Significant settlement at Cwmcarn came with
Bronze Age migration of local tribes from the
Gwent levels to the uplands of
Mynydd y Grug,
Mynydd Machen and
Mynydd Maen (
Twmbarlwm) and led to a later
Iron Age (900–55 BC)
hillfort to be constructed by the
Silures on
Twmbarlwm.
Roman forces took control of most of what became the
Roman province of
Britannia Superior in 43 AD but then took a further 25 years to gain control of the present day South Wales valleys.
Roman control remained established until
full scale withdrawal in the 5th century AD when the Kingdoms of
Gwent and
Glywysing were established. Gwent was defined as the land between the
River Usk and the
River Wye and Glywysing, the land between the
River Usk and the
River Tawe. Cwmcarn, located where the Carn and Ebbw river valleys meet, being situated within the Welsh Kingdom of
Glywysing. The
Welsh placename of Cwmcarn came about in 942 when Llywarch ap Cadogan gave Villa Treficarn Pont ('estate near the bridge over the Carn') to a
Bishop of Llandaff named Wulfrith with King Cadell's guarantee, i.e. the place where the Carn meets the Ebbw (now Cwmcarn). Following the
Norman invasion of Wales the separate townships of
Abercarn, Cwmcarn and
Newbridge were given a
manorial title of Abercarne. The three townships were also within the boundaries of the ancient parish of
Mynyddislwyn and remained therein up until comparatively recent times. == Economic activity ==