Ton Pentre
Encyclopedia
Ton Pentre is a village
in the Rhondda Valley
in the county borough
of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
. Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the community of Pentre
. The old district of Ystradyfodwg
was named after the church at Ton Pentre. Ton Pentre is, perhaps, best known for an incident in 1924, when The Duke of York
(later George VI of the United Kingdom
) played a round of golf
with Frank Hodges
.
hillfort located at Maindy Camp. Although initially believed to have been from the Bronze Age period, the camp was misidentified due to items from a Bronze Age cairn that were found inside the camp perimeter.
The area on which Ton Pentre now stands was originally the site of a cluster of platform houses or hafodi; small farming buildings, occupied only during the summer months. The site was later settled by a farm and a few cottages, known as 'Y Ton' ('meadow') the site was owned by absentee landlord
Crawshay Bailey
. To distinguish the area from nearby Tonypandy
, it became known as Ton Pentre.
When it became viable to mine anthracite coal
in deep shaft pits in the mid-19th century, many pits were sunk in the Rhondda valley, one of which was located in Ton Pentre - The Maindy Colliery. It was the individual collieries that were at the heart of the separate 'villages' that emerged on the valley floor as they were the major employers in the area. At the height of the coal mining
industry Ton Pentre was home to a few thousand people living in high density terraced houses that spanned the whole valley.
The largest colliery in the area; Maindy Colliery, was established in Ton-Pentre when the first mine was sunk by David Davies
& Partners in 1864. The mine was near closure in 1866 when the Six Feet seam was discovered. This sustained production of coal until 1948, when mining ceased at the colliery, though it remained open as a ventilation shaft for other mines.
with high unemployment.
However, recent regeneration is changing the fortunes of the area. The influence of the M4 corridor
and the economic boom in Cardiff
has meant that the Rhondda valleys are increasingly becoming commuter zones for the Cardiff and Swansea
districts.
Ton Pentre Workingmen's Hall and Institute is a Grade II listed building, once a miners' institute
but now a cinema called the Phoenix. The original building was constructed in 1895 next to the Crawshay Bailey Estate Office on Church Road. The institute was built from subscriptions from the Maindy and Eastern collieries, and originally the institute took the name of both pits. The building consisted of a library, news room, refreshment room and committee room, along with other functional areas. A theatre hall was added to the institute in 1904 designed by architect, Jacob Hall. In 1908 the hall was rented out to a private company for showing early silent movie
s. In 1931 the hall was upgraded to allow the playing of talkies, and continued as a cinema until 1971 when it became a bingo hall. It was closed in 1989 and was derelict for two years until it reopened as 'The Phoenix' in 1991.
Bethesda Chapel on Pryce Street, was a Congregationalist
chapel built in 1877 and rebuilt and enlarged in 1906 the impressive building once seated over 1,000 people but by 1988 the congregation had fallen to 11. The chapel still stands today but in a state of disrepair.
, originally part of the Taff Vale Railway
, it is now on the Rhondda Line
which links the village to Cardiff.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the Rhondda Valley
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
in the county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the community of Pentre
Pentre
Pentre is a village and community, near Treorchy in Rhondda valley, falling within the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village's name is taken from the Welsh word Pentref, which translates as homestead, though Pentre is named after a large farm that dominated the area before the...
. The old district of Ystradyfodwg
Ystradyfodwg
Ystradyfodwg was an ancient upland parish in Glamorganshire, Wales. It is believed to have been named after Tyfodwg who was either a 7th century saint or chieftain....
was named after the church at Ton Pentre. Ton Pentre is, perhaps, best known for an incident in 1924, when The Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
(later George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
) played a round of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
with Frank Hodges
Frank Hodges (trade unionist)
Frank Hodges was an English trade union leader, who became General Secretary of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. A Member of Parliament for one year, he was Civil Lord of the Admiralty in the first Labour Government....
.
Early and industrial history
One of the earliest recorded settlements in Ton Pentre is an Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hillfort located at Maindy Camp. Although initially believed to have been from the Bronze Age period, the camp was misidentified due to items from a Bronze Age cairn that were found inside the camp perimeter.
The area on which Ton Pentre now stands was originally the site of a cluster of platform houses or hafodi; small farming buildings, occupied only during the summer months. The site was later settled by a farm and a few cottages, known as 'Y Ton' ('meadow') the site was owned by absentee landlord
Absentee landlord
Absentee landlord is an economic term for a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. This practice is problematic for that region because absentee landlords drain local wealth into their home country, particularly that...
Crawshay Bailey
Crawshay Bailey
Crawshay Bailey was an English industrialist who became one of the great iron-masters of Wales.-Early life:Bailey was born in 1789 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of John Bailey, of Wakefield and his wife Susannah...
. To distinguish the area from nearby Tonypandy
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots....
, it became known as Ton Pentre.
When it became viable to mine anthracite coal
Anthracite coal
Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster...
in deep shaft pits in the mid-19th century, many pits were sunk in the Rhondda valley, one of which was located in Ton Pentre - The Maindy Colliery. It was the individual collieries that were at the heart of the separate 'villages' that emerged on the valley floor as they were the major employers in the area. At the height of the coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
industry Ton Pentre was home to a few thousand people living in high density terraced houses that spanned the whole valley.
The largest colliery in the area; Maindy Colliery, was established in Ton-Pentre when the first mine was sunk by David Davies
David Davies (industrialist)
David Davies was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1874 and 1886. Davies was often known as David Davies Llandinam , in order to differentiate him from others of the same name.Davies was the son of David Davies and his wife Elizabeth...
& Partners in 1864. The mine was near closure in 1866 when the Six Feet seam was discovered. This sustained production of coal until 1948, when mining ceased at the colliery, though it remained open as a ventilation shaft for other mines.
Present day Ton Pentre
The village itself has seen a marked decline in commerce and industry associated with the area since the demise of the coal industry. This has also been a contributory factor in the social deprivation that has stricken the area and leaves the South Wales ValleysSouth Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
with high unemployment.
However, recent regeneration is changing the fortunes of the area. The influence of the M4 corridor
M4 corridor
The M4 corridor is the area in the United Kingdom adjacent to the M4 motorway, which runs from London to South Wales. The area is a major hub for high-technology companies...
and the economic boom in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
has meant that the Rhondda valleys are increasingly becoming commuter zones for the Cardiff and Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
districts.
Buildings and structures of note
Miners' institute
Miners' institutes, sometimes known as Workingmen's institute, Mine Workers' institute, or Miners' Welfare Hall are large institutional buildings that were typically built during the height of the industrial period as a meeting and educational venue...
but now a cinema called the Phoenix. The original building was constructed in 1895 next to the Crawshay Bailey Estate Office on Church Road. The institute was built from subscriptions from the Maindy and Eastern collieries, and originally the institute took the name of both pits. The building consisted of a library, news room, refreshment room and committee room, along with other functional areas. A theatre hall was added to the institute in 1904 designed by architect, Jacob Hall. In 1908 the hall was rented out to a private company for showing early silent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
s. In 1931 the hall was upgraded to allow the playing of talkies, and continued as a cinema until 1971 when it became a bingo hall. It was closed in 1989 and was derelict for two years until it reopened as 'The Phoenix' in 1991.
Bethesda Chapel on Pryce Street, was a Congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
chapel built in 1877 and rebuilt and enlarged in 1906 the impressive building once seated over 1,000 people but by 1988 the congregation had fallen to 11. The chapel still stands today but in a state of disrepair.
Transport links
The village is served by Ton Pentre railway stationTon Pentre railway station
Ton Pentre railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ton Pentre in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line.-Services:...
, originally part of the Taff Vale Railway
Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway is a railway in Glamorgan, South Wales, and is one of the oldest in Wales. It operated as an independent company from 1836 until 1922, when it became a constituent company of the Great Western Railway...
, it is now on the Rhondda Line
Rhondda Line
The Rhondda Line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from Cardiff to Treherbert. The line follows the Merthyr Line as far as Pontypridd, where it then diverges to continue along the Rhondda Valley.The places served by the line are listed below:...
which links the village to Cardiff.