Penydarren

The area is most notable for being the site of a 1st-century Roman fort. During the Industrial Revolution it housed Penydarren Ironworks, the third largest of the great Merthyr works. Penydarren was also used by Richard Trevithick as the location for his experiments into steam locomotion. The community and ward has a population of 5,253, increasing to 5,419 at the 2011 Census. Penydarren Park, the site of the Roman fort and the football ground, is today outside the community boundary. == Roman fort ==

Its location on a spur of land above sea level, and in 1957 during the demolition of Penydarren House. From the combination of these works, it is presently estimated that the fort had a turf and clay rampart wide, set on a cobble foundation and separated by a narrow berm of wide from its double ditch. The inner ditch was wide, the outer wide, separated by a berm of . If a well recorded by Treharne-James in 1905 was centrally placed within the principia, and a square outline is assumed, then the fort had dimensions of across the rampart crests, covering an area of . Flavian pottery confirms the origin of the fort as a wooden structure, replaced in stone around AD 100, with the bath house located outside the fort's southern defences contemporary with the rebuilding. The latest pottery recovered is Trajanic, confirming that the site was abandoned in the Hadrianic period, with its garrison, moved to a new build fort at Gelligaer. == Penydarren House ==

After Samuel Homfray came to South Wales, and establishing the Penydarren Ironworks, he won a bet with Richard Crawshay, and with the proceeds built Penydarren House in 1786 on the site of the Roman fort. It was during the construction that workmen first found Roman bricks and the remains of a tessellated pavement. Developed on a site opposite the works, but "sufficiently removed from the town by the extent of the pleasure grounds, and contains all the conveniences and the luxuries requisite for a family of wealth and importance," Homfray was waited on by servants who were dressed in a scarlet and buff livery, while he was driven everywhere in a coach and four horses. Penydarren House was requisitioned by the UK Government at the start of World War II, it was handed over to the Ministry of Works in 1943. The house was demolished in 1957, and after a period of archaeological excavation of the Roman fort, the site was redeveloped as the present day housing community. == The "Pen-y-Darren" locomotive ==

, Swansea. In 1802, Homfray commissioned engineer Richard Trevithick to build one of his high-pressure steam engines to drive a hammer at the Penydarren Ironworks. With the assistance of works engineer Rees Jones, Trevithick mounted the engine on wheels and turned it into a locomotive. In 1803, Trevithick sold the patents for his locomotives to Homfray. Homfray was so impressed with Trevithick's locomotive that he made another bet with Crawshay, this time for 500 guineas (£525), that Trevithick's steam locomotive could haul 10 tons of iron along the Merthyr Tydfil Tramroad from Penydarren () to Abercynon (), a distance of . Amid great interest from the public, on 21 February 1804 it successfully carried 11.24 tons of coal, five wagons and 70 men over the full distance, in 4 hours and 5 minutes, at an average speed of . As well as Homfray, Crawshay, and the passengers, other witnesses included Mr. Giddy, a respected patron of Trevithick, and an 'engineer from the Government'. The latter was probably a safety inspector, who would have been particularly interested in the boiler's ability to withstand high steam pressures. In modern Merthyr, behind the monument to Trevithick's locomotive, is a stone wall, which is the sole remainder of the former boundary wall of Penydarren House. == 1811–1856: Merthyr Rising ==

The Penydarren Ironworks had been financed by William Forman of the Tower of London, who provided all the capital, partly on mortgage but also by taking shares himself. Samuel Homfray left the business in 1813, selling both the house and his shares in the Penydarren Ironworks to Foreman. == Development and the James family ==

Forman offered the works for sale in 1859, and the Dowlais Iron Company bought the mineral ground. Foreman subsequently sold the house and its estate to the James family. ==Electoral ward==

Penydarren was an electoral ward to Mid Glamorgan County Council from 1973 to 1996. Penydarren has subsequently become an electoral ward (coterminous with the community) to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It elects three county councillors. At the May 2017 elections two Independent candidates (Kevin Gibbs and Chris Davies) and one Labour Party candidate (David Isaac) came top of the poll. Kevin Gibbs is now a labour councillor. == References ==