Editing Aberdare (section)

==History==
===Early history===
There are several [[cairn]]s and the remains of a circular [[Brython|British]] encampment on the mountain between Aberdare and [[Merthyr]]. This may have led to the mountain itself being named ''Bryn-y-Beddau'' (hill of graves) although other local traditions associate the name with the Battle of Hirwaun Wrgant.

===Middle Ages===
Aberdare lies within the commote ([[cwmwd]]) of Meisgyn, in the [[cantref]] of [[Penychen]]. The area is traditionally given as the scene of the ''battle of Hirwaun Wrgant'', where the allied forces of the [[Normans|Norman]] [[Robert Fitzhamon]] and [[Iestyn ap Gwrgant]], the last Welsh prince of [[Glamorgan]], defeated [[Rhys ap Tewdwr]], prince of [[Dyfed]]. The battle is thought to have started at Aberdare, with the areas now known as Upper and Lower ''Gadlys'' (The battle Court(s)), traditionally given as each armies' headquarters.<ref name=EB1911/>

The settlement of Aberdare dates from at least this period, with the first known reference being in a monastic chapter{{clarify|date=September 2023}} of 1203 concerning grazing right on [[Hirwaun]] Common.<ref name="CVHistSoc-Intro">{{cite web |title=Chronology of the History of the Cynon Valley |url=http://www.cvhs.org.uk/timeline/chron.html |website=Cynon Valley History Society |access-date=19 December 2019}}</ref> It was originally a small village in an agricultural district, centred around the [[St John's Church, Aberdare|Church of St John the Baptist]], said to date from at least 1189. By the middle of the 15th century, Aberdare contained a water mill in addition to a number of thatched cottages, of which no evidence remains.<ref name="Conservation Rep">{{cite web|title=Aberdare Conservation Area. Appraisal and Management Plan |url=http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/relateddocuments/publications/planning/aberdareconservationarea/aberdareconservationareaappraisalandmanagementplan.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20151202082041/http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/relateddocuments/publications/planning/aberdareconservationarea/aberdareconservationareaappraisalandmanagementplan.pdf |url-status = dead|archive-date=2 December 2015 |publisher=Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council |access-date=20 November 2013 }}, pp.9–11</ref>

===Industrial Aberdare===
[[File:TrecynonIronBridge.jpg|thumb|left|The Iron Bridge built by the [[Aberdare Canal]] Company around 1811 to carry the tramway that ran from Hirwaun to the canal head at Cwmbach. It is one of the oldest surviving railway bridges in the world.]]
Aberdare grew rapidly in the early 19th century through two major industries: first iron, then coal. A branch of the [[Glamorganshire Canal]] (1811) was opened to transport these products; then the railway became the main means of transport to the South Wales coast.<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Dale H. |editor-last=Hoiberg |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Aberdare |edition=15th |year=2010 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. |volume=I: A-ak Bayes |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=978-1-59339-837-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/27 27] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/27 }}</ref> From the 1870s onwards, the economy of the town was dominated by the coal mining industry, with only a small [[tinplate]] works. There were also several brickworks and breweries.  During the latter half of the 19th century, considerable improvements were made to the town, which became a pleasant place to live, despite the nearby collieries. A postgraduate theological college opened in connection with the Church of England in 1892, but in 1907 it moved to [[Llandaff]].<ref name=EB1911/>
[[File:Aberdare 1910s.jpg|thumb|left|Aberdare in the 1910s]]
With the ecclesiastical parishes of St Fagan's (Trecynon) and Aberaman carved out of the ancient parish, Aberdare had 12 [[Anglican]] churches and one [[Catholic]] church, built in 1866 in Monk Street near the site of a cell attached to [[Penrhys#Medieval monastery|Penrhys monastery]]; and at one time there were over 50 [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] chapels (including those in surrounding settlements such as [[Cwmaman]] and [[Llwydcoed]]). The services in the majority of the chapels were in [[Welsh language|Welsh]]. Most of these chapels have now closed, with many converted to other uses. The former urban district included what were once the separate villages of [[Aberaman]], [[Abernant, Rhondda Cynon Taf|Abernant]], [[Cwmaman]], [[Cwmbach]], [[Cwmdare]], [[Llwydcoed]], [[Penywaun]] and [[Trecynon]].