Chapter 3
THE ABERDARE VALLEY AND DISTRICT IN THE YEARS
75 A.D. to 1091 A.D.

1. Roman Occupation.

In the year 43 A.D., the Romans decided to invade Britain. Within four years most of south-east Britain was in Roman hands, but the rest of western Britain was more difficult to conquer. Fighting in Wales continued for the next thirty years. Native hill forts were captured and dismantled. Roman forts were built at strategic points. Caractacus was captured and sent to Rome.

After the Romans had defeated the Silures and conquered eastern Wales, they built the legionary fortress of Isca at Caerleon and then built auxiliary forts in the uplands of South Wales. These were at Gelligaer, Merthyr Tydfil, Dolygaer, Colbren and Brecon.

The nearest fort to the Aberdare valley was at Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil. The fort was occupied for more than thirty years. It was very solidly built and had all the offices and conveniences of the Roman auxiliary forts of that period.

It is possible that young men from the Aberdare valley enlisted in the Roman army and were posted to other parts of the empire. The provisioning of the garrison must have made demands on the resources of the inhabitants of the valley and might have led to an increase in the population of the area.

It is believed by local historians that the ruins found at the narrow valley of Cwmdare in the Aberdare valley are those of Roman iron working. It can hardly be doubted that the Romans were in the Merthyr valley for more than thirty years and were passing through for the next two hundred years. They could hardly have missed noticing the mineral wealth in coal and iron that lies so abundantly on the surface of the Aberdare valley.

(“History of Merthyr Tydfil,” N.U.T. pp.40‒47).

2. Aberdare Valley in The Dark Ages.

After the disappearance of Roman control in Britain about the year 410 A.D., Britain broke up into a series of small states of which little is known. What is certainly known is that over the whole of the western part of Britain there emerged a group of states the people of which spoke a language that was the predecessor of modern Welsh.

(Nora K. Chadwick - “Wales Through the Ages,” p.50).

According to Welsh tradition Cunedda, a great British chief, left southern Scotland and settled in north-west Wales about the year 410 A.D. From him and his sons arose the small kingdoms of Ceredigion, Merionydd etc. But some of the other Welsh kingdoms were of Irish or British origin. Whatever the origin of these states, in the years 383‒850 A.D., there was in Wales a series of small states, the dynasties of which lasted 500 years. The annals of Wales and Ireland, the poetry of Taliesin, Aneirin, Llywarch Hen and the Mabinogion give a picture of the settlement of Brittany, the life of the princes’ courts, social life and military life, the pedigrees of famous families, the laws of the land, the history of the land, real or legendary, of the struggle against the foe, native or foreign.

During the above period, the people of Wales were organized in tribal divisions; each tribe claiming descent from some common ancestor. The land area covered by the tribe was called the “gwely”. If a boy was freeborn, he was given an allotment of land at 14 years of age, with the animals and pasture, and personal property.

At 21 he came fully of age and was liable for military service. He reached full status at the death of his father and grandfather.

A tribe was divided into a clan; each member being related on the patriarchal side. The head of the clan was called The Head of Kindred. (Pencenedl). The head of the house was called Penteulu. Clans acted for the protection of the person in time of peace and war.

During this time there were in the main three classes:

Under these free classes were two un-free classes.

There was also a class of aliens.

All the kingdoms of Wales in the Dark Ages were divided into areas of political and legal rule.

The cantref was the main area for law enforcement, war organization, trials, arbitration, and dues collection for the lord of the cantref or the commote. At the trials etc., in South Wales there was a council of nobles. In North Wales, there was a professional judge. There were also clerks, pleaders and written records. The lords of the commotes paid homage to the ruler of the kingdom.

The life of the people generally, their food, shelter, clothing, entertainment, was like that of the rest of Britain based on an agricultural economy, partly agrarian and pastoral.

(I.M. Davies – “Everyday Life in Wales,” Vol. 2).

Of the Aberdare valley and the district around very little is known after the end of the Roman occupation in 383 A.D. except that it was a part of the kingdom of Brycheiniog in the years 450-500 A.D. Then it became part of the kingdom of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). Throughout the Dark Ages, the Aberdare area was part of the commote of Miscin, which included the two Rhondda valleys and the Pontypridd area down to Llantrisant. It was at this place that the Lord of Miscin held his court and it was the political, administrative and religious centre of the commote.

The Merthyr or Taff Valley was part of the commote of Senghenydd, and the Lord of Senghenydd near Caerphilly lived at that place.

In both Aberdare and Merthyr are two places called Maerdy, which means “The Steward’s House”, and it is without doubt the place where the lords of Miscin and Senghenydd had their steward’s homes in the Middle Ages.

3. Age of The Saints in Aberdare and District.

After the departure of the Romans from Wales in 383 A.D., there were few Christians in Wales. Christianity was re-introduced into Wales from three directions.

In South Wales the saints were numerous. There are places named after them. The saints were St. Teilo, St. Illtyd, St. Cadoc, St. Woolos, St. Gildas, St. Barwg, St.  Dyfrig, St.  Fagan and St. Padarn.

The most famous saint in the Aberdare valley area was St. Tydfil who has given her name to the town of Merthyr Tydfil. She was one of the daughters of Brychan, king of Brycheiniog, a kingdom of south central Wales. Brychan’s brother was St.  Teilio, and his sons were St.  Dyfrig and St. Cadoc. Some writers state that Tydfil and her family were massacred by a band of Picts or Irish pirates at the home of her sister Tanglwst in Merthyr circa 480 A.D. on the 23rd August. A feast known as Mabsant Merthyr to commemorate the life of Tydfil is said to have been held in the parish during Easter week. In the Dark Ages this spot was the site of pilgrimages.

(“History of Merthyr,” NUT. pp.53‒54).

Two other saints lived and worked in this area: St.  Cynog of Penderyn, son of Brychan, murdered by Picts in the 5th  century, and St.  Gwynno patron saint of Llanwynno in the Mountain Ash area.

(“History of Penderyn,”— E.L. Jones. p.10).

The parish church of St. John, Aberdare, was built in 1180 A.D. probably on the site of a wooden one. There are ruins of an earlier church than St. John’s in a wood to the east of Plasdraw. Both testify to the remote age of Christianity in the Aberdare valley area.

(Notes on the Ancient Parish Church of St. John — V. Edwards, Aberdare. 1946. pp. 7‒29).