Merthyr Tydfil:
Merthyr Tydfil (Welsh: Merthyr Tudful) is a town and county
borough in Wales, with a population of about 55,000. It was formerly in the
historic county of Glamorgan. It is often referred to simply as 'Merthyr'
The archaeological record starts from about 1000BCE by the
'Celts'. Then the Romans had arrived in Wales by about 47-53CE and in 74 CE they
built a Roman auxiliary fortress at Penydarren, overlooking the River Taff
(Taf). It covered an area of about 3 hectares, and formed part of the network of
roads and fortifications.
Christianity was introduced throughout much of Wales by the
Romans, but in Merthyr it seems that, it may have been introduced later by monks
from Ireland and France who made their way into the region following rivers and
valleys.
Local tradition holds that a girl called Tydfil, daughter of a
local chieftain named Brychan, was an early local convert to Christianity, and
was pursued and murdered by a band of marauding Picts and Saxons while traveling
to Hafod Tanglwys in Aberfan, a local farm that is still occupied to this day.
The girl was considered a martyr after her death in approximately 480CE.
“Merthyr” translates to “Martyr” in English, and tradition holds that, when the
town was founded, the name was chosen in her honour. A church] was eventually
built on the traditional site of her burial.
Until 1754, Merthyr Tydfil was little more than a village, it
was recorded that the valley was almost entirely populated by shepherds.
Merthyr was situated close to reserves of iron ore, coal,
limestone and water, making it an ideal site for ironworks and in the wake of
the Industrial revolution the demand for iron led to the rapid expansion of
Merthyr's iron operations.
The 1801 census recorded the population of Merthyr as 7705, the
most populous parish in Wales (however, the built-up area of Swansea, covering
several parishes, then exceeeded 10,000). By 1851 Merthyr had overtaken Swansea
to become the largest town in Wales with 46,378 inhabitants. By this time, Irish
immigrants made up 10% of the local population, and there were substantial
numbers of English, together with some Spanish and Italians
The population of Merthyr reached 51,949 in 1861, but went into
decline for several years thereafter. As the 19th century progressed, Merthyr's
inland location became increasingly disadvantageous for iron production, and
only the Dowlais works invested in steelmaking technology.
Since the end of the Second World War, much of this has
declined, with the closure of long-established coal mining collieries, and both
steel and ironworks. Despite recent improvements, some parts of the town remain
economically disadvantaged, and there is a significant proportion of the
community who are long-term unemployed.
In Britain today, Merthyr:
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Ranks 13th worst for economic activity.
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Ranks 13th worst for life expectancy.
-
Has 30% of the population suffering from a limiting long-term
illness.
A controversial Channel 4 programme rated Merthyr Tydfil as the
third worst place to live in Britain in 2006 following areas of
London
Hope that was informative, and now you can see a gimpse into what some of the struggles are that the people here deal with every day. Please remember to be in prayer for the people of Merthyr and the people of Park Baptist church.
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Facts about Merthyr Tydfil
Landmark Cyfartha
Castle
Geographic
10° 33´30´´ eastern longitude, 52° 58´ northern
latitude
Nearest
city Cardiff (23 miles)
Population
55,600
Local
features
Postal Code
CF47 / CF48
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