Tredegar 1137976 222700728 2008-06-30T18:10:37Z Trident13 1295607 /* Architecture */ {{infobox UK place| |country = Wales |welsh_name= |constituency_welsh_assembly= |map_type= |official_name= Tredegar |unitary_wales= [[Blaenau Gwent]] |lieutenancy_wales= [[Gwent]] |constituency_westminster= [[Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)|Blaenau Gwent]] |post_town= TREDEGAR |postcode_district = NP22 |postcode_area= NP |dial_code= 01495 |os_grid_reference= SO145095 |population= 14,802 }} '''Tredegar''' is a [[town]] in the county borough of [[Blaenau Gwent]], lying on the [[River Sirhowy]] in the [[Sirhowy Valley]] within the [[Historic counties of Wales|historic boundaries]] of [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]] in south east [[Wales]]. The historic [[Tredegar Iron Works]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]], [[United States]] was named in honour of the town. {{TOCleft}} {{-}} ==History== ===Origin of the name=== The name Tredegar can be explained as ''tref deg erw''.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} ''Deg erw'' is [[Welsh language|Welsh]] for "ten acres" or "ten-acre"; ''tref'' means "town", although its original meaning was "farm" or "estate"{{Fact|date=April 2007}}. Alternatively, the second element could be the personal name Tegyr, [[Lenition|lenited]] to Degyr, with a change to the final vowel in the local dialect.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Little is known about Tegyr (the Great). Sir Tegyr was thought important enough to be included &ndash; as [[Sir Degore]] &ndash; among the twenty-five Knights listed on [[Knights of the Round Table|King Arthur's Round Table]]. He appears as King Arthur's cup-bearer in the tale of [[Culhwch and Olwen|Culhwch & Olwen]]. ===Industrialisation=== In [[1778]] an [[iron]] [[furnace]] was built in Sirhowy by Thomas Atkinson and William Barrow who came to the area from London.<ref name="">"A look at Old Tredegar in photographs" Volume 1 Philip Prosser Old Bakehouse Publications 1990</ref> Fuel was needed for the furnace so men were employed to dig [[coal]] at Bryn Bach and Nantybwch, the first small scale [[coal mining]] operation in the area. The furnace failed in 1794. In 1797, [[Samuel Homfray]], with partners [[Richard Fothergill]] and the [[Revd. Matthew Monkhouse]] built a new furnace, leasing the land from the Tredegar Estate in [[Newport]].<ref name="web">[http://web.ukonline.co.uk/b.gardner/tredegar/tredpage.html B. Gardner's History of Tredegar and other information]</ref> This created the Sirhowy Ironworks that were to become the Tredegar Ironworks, named in honour of the Tredegar Estate at [[Tredegar House]] and [[Tredegar Park]] in Newport, [[South Wales]]. ==Governence== ===Links with the Labour Party=== Tredegar has strong links with prominent Labour MPs and the history of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and the [[Labour Movement]] in the UK. It was the birthplace of [[Aneurin Bevan]],<ref name="ab">http://www.tredegar.co.uk/ Tredegar town website]</ref> who was responsible for the introduction of the British [[National Health Service]] (NHS), and who in the 1920s was involved in the management of [[Tredegar General Hospital]]. It was also the birthplace of former Labour Party leader [[Neil Kinnock]] who attended Georgetown Infants and Juniors.<ref name="gtown">The Georgetown Schools (1877-1989) Clarice Brown Starling Press, Newport 1989</ref> His predecessor as leader, [[Michael Foot]], was MP for the local constituency - [[Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)|Ebbw Vale]] - during his time as party leader. Ironically, Michael Foot's constituency home was Number 10. ==Architecture== [[Bedwellty House]] is a Grade2 listed house and gardens. Originally a ”low thatched-roof cottage,” the old house was renovated in 1809]]. The present Bedwellty House was built in [[1818]] as a home for Samuel Homfray, whose Iron and Coal Works were the main local employers for much of the 19th century.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/6503823.stm BBC NEWS | Wales | South East Wales | £3.6m earmarked for listed house<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The surrounding 26 acre [[Victorian era|Victorian]] garden and park, designed originally as a [[Holland|Dutch]] garden around which one could walk or ride without being confronted by gate, fence or outside features; contains the '''Long Shelter,''' a Grade2 listed structure built for the [[Charterist]] movement.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/3812011.stm BBC NEWS | Wales | South East Wales | Arson destroys historic pavilion<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ===The Town Clock=== One of Tredegar's main attributes is the Town Clock - dominating the southern part of the town centre.<ref>http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/166273</ref><ref>http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/166291</ref> The clock was the idea of Mrs. R. P. Davies the wife of the Tredegar Company who had decided that she wanted to present a "lofty illuminated clock" and it was she who decided that it would be erected in the Circle.<ref name="hist">Old Tredegar Volume One W.Scandlett ISBN 0 9517057 0 9</ref> <blockquote>"The clock tower is seventy-two feet high. The foundation is of masonry, on which is surmounted the cast-iron base which has four arms from each corner to a distance of sixty feet at a depth of five feet and six inches below ground level. The pillar is wholly composed of cast-iron, upon a square pediment which in turn, receives a rectangular plinth, and upon this stands a cylindrical column of smooth surface and symmetrical diameter, ornamented with suitable coping on which rests the clock surrounded with a weather vane. The plinth is inscribed on the four aspects, on the south side - Presented to the town of Tredegar from the proceeds of a bazaar promoted by the late Mrs R.P.Davis. Erected in the year 1858. On the West side is effigy of Wellington, with the legend - Wellington, England's Hero. On the North, the Royal Arms of England; and on the east, the name and description of the founder with his crest, - Charles Jordan, Iron Founder, Newport, Mon.<br/><br/> The clock is provided with four transparent faces or dials, each five feet three inches diameter, and these were illuminated originally by gas, but this was later changed to Electricity. The minute hands are each two feet two inches long, and the hour hand one foot seven inches long. The clocks mechanism is a fifteen inch mainwheel strike, with a single four-legged Gravity Escapement driving the four dials. It has a 1 1/4 second pendulum and the bob weighs two hundredweight".<ref name="cent">Tredegar Urban District Council's "Centenary Souvenir", 1958 The clock stopped working in January 2007 due to rain water affecting the rebuilt electrical mechanism. A campaign has been set up petitioning the council to repair the clock before it's 150th anniversary next year. </ref></blockquote> ==Culture and leisure== Tredegar is home to ''Bryn Bach Park'', a [[country park]]. Tredegar Orpheus [[Male Voice Choir]] will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2009. Originally in Tredegar there were two choirs, a glee party and a small [[chapel]] choir. In 1909, these united under the baton of Mr John Davy Evans, and thus became known as 'The Tredegar Orpheus Male Voice Choir', the name [[Orpheus]] coming from the [[Greek god]] of music. Tredegar is home to [[rugby union]] teams [[Tredegar RFC |Tredegar Rugby Football Club]] who play in the Swalec League Division Two East and [[Tredegar Ironsides RFC|Tredegar Ironsides Rugby Football Club]]. The club was formed in [[1946]]. ==Local schools== * Two [[Dame School]]s prior to 1828 * The Town School opened in 1837 * Georgetown schools in 1877. First Headmistress in 1878 * Georgetown Senior Boys School in 1904 <ref name="gtown"/> * Tredegar [[Grammar School]] * Tredegar Secondary Modern * Tredegar [[Comprehensive school]] * Deighton [[primary school]] * Glanhowy primary school * Georgetown primary school (rebuilt 2004) * St. Joseph's R.C school * Brynbach primary school ==Twin towns== {{flagicon|Brittany}} Tredegar has been twined with [[Orvault]] in South-East [[Brittany]] since 1979. ==Claims to fame== Tredegar has been used for numerous TV and film locations, including ''[[The District Nurse]]'' starring [[Nerys Hughes]]. In 1982, a televised version of the [[A. J. Cronin]] [[The Citadel (novel)|novel]], ''[[The Citadel (television)|The Citadel]]'', was filmed in Tredegar, starring [[Ben Cross]]. The series was based partly on Cronin's experiences as a doctor in the town, where he had worked for the [[Tredegar Medical Aid Society]] in the early 1920s. Just north of Tredegar lies the Trefil region. Trefil found new fame in 2005 when it was used as a location for the alien [[Vogon]] homeworld in the film of [[Douglas Adams]]'s book ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. A myth exists that [[King Arthur]]'s [[Camelot]] was located in Trefil. ===Famous residents=== * [[Aneurin Bevan]], founder of the [[National Health Service]], was born in Charles St., about half a mile from the town centre. * [[Neil Kinnock]], former leader of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and European Commissioner, was born in Tredegar in 1942. * [[James J. Davis]], founder of [[Moose International]], the Grand Lodge of Moose in Great Britain, was born in Tredegar. * [[Ray Reardon]]<ref name="ab" /> and [[Cliff Wilson]], [[snooker]] stars, and [[Bryan D. White]], the former mayor, were born in Tredegar. * [[Christopher Meredith]], Novelist, was educated at Tredegar Comprehensive School. * Ryan Carl Davies, Novelist and [[gay rights]] activist, now lives in Sirhowy, Tredegar. * [[Nicky Wire]], the bassist of rock band, [[Manic Street Preachers]], was born in Tredegar. * [[Phil Williams|Prof. Phil Williams]] Scientist<ref>Rishbeth, Henry. [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/products/journals/aag/AAG_October03/aag_44538.htm "Obituary: P J S Williams 1939-2003"], ''Astronomy & Geophysics'', 44(5), 2003.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.tredegar.co.uk/ Tredegar town website] *[http://www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk/The%20Council/Departments/Community_Services/Leisure%20&%20Amenities/heritage/Local%20History/HistTred.htm Eiddil Gwent's history of Tredegar] *[http://web.ukonline.co.uk/b.gardner/tredegar/tredpage.html B. Gardner's history of Tredegar and other information] *[http://www.cefnpennar.com/tredegar/ Monumental Inscriptions for Tredegar] *[http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/blowup1/340 Aerial photograph of Tredegar in 1999] *[http://www.tredegar-rfc.co.uk Tredegar Rugby Football Club] {{coor title d|51.77761|N|3.24069|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SO145095)}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref --> [[Category:Tredegar| ]] [[Category:Towns in Blaenau Gwent]] [[cy:Tredegar]] [[de:Tredegar]] [[pl:Tredegar]]