Duffryn/ Troedyrhiw
Even in 1841 when the correspondent of the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian took
the first train to run on the Taff Vale Railway, his journey south of
Merthyr Tydfil, was ” through the wild and picturesque defiles of the
beautiful vale of Taff”. In 1804, we can be certain that Richard Trevithick
would have seen no industrial development or despoliation of the countryside
after passing the Plymouth Furnaces. The impact of his locomotive
accompanied by its celebratory throng, moving through such a rural landscape
is very difficult to imagine.
The site of an ancient bridge of Pontyrhun reminds us of the area’s links
with Tydfil after whom our town is named. It is reputedly the location of an
ancient ford and the site where Rhun, brother of Tydfil made a gallant
effort to fend off raiders and save the lives of his sister and family. A
farm map drawn before the construction of the turnpike road between Cardiff
and Merthyr Tydfil in 1771 shows Troedyrhiw, to the east of the River Taff,
to be comprised of a large farm on the site of present Afon Taf High School,
a corn mill near to the site of the junction of Cardiff Road and Bridge
Street and only three other dwellings.
The parish road from Merthyr crossed the river at Pontyrhun, passed through
Troedyrhiw farm and climbed back up the hillside toward the hill top farms
above Merthyr Vale and Treharris. This road, which is still well defined, is
known as Troedyrhiw Gymrwg and crosses the Penydarren tramroad just south of
the village. Minor changes occurred with building of the turnpike to Cardiff
and the tramroad in 1802, but it was not until the building of the furnaces
at Duffryn in 1819 and the opening of the coal levels and pits nearby that
workers’ cottages began to be built and the village of Troedyrhiw started to
grow.
Anthony Hill paid for the building of Troedyrhiw church in 1852 and he was
buried there after his death ten years later. The five blast furnaces at
Dyffryn along with the blowing engines and water wheels would have had a
massive impact on the surrounding area and it remained an important part of
the Hill’s Plymouth enterprise until it was offered for public auction in
1882.
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