The original ancient parish was very large, including most of the upper
Ebbw and
Sirhowy valleys. The first census, of 1801 documented that 619 people lived in the parish, which then included
Rhymney and
Tredegar. A number of
coal mining communities grew up in the parish, and in the 19th century these became separate local government units. The church of St Sannan was built in a thirteenth century
Gothic style. The church tower is fourteenth century and contains six bells. The church was restored in 1858 and repaired in 1882. The exterior is whitewashed. The Bedwellty
Poor Law Union was established in 1849, covering the two parishes of Bedwellty and
Aberystruth. A workhouse was built to serve the area at Georgetown in Tredegar, opening in 1852. On 19 June 1874,
Ebbw Vale,
Rhymney and
Tredegar local boards of health and local government districts were formed, each including parts of the
civil parish. The remainder of the parish of Bedwellty became a local government district on 29 May 1891. When parish and district councils were established under the
Local Government Act 1894, the Bedwellty Local Government District became Bedwellty Urban District. The 1894 act also directed that parishes could not straddle district boundaries, and so the parts of Bedwellty parish which were within the Ebbw Vale, Rhymney and Tredegar urban districts became separate civil parishes. Bedwellty urban district included the hamlets and villages of
Aberbargoed,
Argoed,
Blackwood,
New Tredegar, and
Pengam. In 1926, Bedwellty and
Mynyddislwyn urban districts formed the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board to ensure local control of bus services. In 1935, a
County Review Order altered the boundaries between Bedwellty and Mynyddislwyn. Bedwellty Urban District Council established its headquarters at the corner of Commercial Road and Bedwellty Road in Aberbargoed. After the council's abolition the building was converted into flats and renamed Blaen-y-Cwm. The urban district was abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. Its area was split: the wards of
Aberbargoed, Cwmsyfiog,
New Tredegar, and Phillipstown passed to the
Rhymney Valley district of
Mid Glamorgan, where they became a single
community called New Tredegar. The remainder of Bedwellty urban district, comprising the Argoed, Blackwood, Cefn Fforest, and Pengam wards, passed to the
Islwyn borough of
Gwent, where they became a single community called Bedwellty. The Aberbargoed area was later transferred from New Tredegar community to
Bargoed community. Bedwellty community was abolished in 1982, being divided between four new communities called Argoed, Blackwood, Cefn Fforest, and Pengam. Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw the Rhymney Valley and Islwyn districts united to become the
county borough of
Caerphilly, bringing the former area of Bedwellty Urban District back within one administrative area. The area of the former Bedwellty Urban District now corresponds to the
communities of Argoed, Blackwood, Cefn Fforest, New Tredegar, Pengam, and parts of the communities of Bargoed and
Darran Valley. The parliamentary constituency of
Bedwellty was created in 1918 covering a much larger area. It continued to exist until 1983, when it was replaced by the constituency of
Islwyn. The
member of parliament for the Bedwellty and Islwyn constituencies from 1970 to 1995 was
Neil Kinnock,
Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992, who took the title
Baron Kinnock, of Bedwellty in the County of Gwent in 2005. ==See also==