Prehistoric and Roman Rhondda: 8,000 BC – 410 AD The Rhondda Valley is located in the upland, or , area of
Glamorgan. The landscape of the Rhondda was formed by
glacial action during the
last ice age, as slow-moving glaciers gouged out the deep valleys that exist today. With the retreat of the ice sheet, around 8000 BC, the valleys were further modified by stream and river action. This left the two river valleys of the Rhondda with narrow, steep-sided slopes which would dictate the layout of settlements from early to modern times.
Mesolithic period The earliest evidence of man's presence in these upper areas of Glamorgan was found in 1963 at . A small chipped stone tool found at the site, recorded as possibly being of
Creswellian type or at least from the early
Mesolithic period, places human activity on the plateau above the valleys. Many other Mesolithic items have appeared in the Rhondda, mainly in the upper areas around , and , and relating to hunting, fishing and foraging, which suggests seasonal
nomadic activity. Though no definite Mesolithic settlements have been located, the concentration of finds at the escarpment suggests the presence of a temporary campsite in the vicinity.
Neolithic period The first structural relic of prehistoric man was excavated in 1973 at near the
watershed of the river. The remains of a rectangular hut with traces of
drystone wall foundations and
postholes was discovered; while
radiocarbon dating of charcoal found at the site dated the structure as late
Neolithic. Although most cairns discovered in the area are round, a
ring cairn or
cairn circle exists on Mountain. Known as the Rhondda Stonehenge, it consists of ten upright stones no more than in height, encircling a central cist. All the cairns found within the Rhondda are located on high ground, many on ridgeways, and may have been used as waypoints.
Iron Age With the exception of the Neolithic settlement at , there are three certain pre-medieval settlement sites in the valley – Maendy Camp, and . The earliest of these is Camp, a
hillfort whose remains lie between and . Although its defences would have been slight, the camp made good use of the natural slopes and rock outcrops to its north-east face. It consisted of two earthworks: an inner and outer enclosure. When the site was excavated in 1901, several archaeological finds led to the camp being misidentified as Bronze Age. These finds, mainly pottery and flint knives, were excavated from a burial cairn discovered within the outer enclosure, but the site has since been classified as from the
Iron Age. The most certain example of a Roman site in the area is found above in
Ferndale. The settlement is one of a group of earthworks and indicates the presence of the Roman army during the 1st century AD. It was thought to be a military site or
marching camp.
Medieval Rhondda: AD 410–1550 The 5th century saw the
withdrawal of Imperial Roman support from Britain, and succeeding centuries saw the emergence of national identity and of kingdoms. The area which would become the Rhondda lay within
Glywysing, which incorporated the modern area of Glamorgan and was ruled by a dynasty founded by
Glywys. This dynasty was replaced by another founded by , whose descendant would give Glamorgan its Welsh name . With the coming of the
Norman overlords after the 1066
Battle of Hastings, south-east Wales was divided into five . The Rhondda lay within , a narrow strip running between modern-day
Glyn Neath and the coast between
Cardiff and . Each was further divided into
commotes, with made up of five such commotes, one being . Relics of the Dark Ages are rare in the Glamorgan area and
secular monuments still rarer. The few sites found have been located in the , or lowlands, leaving historians to believe the were sparsely inhabited, maybe only visited seasonally by
pastoralists. A few
earthwork dykes are the only structural relics in the Rhondda area from this period. No carved stones or crosses exist to indicate the presence of a Christian shrine. In the
Early Middle Ages, communities were split between bondmen, who lived in small villages centred on a court or of the local ruler to whom they paid dues, and freemen, with higher status, who lived in scattered homesteads. The most important village was the mayor's settlement or . in the has been identified as such, mainly on the strength of the name, though the village did not survive past the Middle Ages. In the early 12th century Norman expansion continued, with castles being founded around
Neath,
Kenfig and
Coity. In the same period
Bishop Urban set up the
Diocese of Llandaff under which belonged to the large parish of
Llantrisant. After the death of
William, Lord of Glamorgan, his extensive holdings were eventually granted to
Gilbert de Clare in 1217. The subjugation of Glamorgan, begun by Fitzhamon, was completed by the powerful De Clare family. Although Gilbert de Clare had now become one of the great
Marcher Lords, the territory was far from settled. , lord of captured his cousin and annexed in an attempt to reunify the commotes under a single native ruler. This conflict was unresolved by the time of De Clare's death and the area fell under royal control.
Settlements of medieval Rhondda Little evidence exists of settlements within the Rhondda in the Norman period. Unlike the communal dwellings of the Iron Age, the remains of medieval buildings discovered in the area follow a pattern similar to modern farmsteads, with separate holdings spaced out around the hillsides. The evidence of medieval Welsh farmers comes from remains of their buildings, with the foundations of platform houses being discovered spaced out through both valleys. When the sites of several platform houses at Common were excavated in the 1930s,
potsherds from the 13th to 14th centuries were discovered. The Rhondda also has remains of two medieval castles. The older is , located at the head of the overlooking . The only recorded evidence of is a mention by
John Leland, who stated, "Castelle Nose is but a high stony creg in the top of an hille". The castle comprises a scarp and ditch forming a raised platform and on the north face is a ruined dry-stone building. Its location and form do not appear to be Norman and it is thought to have been built by the Welsh as a border defence, which would date it before 1247, when
Richard de Clare seized . The second castle is , close to what is now
Tonypandy town centre. Little remains of this
motte-and-bailey earthwork defence, as much was destroyed when
Tonypandy railway station was built in the 19th century. is dated around the 12th or early 13th century erroneously believed it to be the burial mound of king . The earliest Christian monument in the Rhondda is the shrine of St Mary at , whose holy well was mentioned by in the 15th century.
Post-medieval and pre-industrial Rhondda: 1550–1850 In the mid-16th century the Rhondda, then known as the Vale of Rotheney, belonged to the large but sparsely inhabited parish of , St Tyfodwg's Vale. It was divided administratively into three
hamlets: the upper or hamlet to the north, the middle or hamlet, and the lower or hamlet. Through the post-medieval period the Rhondda was heavily wooded and its main economic staple the rearing of sheep, horses and cattle. The historian Rice Merrick, in describing the upland area of the Vale of Glamorgan, noted there "was always great breeding of cattle, horses and sheep; but in elder time therein grew but small store of corn, for in most places there the ground was not thereunto apt". The English cartographer
John Speed described cattle rearing as the "best means unto wealth that the Shire doth afford". As there was no fair held in the Rhondda, the beasts were taken to neighbouring markets at
Neath,
Merthyr,
Llantrisant, and
Llandaff. However, to be self-supporting, farmers in the area grew crops such as oats, corn and barley in small quantities. Crops were grown in the lower part of the Rhondda on narrow meadows adjoining riversides, though during the
Napoleonic Wars scarce supplies forced cultivation of upland areas such as and . Merrick described the diet of the upland inhabitants as consisting of "bread made of wheat... and ale and bear" In the first half of the 17th century, rising costs of consumable goods and successive bad harvests brought economic change in Glamorgan. By the 19th century, most Rhondda farms and estates were owned by
absentee landlords such as the
Marquis of Bute, Earl of Dunraven,
Crawshay Bailey of Merthyr and the De Winton family of
Brecon.
Settlements of post-medieval Rhondda typical of those found in mediaeval Rhondda. The
Acts of Union in the mid-16th century and the
English Civil War in the mid-17th century brought much rebuilding in the
Kingdom of England, to which Wales was now annexed. This appears in the structures built in the Rhondda Valley. The fluctuating economy of the late
Tudor period resulted in farmers taking in more land, creating higher levels of surplus goods and so producing higher profits. These were reflected in new farmhouses built in the Rhondda and for the first time an emphasis on domestic comfort apparent in the design of dwellings. but most were destroyed with the growth of the mining industry. Of the few survivors, those of note include ('New House') in , a 17th-century house thought to have given its name to the neighbouring village of and of in dated around 1600. There were few industrial buildings before 1850; those of note include a 17th-century
blast furnace at which gave the village its name. and a
fulling mill established by Harri David in 1738, which in turn gave its name to
Tonypandy. Corn mills existed sparsely throughout the valleys, as did early coal pits, two being recorded as opening in 1612 at and , though they would have been open-cast, not deep mined. ==Industrial Rhondda 1850–1945==