Ebbw Vale including Beaufort, Briery Hill, Cwm, New Town,
Pontygof, Victoria and Waunlwyd
(A description written in 1891)
An Ecclesiastical Parish formed in 1870 from the civil parishes of Aberystruth and Bedwellty, comprising the following places: Ebbw Vale, Briery Hill, Newtown, Pontygof, Cwm, Waunlwyd and Victoria: these closely adjoin each other, and are all in the vale of the Ebbw Fawr river, in the northern part of the county, bordering on the county of Brecon, 170 miles from London, 2 east from Tredegar, 20 north-west from Newport, 10.1/2 south-west from Abergavenny; in the Western division of the county, Hundred of Wentloog, Petty Sessional division and Union of Bedwellty, Tredegar County Court district; Blaenau Gwent division of Abergavenny rural deanery, Monmouth archdeaconry and Llandaff diocese.
The houses are for the most part very small, being occupied by the workmen employed in the iron and coal works, which is the sole industry. The Pontygof and Victoria stations in this parish are on the Great Western railway, and a third station at Ebbw Vale belongs to the London & North Western Railway Co. who have a branch from here joining the Abergavenny line near Beaufort station. Ebbw Vale adopted the "Local Government Act, 1858," June 19, 1874:
The district comprises parts of the parishes of Aberystruth and Bedwellty in Monmouthshire and Llangattock and Llangunider in Glamorganshire; the boundaries of the district were extended (by 40 & 41 Vict. cap.ccxxvii; 41 & 42 Vict. cap.clxiv. and 43 & 44 Vict. cap.lviii); and the board consists of 12 members.
It is lighted with gas by the Beaufort Gas Light Co. and the Ebbw Vale Gas Light Co. and is supplied with water from works in Llangunider parish.
Christ Church is a building of red sandstone, with Pennant stone dressings, in the Early English style, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, western porch and an incomplete tower at the south-west angle, containing one bell: there are 750 sittings, 300 being free. The register dates from the year 1870. The living is a perpetual curacy, tithe rent-charge £100, gross yearly value £300, in a gift of the Bishop of Llandaff, and held since 1886 by the Rev. Daniel Lewis, surrogate. Parish Clerk, Ebbw Vale, William Smith.
Here is a Catholic Chapel, dedicated to All Saints, and also Calvinistic Methodist, Congregational and Wesleyan chapels.
The Literary and Scientific Institute is a very commodious building with good lecture room and a library and reading room, containing about six thousand volumes. The business of the Ebbw Vale Post Office is carried on at this institution. The London and Provincial Bank Limited and the National Bank of Wales have branches here.
The works of the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Co. Limited occupy a large portion of the valley of the Ebbw; here railway iron, Bessemer and other steel rails and every description of manufactured iron is produced in immense quantities; the company are also the owners of very large collieries, and ship coal to all parts of the world, and they have now four 60 feet blast furnaces, intended to produce together 1,600 tons of pig iron weekly.
Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office, Ebbw Vale (Railway Sub-Office. Letters should have R.S.O. Mon. added) - Mrs Agnes Orchard, postmistress. Letters arrive at 7.30 a.m; North mail, 9.20 a.m; depart, 12.40 p.m. & 7 p.m: North mail, 5 p.m.
Post Office, Newtown - John Morgan, receiver. Letters received through Chapel Town R.S.O. arrive at 8 & 10 a.m. & 6 p.m; dispatched, 6.35 p.m. Chapel Town is nearest money order office & Ebbw Vale is the telegraph office. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid. Wall Letter Boxes - cleared daily, except Sundays, Victoria road, 6.30 p.m; Victoria, 6 p.m.
Post, M.O.O. & S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office, Chapel Town (Railway Sub-Office. Letters should have R.S.O. Mon. added) - L.P. Lewis, postmaster. Letters arrive at 7.10 & 9 a.m. & 5 p.m; & dispatched at 12.40, 5 & 7 p.m. Ebbw Vale is the nearest telegraph office.
Post, M.O.O. & S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office, Waunlwyd - John Thomas, receiver. Letters arrive at 6.30 & 10.30 a.m; dispatched at 7.30 p.m. Ebbw Vale is the nearest telegraph office.
Local Board:
Offices Market Buildings, Board day 3rd Thursday, 2.30 p.m.
Clerk - John Edward Ward, Ebbw Vale
Treasurer - Henry Soper, London & Provincial Bank
Medical Officer of Health - John William Davies l.R.C.P. Lond, Hillside House, Ebbw Vale
Surveyor - Thomas J Thomas, Market Buildings, Ebbw Vale
Inspector of Nuisances & Collector - Thomas Thomas, Victoria road, Ebbw Vale
The population of the Local Board district in 1881 was 14,700.
County Police Station, Victoria Road: Sergeant George Kendall & 10 constables
South Wales Borderers, 3rd Volunteer Battalion (D & E Companies) (formed, 1860); head quarters, Old Forge school; the present strength of the companies are:
D Company - Capt. N.L. Wilputte & 97 rank & file;
E Company - Lieut. Robert John Jones, commanding, 100 rank & file; Thos. Stanborough, sergeant-instructor:
H Company (formed, 1884); head quarters, Victoria; Capt. William Dayson, commanding, 90 rank & file.
Places of Worship:
Christ Church, Ebbw Vale: Rev. Daniel Lewis, incumbent, with the Rev’ds. David Richards, Asa Richards, David Henry Griffiths B.A. curates
St. Paul's Church, Cwm: Rev. David Henry Griffiths B.A., curate
All Saints Catholic Church: Rev. Augustine A. Fritz, priest
Baptist (Welsh) Briery Hill: Rev. L.M. Roberts M.A, minister
Baptist, Cwm
Baptist, Newtown
Baptist (Welsh), Pontygof: Rev. William Jones, minister
Baptist (English), Victoria: Rev. James Owen Hughes, minister
Calvinistic Methodist, Ebbw Vale
Calvinistic Methodist (Welsh), Ebbw Vale
Calvinistic Methodist (Welsh), Victoria
Congregational, Ebbw Vale
Congregational, Briery Hill
Congregational (Welsh), Pontygof
Congregational (Welsh), Victoria
Congregational, Waunlwyd
Primitive Methodist, Newtwon
Wesleyan, Ebbw Vale: Rev. Walter Lang, minister
Wesleyan, Victoria
Wesleyan (Welsh), Ebbw Vale: Rev. John Jones, minister
Wesleyan, Waunlwyd
Schools:
Ebbw Vale (Board) (under Bedwellty School Board), built in 1878, for 290 boys, 290 girls & 390 infants; average attendance, 220 boys, 220 girls & 178 infants; John Lewis, master; Miss Mary Turner, mistress; Miss Sarah Lloyd, infants' mistress
Pontygof (Board) (boys' school under Aberystruth School Board & girls' & infants' under the Bedwellty School Board), built in 1880 for 334 boys, 300 girls & 350 infants; average attendance, 226 boys, 180 girls & 207 infants; Lewis Thomas, master; Miss Duggan, mistress; Miss Margaret Mary Richards, infants' mistress
Victoria (Board) (under Bedwellty School Board), built in 1876, for 180 boys, 175 girls & 180 infants; average attendance, 177 boys, 177 girls & 1112 infants; Thomas Harris, master; Miss Hannah Rees, mistress; Miss Emma Forbes, infants' mistress
Catholic School, built in 1865, for 200 children; average attendance, 120; Miss C. Fritz, mistress
Railway Stations:
London & North Western (Ebbw Vale) - John Morris, station master
Great Western (Pontygof) - Joseph Williams, station master
Great Western (Victoria) - William Mogford, station master
…………
BRIERY HILL joins Ebbw Vale on the south-west side of the town. Here are English and Welsh Baptist and Congregational Chapels.
NEWTOWN is on the east side of the town. Here are Baptist and Welsh Wesleyan chapels.
PONTYGOF adjoins the south end of the town, and has a station on the Western Valleys section of the Great Western railway. Here are Baptist, Congregational and Calvinistic chapels, all with Welsh services.
VICTORIA joins Ebbw Vale on the south side of the town and has a station on the Western Valleys section of the Great Western railway. Here are Baptist, Congregational and Calvinistic Methodist chapels, with Welsh services and a Wesleyan chapel.
CWM, a Hamlet in the parish of Aberystruth, in the valley of the Ebbw, between two lofty hills, with a station on the Western Valleys section of the Great Western railway, 17 miles north from Newport, 3 south from Ebbw Vale and 5 south-east from Tredegar. Cwm is in the local board district and ecclesiastical parish of Ebbw Vale, The Church of St. Paul is a small building of stone, erected in 1882, and consists of a nave and a belfry containing one bell: there are 200 sittings. Here is a Baptist chapel.
Post: Letters through Newport arrive at 6.30 a.m. Waunllwyd is the nearest money order office & Ebbw Vale is the nearest telegraph office. Wall letter box cleared at 6. p.m.
Schools:
Board School (Cwm) (mixed), built in 1878, for 199 children; average attendance, 195; John Bedford, master.
Railway Station:
Henry Davies, station master.
(extracts from Kelly's 1891 Directory of Monmouthshire, transcribed by J. Doe)
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