Penrhiwceiber

Penrhiwceiber
Welsh: Penrhiw-ceibr
240px Eglwys Santes Gwenffrewi (English St Winifred's Church)
Penrhiwceiber  Penrhiwceiber shown within Rhondda Cynon Taf
Population	6,789 (2011)
OS grid reference	ST0597
Community	Penrhiwceiber
Principal area	Rhondda Cynon Taf
Ceremonial county	Mid Glamorgan
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Mountain Ash/Aberpennar
Postcode district	CF45
Dialling code	01443
Police	South Wales
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Cynon Valley
Welsh Assembly	Cynon Valley
List of places UK Wales Rhondda Cynon Taf

Penrhiwceiber is a small Welsh former coal mining village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf that lies 1 mile south of the town Aberpennar and is one of many villages in the Cwm Cynon, Wales. The village was once a highly Welsh-speaking area until around early/mid 20th century. Penrhiwceiber is home to Cylch Meithrin Penrhiwceiber which is a Welsh language pre-school for local children. Penrhiwceiber is generally known as "Ceiber" to the locals. To the east of the village lies Mynydd Twyn Brynbychan which is around 1,500 ft above sea level, the village is one of the steepest in Wales, and possibly the United Kingdom.

Etymology

Penrhiwceiber if from "Pen-y-rhiw-ceibr" which is the Welsh for (“(the) top/end (of) the hill/slope/rise (of) the joist/beam/rafter”). The reason for this name is because there once was an avenue of trees on Ffordd Llanwynno. This reflects the early character of the district, which up until the last twenty years of the 19th century was a heavily wooded area with steep sloping mountainsides being covered by Penrhiwceiber Woods (Welsh: Coedwigoedd Penrhiwceibr). However the woodland nature of the district was to change with the arrival of the coal industry as the woods were felled and a colliery and terraces of houses took their place.

History

Penrhiwceiber was once a heavily wooded area with steep sloping mountainsides up until the last 20 years of the 19th century. According to the 1871 - 1881 Census Records the village of Penrhiwceiber is not listed, however in 1881 the Census lists a number of streets within the village of Penrhiwceiber of that including:

• Railway Terrace (Welsh: Teras Rheilffordd)
• Cynon Terrace (Welsh: Teras Cynon)
• Glanlay Street (Welsh: Stryd Glanlay)
• Penrhiwceiber Road (Welsh: Heol Penrhiwceibr)

The school primary school in the area is Penrhiwceibr Primary School (Welsh: Ysgol Gynradd Penrhiwceibr) which was originally built in 1881 and which provides further evidence as to the rapid growth of the village, with its having to be enlarged on three separate occasions: in 1893, 1895 and 1901.

This growth was to continue into the 20th century until in 1920 the Kelly's Trade Directory was able to list over one hundred commercial properties for Penrhiwceiber, as well as railway stations (Penrhiwceiber railway station) on both the Great Western and Taff Vale railways, religious buildings including Carmel Chapel (1880), Moriah Chapel, Bethel Eglwys-y-Wesleyaid (1884), Saint Winifred's Church (Welsh: Eglwys Santes Gwenffrewi) (1883), and the Penrhiwceiber Workmen's Hall and Institute (Welsh: Neuadd a Sefydliad y Gweithwyr Penrhiwceibr) built in 1888.

In Penrhiwceiber there is a clock tower memorial that was erected in memory of those who died while serving in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

Penrhiwceiber Workmen's Hall and Institute (Welsh: Sefydliad a Neuadd y Gweithwyr Penrhiwceibr) was opened in the village in 1888 and restored in 1992. It remains one of the most prominent landmarks in the village.

Coal mining

Penrhiwceiber was an important area for coal mining for the first half of the 20th century, it was home to two Coal Mines, which were:

• Penrhiwceibr Colliery (Welsh: Glofa Penrhiwceibr) - Which sank in 1872 by a Mr. Thomas of Cwmbach, at one point in 1923 there were over 2200 employees. But sadly, Penrhiwceiber Colliery closed on the 8th of October 1985, spanning more than a century.

• Cwm Cynon Colliery (Welsh: Glofa Cwm Cynon) - Which began in 1889.

Where Penrhiwceiber Colliery once sat, is now a local park and football and rugby fields which is locally known as Glasbrook Field (Welsh: Cae Nant-glas). Where the Cwm Cynon Colliery once sat is now an industrial park and an industrial estate with few factories known as Parc Busnes Cwm Cynon (English: Cwm Cynon Business Park) and the Ystrâd Ddiwydiannol Cwm Cynon (English: Cwm Cynon Industrial Estate).

Religion

Penrhiwceiber falls within the historic Parish of Llanwynno, Church in Wales. The local St Winifred's Church (Welsh: Eglwys Santes Gwenffrewi) was built in 1883.

The other church, All Saints (Tyntetown), was built in 1903 to serve the two communities of Tyntetown and Ynysboeth. Originally a daughter church of Penrhiwceiber, it became an independent parish fairly early on, before rejoining Penrhiwceiber in 1972. There used to be a Salvation Army corps in the village.

There were a number of nonconformist chapels at Penrhiwceiber including Jerusalem (Baptist), Carmel (Independent) and Hermon (Calvinistic Methodist).

Gallery

• Penrhiwceiber Clock Tower War Memorial by Aberdare Blog.jpg

  War Memorial and Clock Tower

External links

• Penrhiwceiber Community website
• Welsh Coal Mines - research the local pit histories
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Penrhiwceiber and surrounding area