Groes-faen

Groes-faen
Groes-faen
Location within Rhondda Cynon Taf
OS grid referenceST071810
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceSouth Wales
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament

Groes-faen is a village approximately three miles south of Llantrisant in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan.

The village began as a hamlet in the 1860s near a trade route from Cowbridge to Cardiff.

History

The opening of the Bute & Mwyndy iron ore works during the 1850s had a huge impact on the small hamlet of Groes Faen. The census of 1861 shows that Groes Faen had become a village. Its population was 83 people in 17 households; of these, 17 residents were iron ore miners, so the average household had 4.9 residents with one being a miner. The village centre was the Dynefor Arms pub and the cottages surrounding it.

In the 1970s, the nearby Brofiscin Quarry was used as a dump for toxic chemicals. The site was described by The Guardian in 2007 as "one of the most contaminated places in Britain".[1] In 2007 research began to assess the potential environmental impact of seepage from the quarry.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "The wasteland: how years of secret chemical dumping left a toxic legacy". The Guardian. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2017.