Editing Aberdare (section)

===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]].