Penderyn, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Penderyn
The former Soar Chapel
Penderyn
Location within Rhondda Cynon Taf
OS grid referenceSN945085
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townABERDARE
Postcode districtCF44
Dialling code01685
PoliceSouth Wales
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament

Penderyn (Welsh pronunciation: [pɛndˈɛrɪn]) is a rural village in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, located near Hirwaun. The name is a combination of two Welsh words:[1] pen, which means "head" or "end", and deryn, a contracted form of aderyn, "bird".

Location

The village lies on the A4059 road between Hirwaun and Brecon and is the last settlement on that road in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf before the border with Powys to the north. The village sits just within the southern boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The River Cynon passes through the area.

There are four disused churches and chapels in Penderyn: Jerusalem Chapel (Calvinistic Methodist, now a house), Siloam Chapel (Baptist, a grade II listed building), Soar Chapel (Independent, now an antiques shop) and St Cynog's Church (Church in Wales).[2][3][4][5]

Penderyn is the home of Penderyn Whisky, whose distillery is located opposite the local school. The award-winning single malt whisky was launched in 2004 and was the first distilled in Wales for over 100 years.[6]

History

David Watkin Jones, bardic name Dafydd Morganwg,[7] documented in his 1874 Hanes Morganwg (History of Glamorgan)[8] that in 1666 one "Mayber"[9] built a small charcoal-fired furnace near Llygad Cynon, the source of the River Cynon, in an uninhabited place in the parish of Penderyn (ym mhlwyf Penderyn).

There was no iron ore in the vicinity of the furnace. Consequently, supplies of it needed to be obtained from elsewhere. However, the furnace was successful: it produced on average a ton of iron a week, which was taken to Brecon for finishing, i.e. forging, where it would have enjoyed "the advantage of proximity to English markets".[10]

W.E. Minchinton documented that The Hirwaun Works was founded in 1757 by two partners, John Maybery and John Wilkins. Maybury was the son of Thomas Maybery, an ironmaster who was originally from Powick, Worcestershire, and who with his son John, Welsh historian John Lloyd (1903) described as being 'born ironmasters'.[11] Wilkins was Maybury's brother-in-law and the founder of the Brecon Old Bank.[12][13] The partnership leased the mineral rights for the land from Lord Windsor. Limestone was available locally. The partners hoped to supply the local Hirwaun furnace with the iron ore extracted from the site. The works flourished for a time. However, it was severely hit by the introduction of non-importation agreements by the American colonies which broke away from the British crown in 1775. Consequently, the works was then leased to John Wasse of Stafford and William King of Bristol.[14] King died shortly afterwards, and Wasse was unable to carry on the business alone. Consequently, in 1777 the works reverted to John Maybery.

The iron works briefly recovered. But then it declined and was taken over by two sons of John Wilkins, Walter Wilkins and Jeffreys Wilkins, both of whom worked in the bank that their father had established. In 1779 a Welsh forge master sued the partnership for breach of contract. In the following year the lease of the works was transferred to Anthony Bacon of Cyfarthfa, which, after his death in 1786, was acquired by his two sons, Anthony and Thomas.[15]

At some point Penderyn became an agricultural village, which supplied the growing needs of the nearby local market town of Aberdare.

Until the county's inclusion in Powys in 1974 the village was in the county of Brecknockshire.

Governance

Penderyn is in the community of Hirwaun and, at the lowest tier of local government, is represented by Hirwaun & Penderyn Community Council. Penderyn is one of two electoral wards in the community, which elects 4 members to the community council.[16]

For elections to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, Penderyn is covered by the Hirwaun, Penderyn and Rhigos Electoral Ward

Notable people

Dic Penderyn (Richard Lewis, 1807/8–1831), the central figure of the Merthyr Rising of 1831, was not from the village but was from Aberavon.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Cynon Valley". Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  2. ^ "Jerusalem Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Chapel Road, Penderyn, Aberdare (6152)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Siloam Welsh Baptist Church, Pontbren Llwyd, Penderyn, Aberdare;siloah (6151)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Zoar Independent Chapel, Soar, Chapel Road, Penderyn, Aberdare (6150)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  5. ^ "St Cynog, Penderyn (Former Church)". Church Heritage Cymru 5404. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Royal approval for Welsh whisky". 26 June 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ^ See David Watkin Jones
  8. ^ Jones 1874, p. 204.
  9. ^ A 'Rev. George Martyn Maber, vicar of Merthyr Tydvil (sic)', was one of the subscribers to the re-print of Jones 1898.
  10. ^ Davies 1933, p. 136.
  11. ^ Lloyd 1903, p. 66.
  12. ^ Thomas 1959 may be consulted for a genealogy of the Wilkins family.
  13. ^ The bank subsequently became a branch of Lloyds Bank
  14. ^ Macinnes 1939 p. 258 documented that on 27th May 1721, John King and Walter King gave a power of attorney to three Virginians to manage an iron-works. Quilici 1976 documented that John King and Walter King were brothers and partners in trading ventures in Bristol. John King was the leader of the family and Walter King was a mariner.
  15. ^ Hirwaun.
  16. ^ "Your Councillors". Hirwaun & Penderyn Community Council. Retrieved 23 June 2022.

References

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