I.

Introduction

Caerphilly (Welsh, Caerffili), county borough and unitary authority, South Wales, bounded on the north by the county of Powys, on the north-east by the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, on the east by the county borough of Torfaen, on the south by the county of Cardiff, on the west by the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, and on the north-west by the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil. The territory occupied by the county borough was part of the county of Glamorganshire until 1974 when, under the reorganization of local government that year, it was divided into the districts of Rhymney Valley and Islwyn in the new counties of Mid Glamorgan and Gwent respectively. On April 1, 1996, the two districts were combined to form the county borough of Caerphilly. The change was implemented under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1994, which changed the structure of local administration in Wales from a two-tier system of county and district councils to a single-tier system of unitary authorities. Caerphilly county borough has an area of 279 sq km (108 sq mi).

II.

Land and Resources

The county borough of Caerphilly is fairly low-lying in the south, although there are hills around the town of Caerphilly. The land rises in the north, attaining heights of over 500 m (1,635 ft). The larger part of Caerphilly county borough lies on the coalfield of the Rhymney Valley, part of the South Wales coalfield. The principal rivers are the Sirhowy, the Ebbw, and the Rhymney, all of which flow from north to south.

The climate is moderate, with average temperatures in January of 3° C (37° F), and in July of 20° C (68° F); the mountainous areas in the north are generally colder and less sunny than the southerly parts. The average annual rainfall is in the region of 1,000 to 1,520 mm (40 to 60 in).

III.

Population and Administration

The population of the county borough is 169,521 (2001). Around 40 per cent of people in the county borough are able to speak Welsh according to the 2001 census. The largest towns are Caerphilly (population, 1991, 28,481), Bargoed (1991, 14,979), Blackwood, Newbridge, Rhymney (1991, 7,991), and Risca (1991, 15,124). Ystrad Mynach is the administrative centre of the unitary authority.

The police authority is the South Wales Constabulary, which has its headquarters in the town of Bridgend, in Bridgend county borough.

IV.

Places of Interest

Thirteenth-century Caerphilly Castle is the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in the United Kingdom after Windsor Castle. The castle boasts an elaborate defence system, including a vast moat held back by a medieval dam. Llancaiach Fawr Manor is a 16th-century country house near Nelson. The site includes a living history exhibition recreating life in a Welsh manor house during the Civil War, in which guides act out the daily lives of a family and their servants. There is a forest drive at Cwmcarn, and the country parks of Sirhowy, Bryn Bach, and Cwm Darran are of interest. Parc Penallta, built on the site of a reclaimed colliery, opened in 2000 and features the United Kingdom’s largest figurative earth sculpture, in the shape of a pit pony.

V.

Economy

The economy of the area covered by the county borough was formerly dominated by the mining industry. In 1950 there were 29 pits, employing 24,000 people, but the last pit closed in 1990. Since then the area has turned to light industry and manufactures a variety of goods, including electronics, plastics, carpets, synthetic resins, and paper products. Service industries are also of importance, as is tourism.

The town of Caerphilly, in addition to its light industry and its role as the market town for the agricultural products of the lowland areas of the county borough, acts as a residential suburb of the city of Cardiff. The cheese bearing the town's name, and its most famous product, is still produced on a small scale by local farmers although Caerphilly cheese is now made commercially only in England, especially in the south-west.

VI.

History

The Roman conquest of the area covered by Caerphilly county borough began towards the end of the 1st century ad. One thousand years later, the Normans began their conquest. The area had by then become part of the lordship of Morgannwyg. Welsh opposition to English rule erupted in the late 13th century under the leadership of Llywelyn ab Gruffudd; his forces destroyed the original Caerphilly Castle in 1270. Construction of a new castle began the following year. Morgannwyg formed the major part of the county of Glamorganshire that was created under the 1536 Act of Union between England and Wales. Caerphilly, which had grown up around the castle, became a centre of the Methodist revival in the 18th century; the first synod of the Calvinistic Methodists was held in a farmhouse near the town in 1743. It remained a market town with an economy based largely on cheese until the second half of the 19th century, when it became a centre for the construction of railway rolling-stock. The Rhymney Valley area had become industrialized earlier in the century, with the exploitation of the coalfield.