Wikipedia

Rhymney

Rhymney (/ˈrʌmni/; Welsh: Rhymni [ˈr̥əmnɪ]) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. Until 1972 it existed in the historic county of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is designated as the 'Upper Rhymney Valley' by the local Unitary Authority, Caerphilly County Borough Council. The community of Rhymney includes the town of Rhymney, Pontlottyn, Abertysswg, Butetown and Twyncarno.[2]

Rhymney
Saint David's Church, Rhymney
Rhymney is located in Caerphilly
Rhymney
Rhymney
Location within Caerphilly
Population8,845 [1]
OS grid referenceSO115075
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBARGOED
Postcode districtCF81
Post townTREDEGAR
Postcode districtNP22
Dialling code01685
PoliceGwent
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Caerphilly

51°45′32″N 3°16′59″W / 51.759°N 3.283°W / 51.759; -3.283


Map of the community

Rhymney is known to many outside Wales from the song "The Bells of Rhymney", a musical adaptation of a poem by Idris Davies.

Toponymy

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Several authors have studied the toponymy of Rhymney. Morgan (1887) opined:

     'RHYMNEY.–This place takes its name from the river that flows through it. The root is rhym, what stretches around, what extends. It is cognate with the Gaelic word ruimne, marsh. Romney Marsh is now a large fertile tract of land situate at the most southern part of the county, but in olden times it was a worthless marsh overflowed at every tide. Ramsey, Old Romney, New Romney, and Rimina (Italy) are probably derived from the same source. The name Romney Marsh is one of the many instances we have of reduplication of synonyms. When we say Romney Marsh we say in effect Marsh Marsh, and we are guilty of such tautology as the Englishman is when he says River Avon, which is in effect River River. The English name – Marshton.'[3]

Thomas (1990, originally 1938) was similarly expansive, although from a perspective of different variations of the name Rhymney:

'The village near the source [of the River Rhymney] has been stabilized as Rhymney since the fifties, when the railway came; the village near the mouth as Rumney. In the records from the opening of the twelth century onwards the name undergoes many variations such as, Remni (Gilaldus), Rhymni, Reempni, Rymhi, Rumney, Remney, Remeney, and Remny (Leland, 1536), Rompney (Speed, 1610). Our less literate neighbours in Dowlais and Tredegar used to speak of going over to "the Rummmy", homogenous (to quote the Times) with one of the mildest adjectives in old fashioned schoolboy slang."' [4]

Mills (2003) cited 'Remni 1101, Rempny 1296, Rymney 1541.'[5] He then defined Rhymney as '(Place on the) River Rhymney', to which he added 'The river name means "auger" (Welsh rhwmp + adjectival ending -ni, describing its boring action.'[5][6]

History

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Early history

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The countryside around present day Rhymney would have been very different in the early 17th century. In 1624 the parish of Bedwellty was created which covered the lower division of the Wentloog Hundred, in the county of Monmouth, a hilly district between the River Rhymney on the west and the Sirhowy River on the east. The upper Sirhowy Valley at this time would have been a natural well-wooded valley, consisting of a few farms and the occasional small ironworks where iron ore and coal had occurred together naturally. Later it would have contained the chapelries of Rhymney and Tredegar, the latter being known as a market town. Industrialisation began in the 1750s with the establishment of the Sirhowy Ironworks. However, in his famous An historical tour in Monmouthshire, historian William Coxe (1801) referred to:

'the rich vale of Carno; the diffridfs fertilifed by the Rumney; the romantic vallies of the Ebwy and Sorwy; and the whole of the beautiful and undulating country I vlfited in thefe excurfions.'[7]

The Rhymney Iron Company

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In 1906 John Edward Lloyd, the Welsh historian, documented that in 1800 David Evans, Thomas Williams, John Ambrose and Richard Cunningham entered into an agreement to build a furnace and to carry on an iron works and a cast iron trade on a plot of land ownned by the Duke of Beaufort and Mr Glover.[8] The name of the firm was The Union Iron Company.[8] The works started production in 1801. Two years later negotiations were conducted by Benjamnin Hall and a partnership was formed between Richard Crawshay, Watkin George, Benjamin Hall, Richard Cunningham and Thomas Williams to form The Union Iron Works Company.[9] After documenting the arrangements of the partnership, Lloyd (1906) then documented: 'then appears the following remarkable provision: —

"It is also agreed that Coal may be used for manufacturing iron on the premises."'[9]

about which Jones commented: 'Possibly it refers to a Small Forge or Smith's Shop being established.'[9]
In the following year a dispute arose between Cunningham and Crawshay whereby the latter accused the former 'with having improperly drawn up bills on account of the co-partnership'[10], of being, as Lloyd (1906) put it, 'a swindler, or words to that effect.'[10] Subsequently Cunningham responded to the dispute by inaugurating a suit against Crawshay and others which alleged that his signature on the deed of Dissolution of the previous partnership had been improperly obtained and under threats and duress, and was altogether void ....'[11] Lloyd (1906) commented: 'it may be assumed that Mr. Cunningham could not, and did not, continue a member of the firm any longer.'[10] And he observed that, after 1806:

     'A whole troupe of English Ironmasters had invaded the Welsh Hills, the indigenous Welsh inhabitants being either lookers-on, or hewers and drawers for those who, with capital and skill, soon changed the solitudes of the high plateau land and the valleys and slopes of the mountains, from a solitude into a teeming hive of human industry.
     The Welsh looked on and wondered at the changes effected before their eyes: great furnaces being erected in every direction, and money lavishly expended by strangers, of whom they scarcely knew the names, and nothing as to where they came from, except from Staffordshire, London, or Bristol.' [12]

In 1825 the Bute Iron Works were built, so-called because it was built on land owned by the Marquess of Bute.[13] It was situated on the right bank of the River Rhymney and immediately opposite the Union Iron Works.[14] Its partners were William Forman, Thomas Seton and Thomas Johnson.[14] The lease for the land was for 92 years.[8] However, a few years after 1825 or thereabouts, the owners of the adjoining Bute Works and The Union Iron Works Company agreed that they should be amalgamated to form one company, the Rhymney Iron Company (Rhymney and Bute).[15] Mushet (1840)[16] observed that the company had six blast furnaces.[17]

Coal production

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In 1906, Sir Henry W. Tyler, the Chairman of Rhymney Iron Company, Limited wrote to Lloyd from London in response to a request for information from him about the modern history of the iron works. Tyler recalled:

'We formerly used to make excellent Steel Rails, and got a very good reputation for Iron and Steel Work generally; but when the price of Steel Rails fell, in consequence of foreign competition, we could not continue the Steel Works without serious loss, and they were discontinued in 1891, and the Furnaces and the Bessemer Plant were demolished, fortunately for the Company at that time, inasmuch as it has been doing better as a Coal Company than it was possible to do as a Steel and Iron Company. We now turn out about 850,000 tons of coal a year, and we are sinking four new Pits, one of which has already reached Coal, and others are expected to do so at the end of this year or early next year, which will, we hope, commence a new era of propsperity for the Company.'[18].

By the early 20th century the town's collieries employed nearly the entire local population.[citation needed]

Education and transport

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In 1999 Ystrad Mynach College launched its sister campus in Rhymney to serve the top end of the Rhymney Valley under the name The College Rhymney. The college underwent rapid growth after its opening, with over 700 students enrolling on various courses in the 2007–2008 academic year. However, it is now closed. The town has Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymnia, a Welsh language primary school[19], and a secondary school, Idris Davies School, that serves a catchment area which includes Fochriw, Pontlottyn and New Tredegar.

Rhymney railway station is on the Rhymney Line. The line features a viaduct that was built by the Rhymney Railway company to facilitate the line in 1857 after the incorporation of the company to build the line to the steel works in 1854. The viaduct which opened in 1858 was designed by English engineer Joseph Cubitt.(1811–1872).[citation needed]

Religion

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The parish church of Rhymney is a Grade II listed building that was constructed in the neo-classical style. It was built by architect Philip Hardwick from London on commission for Andrew Buchan who was the manager of the local Rhymney brewery between 1838–1858.[20] The building was listed in 1990 and was noted for being one of the most 'interesting' examples of neoclassical architecture in South Wales. Buchan himself is buried in the parish church vaults and is commemorated with a plaque in the nave of the church. The parish is occasionally visited by enthusiasts of Hardwick's work who are interested in neo-classical buildings of this type.

Notable people

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See also Category:People from Rhymney

Engineer Cornelius Lundie (1815–1908) was born in Kelso, in Scotland. He received his education in Scotland and variously worked in Scotland, New South Wales in Australia and England. In 1861 he was appointed the manager of the Rhymney Railway.[21] For over 40 years, he was, until a few years prior to his death, the consulting director of the Company, and discharged the duties of that office until the very end. As an engineer he designed and constructed many extensions of the system and widenings of the main line, including a double-way tunnel under the Cefn Onn or Caerphilly mountain, and a masonry viaduct of seven spans over the River Taff, besides new locomotive shops at Caerphilly, and other works. He was 93 when he died in 1908 and is thought to be the oldest railway director of his time.

Welsh language poet and congregational minister Thomas Cynfelyn Benjamin (1850–1925) was born at Carno Hill.

Professor, civil servant, administrator and author Dr Thomas Jones (1870–1955) was born in the High Street.[22] After leaving school at 14 he became a clerk at the Rhymney Iron and Steel Works.[22] He was admitted to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1890 and later migrated to Glasgow University in 1890.[22] Between 1904 and 1905 he lectured in Ireland and upon returning to Wales in 1910 became Secretary of the Welsh National Campaign against Tuberculosis.[22] He was appointed Secretary of the National Health Insurance Commission (Wales) in 1912 and transferred to London in 1916 as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, eventually becoming Deputy Secretary.[22] He suffered a serious fall indoors at his home in Kent in June 1955 and died in a private nursing home on 15 October 1955.[22] His daughter, the Labour Party politician Eirene White, was later granted the title Baroness White of Rhymney.

The long-time Secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society Walter Conway, (1872-1933) was born in Plantation Street. In 1908 he was elected as a guardian on the Board of Guardians of the town's workhouse, the Bedwellty Union Workhouse, in which capacity he served more than twenty years. In 1915 he was elected as the Chairman of the Board.

The celebrated Welsh poet Idris Davies (1905–1953) was born in Field Street.[23] After leaving school at the age of 14 he worked as a miner in the nearby Abertysswg and Rhymney Mardy Pits.[23] After participating in the failed General Strike of 1926, Davies moved to London where he worked as a teacher at various schools.[23] Four volumes of his poetry were published during his lifetime: Gwalia Deserta (1938), The Angry Summer: A Poem of 1926 (1943), Tonypandy and other poems (1945), and Selected Poems (1953).[23] He returned to Rhymney in 1947 and died of cancer on 6 April 1953.[23]

Notable people born in Rhymney include the Major League Baseball trainer John D. Reese, Wales international rugby union Wing Tom James, and Professor W. John Morgan, Commonwealth Scholarship Commissioner, and Chair of the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO.https://www.ukwhoswho.com/

Notable organisations

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One of the largest employers in Rhymney is Williams Medical Supplies.

The town is home to the Rhymney Silurian Male Choir, which was formed in 1951 to renew the tradition of male voice singing in Rhymney.[24] During its history, the choir has won four National Eisteddfod titles and raised money for a number of charities.[25]

"The Bells of Rhymney"

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Rhymney is known to many outside Wales due to folk singer Pete Seeger's song "The Bells of Rhymney".[26] The lyrics to the song are drawn from a poem by Idris Davies, and the poem was first published in Davies' 1938 anthology Gwalia Deserta.[26] The poem was inspired by the failure of the 1926 General Strike and by the Marine Colliery disaster of 1 March 1927.[26][27] In addition to Rhymney, the poem also refers to the church bells of Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Caerphilly, Neath, Brecon, Swansea, Newport, Cardiff and the Wye Valley.[26][28]

The song has been covered by a number of acts over the years, including Judy Collins, Cher, the Alarm, the Ian Campbell Folk Group, John Denver, Robyn Hitchcock, Oysterband and Ralph McTell.[29] Arguably the most widely known rendition of the song, however, was that recorded by the American band the Byrds for their 1965 album Mr. Tambourine Man.[27]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ "Town population 2015". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Davies & Jenkins 2008, p. 755.
  3. ↑ Morgan 1887, pp. 178–179.
  4. ↑ Jones 1990, pp. 1–2, originally 1938.
  5. 1 2 Mills 2003, p. 389.
  6. ↑ See also "Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru". Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021..
  7. ↑ Coxe 1801, p. 261.
  8. 1 2 3 Lloyd 1906, p. 130.
  9. 1 2 3 Lloyd 1906, p. 131.
  10. 1 2 3 Lloyd 1906, p. 132.
  11. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 122.
  12. ↑ Lloyd 1906, pp. 132–133.
  13. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 129 conjectured that 'the establishment of the Bute Works was a stroke in the game of the jealous landlord, the Marquess of Bute, and their jealous neighours, the Penydarran Works, (to which Lloyd had previously referred on page 90) acting more or less in concert.'.
  14. 1 2 Lloyd 1906, p. 129.
  15. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 133.
  16. ↑ Mushet 1840, p. 415.
  17. ↑ In 1837 the Marquess of Bute granted a second lease about the Bute Iron Works, the original partners having retired from the firm. (Lloyd 1906, p. 130).
  18. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 134.
  19. ↑ Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni.
  20. ↑ Stuff, Good. "Church of St David, Rhymney, Caerphilly". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  21. ↑ "Lundie, Cornelius (1815–1908) Biography". Obituaries. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones 2001.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 Jenkins 2001.
  24. ↑ "Rhymney Silurian Male Choir: History". Rhymney Silurian Male Choir website. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  25. ↑ "Rhymney Silurian Male Choir overview". Rhymney Silurian Male Choir website. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  26. 1 2 3 4 "The Bells of Rhymney". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  27. 1 2 Rogan, Johnny. (1996). Mr. Tambourine Man (1996 CD liner notes).
  28. ↑ "The Bells of Rhymney Lyrics". Pete Seeger Appreciation Page. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  29. ↑ "Search for "the bells of rhymney"". AllMusic.

References

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Further reading

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  • Evans, Marion. (1994). A Portrait of Rhymney: Volume 1. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1-874538-40-9.
  • Evans, Marion. (1995). A Portrait of Rhymney: Volume 2. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1-874538-70-0.
  • Evans, Marion. (1996). A Portrait of Rhymney: Volume 3. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1-874538-41-7.
  • Evans, Marion. (1998). A Portrait of Rhymney: Volume 4. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1-874538-02-6.
  • Evans, Marion. (2009). A Portrait of Rhymney: Volume 5. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 978-1-905967-20-9.
  • Evans, Marion. (2007). The History of Andrew Buchan's Rhymney Brewery. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 978-1-905967-07-0.
  • Rogers, Eleri; Islwyn, Dafydd (1990). Fe'm ganed i yn Rhymni : cyfrol deyrnged Idris Davies Idris Davies Memorial Volume I was born in Rhymney. Illustrations by Olwen Hughes. Llandysul: Gomer. ISBN 0863836232.
  • Pierce, Gwynedd (1992). "Under the eaves. Some place-names in the Rhymni valley area". Morgannwg. XXXVI: 94-121. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  • Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
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