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Survey Details for CYNONHL382 - 2026-06-10

CYNONHL382

Historic Landscape

H08 Cwm Ogwr Fawr

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

  • OS Data, Aerial Photographs
  • Fieldwork

Q1d - What has changed?

  • Boundaries

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

  • Yes
    • 1:25,000. Visited for monitoring work in 2012.

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

  • No

Description

Q3 - If Classification is "Other", specify here

  • Empty value

Q4 - Summary Description / Key Patterns and Elements

  • This aspect area comprises the valley floor of the Ogwr Fawr, with road and railway, serving collieries along the length of the valley and their associated settlements. The road is shown on Yates''s 1799 map of Glamorgan as climbing out of the head of the valley to lead into the Rhondda Fawr, the route which has now become the A4061. The valley itself held only isolated farmsteads, some of which still remain. Development started only in the second half of the 19th century, when the Brogdens owners of the Tondu Ironworks with a substantial interest in the railway to Porthcawl opened up mining here in the mid 1850s to complement their other interests. The Ogmore Valley Railway Company was incorporated in 1863 and built a line up the valley from Tondu to Nantymoel; this finally closed in 1989. In the late 1880s there was a shift to steam coal for the general market which benefited Cwm Ogwr whose coals, like those of Cwm Garw, were suitable for coking. The 1st edn OS 6" map shows collieries and a small settlement at Nantymoel at the head of the valley, quite separate from Ty Newydd colliery and another small settlement in the middle of the valley at Ogmore Vale. Both had however already been provided with churches, and a Baptist chapel had also been built in Nant-y-moel (Newman 1995, 455, 477). By the time of the 2nd edn, the settlement at the head of the valley had expanded to include Price Town, but Wyndham consisted only of a single street of houses on the main road. Between 1900 and 1921, all the valley settlements had assumed more or less their present form, apart from Lewistown in the neck of the valley, which does not appear on the maps until the 4th edition. 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. This aspect area forms more of a commercial centre than the neighbouring Cwm Garw.

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
  • Extractive

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?

  • Mortared Wall

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: 10

Q19 - Are there Registered Historic Parks and Gardens here?

  • No
    • Checked January 2025, no change.

Q20 - Are there Conservation Areas here?

  • Yes
    • Checked and change updated January 2025.1 overlap(s)

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?

  • This valley floor 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. The boundary with H05 Unenclosed Uplands around the head of the Ogwr Fawr has been drawn at the limit of the unenclosed land in the 1940s before afforestation.

Evaluation

Q35 - Evaluation Criteria: Integrity

  • Moderate
    • The dominant landscape pattern in this area, characterised as an industrial communications/settlement corridor, is moderately intact, the extent of settlement activity in this area has largely remained unchanged from that shown on the OS 4th edition map; however the line of the Ogmore Valley Railway has now been replaced by the modern A4061 road, while the various colliery sites which stimulated the expansion of settlement along the valley floor have largely been cleared and reclaimed.

Q36 - Evaluation Criteria: Survival

  • Moderate
    • The rapid expansion of industrial activity and associated settlement in the valley floor of the Ogwr Fawr during the late 19th-early 20th century has largely obscured or removed traces of earlier landscape and settlement patterns......... The mining settlements of Ogmore Vale, Pricetown, Blackmill and Lewistown have retained much of their original architectural character, characterised by long sinuous rows of terraced housing and numerous small nonconformist chapels; however the collieries which stimulated the growth of these settlements in the late 19th-early 20th century have been largely demolished and reclaimed and modern industrial estates or housing erected on their sites, while the line of the Ogmore Valley Railway has been replaced by the A4061 road.........

Q37 - Evaluation Criteria: Condition

  • Moderate

Q38 - Evaluation Criteria: Rarity

  • Low
    • One of several industrial communications/settlement corridors within the Bridgend UA (e.g. Cynon HL 242; HL 346).

Q39 - Evaluation Criteria: Potential

  • Moderate
    • This area has not been covered by a detailed historic landscape characterisation. There is limited potential for a survey of the industrial settlements along the valley floor, focusing on surviving components such as workers housing and associated public buildings (chapels, workingmen's institutes).

Q40 - Evaluation Criteria: Overall Evaluation

  • Moderate
    • This area has been assessed as moderate, chiefly due to the fact that the coherence of this late 19th-early 20th century industrial communications/settlement corridor has been partially disrupted by the dismantling of the Ogmore Valley Railway and the clearance and reclamation of the colliery sites along the valley floor; however, the mining settlements of Pricetown, Blackmill, Ogmore Vale and Lewistown have retained their distinct architectural character.

Q41 - Justification of overall evaluation

  • This area has been assessed as moderate, chiefly due to the fact that the coherence of this late 19th-early 20th century industrial communications/settlement corridor has been partially disrupted by the dismantling of the Ogmore Valley Railway and the clearance and reclamation of the colliery sites along the valley floor; however, the mining settlements of Pricetown, Blackmill, Ogmore Vale and Lewistown have retained their distinct architectural character.

Information Sources

Q42 - Sources and additional assessments

  • Tithe maps for the parishes of Landyfodwg and Llangeinor 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/