The history of Cilfynydd as a village doesn't
extend beyond the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
As the 1875 Ordnance Survey map shows, Cilfynydd was a
hamlet consisting of some cottages built along the Glamorgan
Canal surrounded by a few scattered farms. These properties,
according to the 1881 census, housed about 100 people.
This all changed when the Albion Steam Coal Company began
sinking colliery shafts in 1884. Cilfynydd was to experience
an explosive population growth. By 1891 the population
had increased fivefold. The following decade witnessed
an even greater rate of increase. According to the 1901
census the population totalled approximately 3,500 people.
Cilfynydd had undergone a transformation.
OS Map from 1875
OS Map from 1900
The 1900 Ordnance Survey map is very different
to the one drawn a quarter of a century earlier. It shows
nine terraces of houses, eight of them running in parallel
lines roughly north to south along the hillside. Houses are
also built along the road that ran from Merthyr to Cardiff.
It also shows four chapels, three public houses, a school,
a church, a post office, a workman's hall and Albion Colliery.
The majority of Cilfynydd's housing and public buildings
were built between 1884 and 1910.
Albion Colliery
Above: Men walking to
work at Albion Colliery at 6.30 in the morning
Sinking of the Albion Colliery began in 1884
on the site of Ynyscaedudwg Farm. It was owned by the Albion
Steam Coal Company and opened in August 1887. Production
at the colliery quickly flourished and it's average weekly
output soon reached 12,000 tons. This was the largest tonnage
for a single shaft coal-winding colliery in the whole of
South Wales. By 1893, 1,500 men and boys were employed at
the Albion. The colliery's early years were relatively free
of serious incidents but disaster struck on the afternoon
of Saturday June 23rd 1894.
On that fateful afternoon the night shift was at work
removing dust and repairing the roadways. At 3.50 p.m.
two loud reports were heard above ground in quick succession.
These were followed immediately by a charge of dust and
smoke from the downcast shaft and then from the upcast
shaft. The effects of the explosion were appalling. It
caused the deaths of 290 men and boys, the worst mining
disaster in South Wales to that date and only to be surpassed
by the explosion at the Universal Colliery, Senghenydd
in 1913. Few miners were brought out alive and the majority
of them subsequently died of their injuries. Victims' bodies
were taken to the hayloft of the pit's stables that acted
as a temporary morgue and harrowing scenes of relatives
looking for their family members by lantern light followed.
Many of the bodies were badly mutilated and at least three
of them taken from the hayloft had to be returned after
being mistakenly identified. Another source of confusion
was that nobody knew the number of men below ground when
the explosion occurred.
An inquest was held at Pontypridd the
following month. It immediately became apparent that there
was a difference of opinion as to the cause and location
of the explosion between the inspectors and professional
witnesses on the one hand and the colliery owners on the
other. Having heard the evidence the jury members concluded
that an explosion of gas was accelerated by coal dust but
they failed to reach agreement on other issues. The Government
appointed a barrister Mr J Roskill to scrutinise the evidence.
His report was presented to the Home Secretary in September
1894. Mr Roskill was of the opinion that the explosion
was caused by the blasting of timbers which ignited an
accumulation of gas and that in turn ignited the coal dust.
The likelihood of this happening had increased because
of dangerous and sloppy working practices at the colliery.
These included the blasting of timbers during shifts, inadequate
watering of the mine to lay dust and new Saturday shift
patterns that meant there was no interval for clearing
dust between shifts. Although the report recommended prosecuting
the Albion Coal Company and various individuals, in the
event proceedings were taken only against Phillip Jones,
the manager and William Anstes, the chargeman, and fines
of £10 and £2 imposed.
The colliery was reopened within two weeks of the explosion
and it wasn't long before the miners lost in the disaster
were replaced. The workforce grew to 1,735 by 1896, increasing
to 2,589 by 1908. The following years saw a constant decline
in the numbers of men employed at the pit and in 1928,
the Albion Steam Coal Company went into liquidation. The
Powell Dyffryn Steam Coal Company purchased its assets
and it remained their property until the formation of the
National Coal Board in 1947 at which time the workforce
was just under 1000. By the time the colliery closed in
1966 the numbers had almost halved. After Albion Colliery
had ceased to provide work for Cilfynydd's inhabitants
the tips still towered menacingly over the village threatening
a disaster similar to Aberfan. A two-phased scheme to reduce
the steep gradient of the colliery spoil began in 1974
and was completed two years later.
Cilfynydd Schools and Chapels
A significant month in Cilfynydd's history
was August 1887. As well as the first coal being raised
at the Albion Colliery, the month also saw the opening
of Cilfynydd's first school. The village grew so quickly
from the mid 1880s that a school was opened in the vestry
of Moriah Welsh Congregational Chapel in Ann Street. Ninety-four
pupils were admitted on August 15th and a further thirteen
were enrolled before the weekend. The headmaster and only
teacher was 24 year old Richard Williams of Tonyrefail.
He was to remain the school's headmaster until 1928. Moriah
Chapel Vestry was a small building and educating over a
hundred children in such a confined space proved difficult.
The school's numbers continued to increase and consequently
the younger children were moved to Bethel Calvinistic Methodist
Chapel.
Eglwysilan School Board met on November 28th 1887 and
agreed to purchase an acre of land on the opposite side
of the road to the chapel vestry. A school was built at
the cost of £5,320 to accommodate 630 children. On
April 2nd 1889 Alfred Thomas, the Member of Parliament
for the area, officially opened three single-storey buildings,
one each for 'boys', 'infants' and 'girls'. An upper storey
was added to the boys' and girls' sections in 1889. Cilfynydd
Primary School remains on the site today. In addition Coedylan
Comprehensive School has been built on the site of the
Albion Colliery.
Cilfynydd's early growth not only witnessed the establishment
of a school but also the building of several places of worship.
By 1891, six Nonconformist chapels and St Luke's Church had
been built. As well as ministering to the spiritual needs
of Cilfynydd's inhabitants, a great deal of the village's
social life revolved around the churches and chapels. Choirs
were associated with each chapel and were frequently competing
in eisteddfodau. Literature, essays, poetry and recitation
competitions were also features of the eisteddfod. Every
chapel performed oratorios and children's operas annually.
Although music was predominant in the lives of many people, it's remarkable
that the village of Cilfynydd produced three musicians that appeared on some
of the world's most famous stages. Sir Geraint Evans, Stuart Burrows and Gareth
Wood were all born at Cilfynydd.
Right: Primitive Methodist Church
Gareth Wood Composer and Double Bass Player
Born in Mary Street on June 7th 1950, Gareth Wood displayed
his musical talent from an early age. He was just twelve
when he performed in Rhondda clubs as a guitarist with
the pop band The Planets. He attended Pontypridd Grammar
School and began playing the double bass and writing music
for the school orchestra. He went on to the Royal Academy
of Music and later became a member of the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra. Gareth Wood has enjoyed an illustrious career
as a composer and as one of the top resident musicians
with the renowned orchestra.
Cilfynydd's chapels were built around the same time and
in quite similar circumstances. Some chapels held their earliest
prayer meetings in the homes of their members. Howell Street
Primitive Methodist Church founders quickly discovered that
their homes were not large enough to accommodate all who
wished to attend. Prayer meetings were held in the loft of
a bake house at the bottom of Richard Street before the chapel
was built in 1890.
Left: Beulah English Baptist Church
Other chapels began as branches of established
Pontypridd chapels. Moriah Welsh Congregational Chapel started
out as a branch of Seion Chapel, Pontypridd that in 1887
assisted members who lived in Cilfynydd to build a vestry
where they might hold their own services. Rehoboth was built
as a branch of Tabernacle Chapel, Pontypridd.The vestry was
built in 1888 and the main body of the chapel opened in 1889.
Beulah Baptist Chapel and St Luke's Church are the only places
of worship that remain open in Cilfynydd today. The majority
of the other chapels have been demolished.
As with the village's church and chapels, Cilfynydd Workingman's
Hall served as an important meeting place and social centre.
It was built at the end of the 19th century with subscriptions
from the community's miners. It contained reading rooms
and a library and was maintained by the miners themselves.
An annual subscription was also made by the council that
meant that all of Cilfynydd's residents had access to the
reading rooms. Public houses were also social centres.
Three had been built along the main road adding to the
long established Cilfynydd Inn.
Cilfynydd Transport
Cilfynydd Inn was built in the early 19th century. It
was conveniently located alongside canal and road communications
allowing coaching or canal horses to be stabled for the night.
The Glamorganshire Canal, opened in 1794, linked Merthyr
to Cardiff and skirted the village on its western side. It
continued to the Bodwenarth Quarries where barges were loaded
with stone. However the coming of the railways meant that
the canal's days were numbered. The section between Abercynon and
Cilfynydd was closed in 1915 and between Cilfynydd and Cardiff
in 1942. The canal's path could be followed until it was
swept away by the building of the A470 in the early 1970's.
The Taff Vale Railway linking Merthyr with Cardiff opened
in 1841. Cilfynydd was isolated from the railway because
the line ran on the opposite side of the Taff Valley. When
the Albion Colliery was sunk, it was necessary that the village
developed rail links to transport coal and people. A branch
line was therefore constructed which left the main line just
north of Coedpenmaen, crossed the River Taff over an iron
viaduct and the ran alongside the Glamorganshire Canal to
the Albion Colliery.
Left: The Glamorgan Canal used for pleasure
The viaduct was built in 1885 and still
stands today. Cilfynydd station was built and passenger traffic
began in June 1900. A little over thirty years later the
line was closed to passenger traffic on September 12th 1932
and the station subsequently demolished.
The tramway service had a similar lifespan to Cilfynydd's passenger railway.
It began on March 6th 1905 and ran from Cilfynydd through Pontypridd to Treforest.
It continued for 25 years and was replaced on September 18th 1930 by trolleybuses.
Berw Bridge near Cilfynydd
Cilfynydd Cyclone 1913
On October 27th 1913, Cilfynydd was to witness another
destructive event. A cyclone swept through the village causing
considerable damage and killing one of its inhabitants. In
Richard Street, nearly all the shop fronts were blown in
and the goods on sale scattered in the street. The corrugated
iron roof of the Co-operation Stores was blown clean away
and two roofs on houses in Park Place were stripped.
Left: Damage to shops in Richard Street
The wooden buildings of the Fire Station near the Albion
Colliery were blown into the canal and the waiting station
at the tramway terminus was raised to the ground. Both overhead
tramway wires and telephone communications wires were broken.
Windows were smashed at the Police Station and several places
of worship were severely damaged. Indeed, members of Moriah
Chapel had to pay £130 to repair the building. Considerable
damage was also evident in Treharris and Abercynon.
