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Survey Details for CYNONHL346 - 2026-06-07

CYNONHL346

Historic Landscape

H06 Cwm Garw

Bridgend-Caerphilly-Rhondda

2017-03-15

  • Level 1: Built environment
  • Level 2: Other built environment
  • Level 3: Communications

Monitoring

Q1 - Date of monitoring?

  • 2017-03-15

Q1a - Monitoring undertaken by

  • Historic Landscape change detection work completed by the relevant Welsh Archaeological Trust for this area, the planning authority have been included. Quality Assurance of change detection work was completed by Trysor. SmartData analysis and update using Designated Historic Asset GIS Data for questions 17, 18, 19, 20 (2025-2026)

Q1b - Has this record been updated following monitoring work?

  • This record remains unchanged following monitoring work

Q1c - Change indicated by

  • No Answer

Q1d - What has changed?

  • No Answer

Q1e - Has the information ever been verified in the field?

  • Yes
    • 1:25,000

Q2 - Does this area have a special or functional link with an adjacent area?

  • Yes
    • Additional grazing provided in H04 Mynydd Caerau and Garw Forest, and H05 unenclosed uplands (CynonHL346 and CynonHL215))

Description

Q3 - If Classification is "Other", specify here

  • Empty value

Q4 - Summary Description / Key Patterns and Elements

  • This aspect area consists of a transport corridor with roads and railway along the sides of the valleys, linking the mines of the valley to the outside world. The road is marked on Yates''s 1799 map of Glamorgan as running along the length of the valley and climbing up out of it at Blaengarw to join the Mynydd Llangeinor ridgeway just south of Crug yr Afan, and there was also a handful of farmhouses, some of which still remain. The railway between Tondu and Blaengarw was opened in 1875 and continued in use until 1980. There is a limited amount of agricultural land up the steep eastern side of the valley, which has changed very little as seen through successive maps, and which is relatively insignificant in relation to the other economic functions of the valley. A long hut group at Pentyllauduon may be associated with the initial bringing of this area into agricultural use, though it may be the remains of a hafod. Although Margam Abbey had a grange in Glyn Garw, this is likely to have been at the mouth of the valley at Cwrt y Bettws rather than in Cwm Garw itself. The main development of the area had to wait until the end of the 19th century. An application to mine coal in the Garw valley was made in 1825 but it was not until the late 1880s that there was a shift to steam coal for the general market that mining took off in the Garw valley, continuing until 1986. The 1st edn OS 6" map shows limited mining at Blaengarw and Pont-y-cymmer with a little associated settlement; by the 2nd edn these two centres were separate villages, limited in area and each dependent upon its own mines. By the 1921 edition, development had spread along the valley and linked the two. Llangeinor village in the neck of the valley does not appear on the maps until the 1948 edition. The public buildings of Blaengarw were constructed in the 1890s and first two decades of the 20th century (Newman 1995, 155). The housing stock consists mainly of terraces and pairs dating to the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

Q5 - If working at level 3, the classification describes the dominant historic pattern, but which other patterns are important to the historical pattern of this area? (Tick all that apply)

  • Nucleated Settlement
  • Non-nucleated Settlement
  • Extractive
  • Processing/Manufacturing

Q6 - If working at level 4 ,which other 'details' are also significant to the historic character of this area? (Please tick all that apply)

  • No Answer

Q7 - If working at level 4 only, which building types prevail in the area? (tick all that apply)

  • No Answer

Q8 - If working at level 4 only, which periods prevail in the area? (tick all that apply)

  • No Answer

Q9 - If working at level 4 only, which architectural types prevail in the area? (tick all that apply)

  • No Answer

Q10 - If working at level 4 only, which traditional walling materials prevail in the area? (tick all that apply)

  • No Answer

Q11 - If working at level 4 only, which traditional roofing materials prevail in the area? (select up to three)

  • No Answer

Q12 - Which traditional boundary types prevail in the area?

  • Hedgerow With Trees
  • Hedgebank
  • Mortared Wall
  • Post & Wire Fence

Q13 - What is the nature of any archaeological interest in the area?

  • Buildings & Structures
  • Industrial Archaeology

Q14 - Which chronological period is visually dominant in the area?

  • Industrial

Q15 - Is this a Historic Landscape Character Area (HLCA)? If yes, provide detail

  • No

Q16 - HLCA description url

  • No Answer

Q17 - Are there Scheduled Monuments here?

  • No

Q18 - Are there Listed Buildings here?

  • Yes
    • Number of Listed Buildings in this area: 9

Q19 - Are there Registered Historic Parks and Gardens here?

  • No
    • Checked January 2025, no change.

Q20 - Are there Conservation Areas here?

  • No
    • Checked January 2025, no change.

Q20a - Are there Historic Battlefields here?

  • No Answer

Q21 - Are there World Heritage Sites here?

  • No

Q22 - Is this within a Registered Historic Landscape (RHL)?

  • No

Q22a - Registered Historic Landscape description

  • No Answer

Condition

Q23 - Unused

  • No Answer

Q24 - Condition:

  • Unassessed

Q25 - Trend:

  • Constant

Recommendations

Q26 - Existing management

  • Unassessed

Q27 - Management recommendations

  • Empty value

Q28 - Sector Adaptation Plan

  • Historic Environment and Climate Change in Wales Sector Adaptation Plan. https://cadw.gov.wales/sites/default/files/2020-02/Adaptation%20Plan%20-%20FINAL%20WEB%20-%20English%20%281%29.pdf Assessment of likely impacts of climate change on historic assets and significance p8-11. Buildings and Settlements p23 Marginal and upland p26 Marine and coastal p28 Rivers, canals and freshwater p30 Farmland p33 Woodland p36 Industrial landscapes p38 Designed landscapes, parks and gardens p40 Historic landscapes p42

Q29 - Unused

  • No Answer

Aspect Area Boundary

Q30 - To what level was this information site-surveyed?

  • Level 3

Q31 - At 1:10,000, how much of the Aspect Area boundary is precise?

  • Most

Q32 - What baseline information source was used for Aspect Area boundary mapping?

  • OS Landline

Q33 - If OS Data was used, what was the scale?

  • 1:10,000

Q34 - What is the justification for the Aspect Area boundaries?

  • Whilst in the larger Llynfi and Ogwr Fawr valleys, the agricultural component has been separated out to form aspect areas distinct from the transport/industrial valley floors, the much smaller Garw valley has been kept as a single unit, as the much smaller and less significant agricultural component here can only really be separated out at Level 4. Apart from the agricultural component, this valley is effectively a fusion of transport corridor, industrial area, and settlement, and it not easy to decide which should be given prominence. Transport corridor has been the preferred option, since it clear that historically without effective transport it would have been impossible to develop the industry to any extent, and the growth of settlement was always very much dependent upon the industry.

Evaluation

Q35 - Evaluation Criteria: Integrity

  • High
    • The dominant character of this landscape, defined as an industrial communications/settlement corridor, remains extremely coherent in visual terms. The Garw Valley Railway, which facilitated the expansion of coal mining activity in this area, still remains intact, while the mining settlements of Pontycymmer and Blaengarw retain their distinctive architectural character. The collieries that gave rise to the growth of these settlements have largely been demolished and the sites reclaimed for housing and recreational areas, although extensive remains of spoil tips and levels attest to the intensity of mining activity in this area during the late 19th-early 20th century.

Q36 - Evaluation Criteria: Survival

  • High
    • The rapid expansion of coal mining and associated settlement activity along the Garw Valley during the late 19th-early 20th century has largely obliterated evidence of earlier landscape and settlement patterns along the valley floor, although limited traces of earlier settlement activity remain on the upper slopes of the Cwm Garw, consisting of two house platforms at Pentyllaudon (NPRN 15540; GGAT PRN 01739m) and settlement/enclosure features of medieval/post-medieval origin at Pen-y-Berth (NPRN 401521). The late 19th-early 20th century mining settlements at Pontycymmer and Blaengarw have retained their distinctive architectural character, defined by long rows of stone terraced housing and numerous small nonconformist chapels. The line of the Garw Valley Railway, which stimulated the growth of mining activity in this area from the 1880s onwards, has also survived substantially intact and is still in operation. However, the numerous colliery sites which once existed along the Garw Valley have been largely demolished and reclaimed, although prominent spoil tips, quarry sites and levels still remain.

Q37 - Evaluation Criteria: Condition

  • Moderate

Q38 - Evaluation Criteria: Rarity

  • Moderate
    • Shares common characteristics with Cynon HL 382 (Cwm Ogwr Fawr), both are well-preserved examples of late 19th-early 20th century industrial settlements, Cwm Garw is distinguished by the continuing survival of its railway line, the Garw Valley Line represents the only standard gauge heritage railway surviving within the Bridgend UA.

Q39 - Evaluation Criteria: Potential

  • High
    • This area has not been covered by a detailed historic landscape characterisation. There is potential for further investigation of this well-preserved late 19th-early 20th century industrial landscape (eg. a detailed survey of the surviving chapels and workers' housing); the survival of the Garw Valley Line is of particular importance. The line has significant potential for restoration as a fully working railway and constitutes an important leisure amenity which could contribute greatly to the regeneration of the Garw Valley area.

Q40 - Evaluation Criteria: Overall Evaluation

  • High
    • This area has been assigned a high value, based on the fact that it represents a well preserved late 19th-early 20th century industrial communications/settlement corridor, distinguished by the remarkable survival of the Garw Valley Railway Line, the only operational heritage railway line within the Bridgend UA historic landscape.

Q41 - Justification of overall evaluation

  • This area has been assigned a high value, based on the fact that it represents a well preserved late 19th-early 20th century industrial communications/settlement corridor, distinguished by the remarkable survival of the Garw Valley Railway Line, the only operational heritage railway line within the Bridgend UA historic landscape.

Information Sources

Q42 - Sources and additional assessments

  • Tithe maps for the parishes of Llangeinor and Llandyfodwg Sucessive OS 6' maps Newman, J, 1995, The buildings of Wales: Glamorgan. Questions 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 Designated Historic Asset GIS Data, The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), 14/02/25, licensed under the Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Living Heritage

Q43 - Are there any art/artistic expressions associated with the landscape/area?

  • No Answer

Q44 - Are there any folklore/ legends associated with the landscape/area?

  • No Answer

Q45 - Are there any events/traditions associated with the landscape/area?

  • No Answer

Q46 - Are any famous people associated with the landscape/area?

  • No Answer

Q47 - Are there any technical / scientific discoveries associated with the landscape/area?

  • No Answer

Q48 - List of Historic Placenames

  • https://rcahmw.gov.uk/discover/list-of-historic-place-names/