. “We shall pull through if you will become guarantors for the rent.” Did they? No, bless you! With an ostrich-like wisdom they turned us down again, popped their heads back in the nice warm sand, and went to sleep. These valleys were then teeming with Rugby clubs. To-day there is only one between here and Cardiff – I refer to Pontypridd. All else is Soccer. I have always maintained – and always shall – that this particularly wise move on the part of the Welsh Union paved the way for what is now the popular game – Association.

Well, here were, we with a ground leased for a number of years (16), with nearly £4,000 spent on its improvement, and no tenant for it. The Athletic Club then held what was easily the most momentous meeting in its history and at this meeting we decided to form an Association Club. Believe me, Mr. Editor, had we known the troubles and pitfalls ahead I very much doubt if we would have decided as we did. However, with quick dispatch and unbounded enthusiasm, Dr Llewellyn Jones, Mr. H. C. Davies, with Mr. W. T. Jones as secretary, went up to London to interview the Management Committee of the Southern League. After viewing our ground and few other preliminaries, we were duly accepted as a member, and thus became the first Welsh Club in the Southern League. Our troubles had really only now commenced.

We had decided to introduce a new code into a district where previously, as I remarked before, an Association ball was rarely, if ever, seen. We were now in the Second Division of the Southern League, and as we were the only Welsh Club our fixtures in this section were all with English clubs. We advertised for players in the “Athletic News,” and, believe me, we got them. Our knowledge of the new game was not quite up to date, and I think some of the players who applied for places in the new combination must have been aware of the fact. Some of them came clean shaven, and with close-cropped heads, vowed they had played for Aston Villa and Newcastle, and had “scored the goal that had won the ‘Cup,’” which statement, if true, should have entitled them to whiskers of patriarchal dimensions and old age pensions.

All these things (and others) were sent to try us, but we were learning our lesson. The Northern Union Club were still going, but there were evident signs of a falling off here. Some of the South Wales clubs had already closed down for want of support, and the local club were beginning to feel the drain of those long trips to the North every other week. While they retained the popular fancy, a few spectators used to honour us with a visit just to see how the new-fangled game was going. Indeed, our gates were a thing of beauty, but not a joy for ever. They consisted of the players’ wives or sweethearts, the directors and a few friends, and a number of small boys who had managed to get in without paying. And there I think you have it. We didn’t want a bag of any sort to take the cash to the bank. I believe Mr. W. T. Jones used to put it in his waistcoat pocket to bank on Monday. It was only last week that Mr. John Evans (Royal Stores) mentioned that he remembered looking in on his way to the other game and was surprised to find as many players as spectators Many of my readers make take this cum grano salis, but I can assure them it was very near the mark.

To be continued…..

Soup Kitchens in Merthyr, 1878

by Jill Morgan

Walter J. Lewis (left), born in Salt Lake City, Utah, of Welsh parents, was a missionary in South Wales for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1877 to 1879. He kept a detailed journal of his missionary activities, including meetings attended, church members visited, and letters written and received. But he also includes reference to community and social events and conditions. This is an entry from February 1878, when he was temporarily in Merthyr. The spelling has not been changed from the original.

Merthyr, Tydfil, Feb, 5, 1878.

At two O’Clock Bro. Parry & I visited the soup kitchen in Drill Hall where two thousand children are fed once a day with soup. This is the result of a late investigation by Griffith Richards M. P. from Merthyr and other leading Gentlemen of the Town, of the circumstances of the poor and distressed of the place. They found hundreds in a very destitute and almost perishing condition owing to the extreme dullness of the times.

 Releif Societies have been organized throughout the coal and Iron Districts who are solicisiting aid from every quarter for the purpose of distributing clothing and food to the most distressed of the place. Between 12 and 3 O’Clock the streets are thronged with half starved scantly clad children of both sexes from infants up to fifteen years old, with their bowls and spoons under their arms, making there way to the soup kitchen where many probably get the first meal in the day.

Then very prosaically, he returns to recording missionary activity:

We held meeting in the evenng in Bro. Owens house Pentrebach, after which we walked over the Mountain to Cwmbach, reaching it about midnight.