Caerphilly, Glamorgan
Historical Description
Caerphilly, a market-town and an ecclesiastical parish in Glamorgan. The town is in the hamlet-tract of Energlyn, in the parish of Eglwysilan, and stands on a plain, surrounded by lofty mountains, near the Rhymney river, 7 miles by road and 7 by railway N by W of Cardiff. It has a station on the G.W. and Rhymney Joint railway, and also on the Pontypridd, Caerphilly, and Newport line. A castle seems to have been built here soon after the Conquest; was dismantled in 1219 by Rhys Vychan; rebuilt about 1260 by Gilbert de Clare: enlarged and strengthened by Ralph Mortimer and Hugh de Spencer; used as a fastness by the Spencers for plundering the circumjacent country; made the refuge of Edward II. in his flight from his rebellious barons; sustained then a very vigorous and obstinate siege; was held in 1400 by Owen Glendower, but then was " a fortress great in ruins;" and ceased thereafter to be much noticed in history. The ruins of it now extant cover an area of 30 acres, display remarkable magnificence, and include outworks, gateways, towers, a great hall, a chapel, and a ponderous leaning tower 80 feet high, much shattered, 10 feet out of the perpendicular, and supposed to have sustained its injuries from an explosion at the time of the great siege.
The town has been very much improved of late years, and is managed by a local board. It was formerly a borough, and lias a post, money order, and telegraph office under Cardiff, three banks, and is a seat of petty sessions. Markets are lield on Thursdays, and cattle fairs on 28 Feb., 5 April, Trinity Thursday, 19 July, 25 Aug., 9 Oct., 16 Nov., and the Thursday before Christmas. A manufacture of flannel is carried on, and collieries, ironworks, and a stone quarry are in the neighbourhood. The ecclesiastical parish includes all Energlyn and the hamlet of Van, and was constituted in 1850. Population, 3313. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Llandaff; net value, £272 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff. The church was erected in 1879, and there are Baptist, Congregational, Calvinistic Methodist, and Wesleyan chapels.
Church Records
Findmypast, in conjunction with the National Library of Wales and the Welsh County Archivists Group, have the following parish records online for Caerphilly:
Parish | Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|---|
Caerphilly | 1834-1912 | 1906-1915 | 1910-1923 | |
Caerphilly, St Martin | 1852-1910 |
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online: