Editing Radyr (section)

==History==
===Stone Age until the Norman Conquest===
Evidence of [[Prehistoric Britain#Palaeolithic|Stone Age]] occupation of the Lesser Garth Cave near Morganstown was discovered in 1912 and included worked flints.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Roman Britain in 1963: I. Sites Explored |last1=Wilson |first1=D.R. |last2=Wright |first2=R.P. |year=1964 |journal= Journal of Roman Studies|pages=152–185 |jstor=298662 |volume=54 |doi=10.2307/298662}}</ref> In 1916 excavation of a mound of {{convert|30|m|ft|-1}} in [[#Radyr Woods Nature Area|Radyr Woods]] revealed charcoal and [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] pottery.<ref name=TC&G/> Radyr developed after the [[Norman invasion of Wales]] at the start of the 12th century and formed part of the Welsh Lordship or [[cantref]] of [[Miskin]] under the Lordship of [[Glamorgan]] created by the Norman King, [[King William Rufus|William Rufus]], in 1093.<ref name=TC&G/>

===Origin of the name===
Hints about the derivation of the name ''Radyr'' can be found in [[Lifris]]'s writings ''Life of St Cadog'', written between 1081 and 1104 but relating to the earlier period around AD 530, which mentions a croft or ''tref'' on the site called ''Aradur Hen''. Lifris also tells the story of ''Tylyway'', a  [[hermit]] who was held to have lived on the banks of the Taff. Tylyway's cell is the most likely origin of the name Radyr; from the Welsh ''yr adur'', meaning "the [[chantry]]", although ''Arudur Hen'' is also possible.<ref name=TC&G/>

===Norman occupation and Middle Ages===
[[File:Motte and Bailey at Radyr.JPG|thumb|right|Radyr motte and moat viewed from top]]
The Norman [[motte-and-bailey|motte]] in the "mound field" is a flat-topped mound {{convert|30|m|-1}} in diameter at the base and {{convert|3.8|m}} high, surrounded by a ditch {{convert|7|m}} wide. An adjoining [[Ward (fortification)|bailey]] to east of the motte could indicate the boundary between Norman and Welsh land.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/Welshsites/430.html|title=Morganstown Motte |access-date=19 June 2008}}</ref> The motte was surrounded by a timber [[palisade]] around a wooden [[keep]] and formed part of a defensive line with similar mottes at [[Thornhill, Cardiff|Thornhill]] and Whitchurch.<ref name=TC&G>{{cite book|last=New Horizons History Group |title=Twixt Chain and Gorge |url=http://www.radyr.org.uk/pdf_files/twixt.pdf |publisher=Shadowfax Publishing, Radyr |year=1991 |isbn=0-9514887-4-0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719200957/http://www.radyr.org.uk/pdf_files/twixt.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref> The early settlement that became Radyr developed around the Norman church and manor house in what is now [[Danescourt]]. Surveys in 1307 describe an agricultural hamlet surrounded by [[arable land|arable]] fields.<ref name=TC&G/> The 14th century Welsh Lord of Radyr, Cynwrig ap Hywel, followed by his descendants, farmed the area until it was devastated by the [[Black Death]] and by battles between the [[Marcher Lords]] in 14th and 15th centuries when the whole area was laid waste.<ref name=TC&G/>

===Mathew family===
[[File:Sir William Mathew Llandaf Cathedral.JPG|thumb|Effigies of Sir William Mathew (died 1528) and his wife. The latest of three surviving Mathew family effigies at Llandaff Cathedral<ref>Earliest effigy is of [[David ap Mathew|Sir David Mathew]] (died 1484), the second of Sir Christopher Mathew (died 1527), eldest son of Reyborne Mathew, second son of Sir David</ref>]]
In 1469 Thomas Mathew (died 1469), the third or fourth son of [[Sir David Mathew]] (died 1484) of [[Llandaf]],<ref>{{cite book|first=J. Barry |last=Davies |chapter=Friends of Llandaff Cathedral 2003 annual lecture |title=Friends of Llandaff Cathedral 71st annual report 2003/4 |chapter-url=http://www.users.qwest.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807013913/http://www.users.qwest.net/ |archive-date=August 7, 2013 }}</ref> inherited the land by marriage to Catherine, heiress of Radyr, and built Radyr Court, a [[manor house]] on the site of what is now the Radyr Court Inn in Danescourt.<ref name=TC&G/> The house was used as a court. Although it was destroyed by a fire in the 19th century, the three large [[dungeon]]s survived and can still be seen at the Inn.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-116182175 |title=Court in the Act |last=Welsh |first=Sarah |date=1 May 2004 |newspaper=[[South Wales Echo]] |access-date=20 April 2009}}</ref> On Thomas' death, his lands passed to his eldest son David and then to his younger son William Mathew (died 1528), who was [[knight]]ed by King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] at the [[Battle of Bosworth]] in 1485.<ref name=TC&G/> Sir William accompanied [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] to the [[Field of the Cloth of Gold]] in 1520. His successor was his eldest son Sir George Mathew, who became [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for [[Glamorganshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Glamorganshire]] and in 1545 [[High Sheriff of Glamorgan|Sheriff of Glamorgan]].<ref name=TC&G/><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Moore |editor-first=Patricia |year=1995 |title=Glamorgan Sheriffs |location=Cardiff |publisher=[[University of Wales Press]] |isbn=978-0-7083-1264-3 }}{{page needed|date=June 2013}}</ref>

Sir George created a [[Medieval deer park|deer park]] that ranged far north of Radyr. Tenant farmers there were evicted, and the loss of rental income contributed to the decline in the family's fortunes.<ref name=TC&G/> He had 24 children, eight of whom were illegitimate. Many were daughters, and Sir George needed large sums of money for their [[dowry|dowries]].<ref name=TC&G/> On his death Sir George's lands passed to his eldest son William, who also became an MP and invested in the [[Pentyrch]] ironworks.<ref name=TC&G/> This was an astute move as [[feudalism]] was giving way to early [[industrialisation]]. William's descendants inherited a diminishing fortune. Captain George Mathew, the last of the family to live in Radyr, married Elizabeth Poyntz, and the couple left Radyr to live on her estates at [[Thurles]] in [[County Tipperary]], [[Ireland]] in 1625.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://martinrealm.org/genealogy/mathew.htm |title=Mathew of Thurles |access-date=28 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105073906/http://martinrealm.org/genealogy/mathew.htm |archive-date=5 January 2009}}</ref>

===Stuart period===
Radyr's new owner was a wealthy landowner, Sir Edward Lewis,<ref name="cardiff-records">{{cite book |editor-last=Matthews |editor-first=John Hobson |year=1900 |title=Cardiff Records |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=[[Institute of Historical Research]] |chapter=The manors of Cardiff district: Descriptions |pages=8–41 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=48109#s24}}</ref> who was knighted by [[James I of England|James I]]. Sir Edward owned [[St Fagans Castle]] and its surrounding lands,<ref>{{cite DWB |id=s-LEWI-VAN-1548 |title=LEWIS family, of Van, Glamorganshire |access-date=5 May 2009}}</ref> scene of the [[Battle of St Fagans]] in the [[English Civil War]]. The Lewis fortune passed to Elizabeth Lewis, who married Other Windsor [''sic''], 3rd [[Earl of Plymouth]], the principal landowner in Cardiff, Penarth and [[Barry, South Glamorgan|Barry]].<ref name=TC&G/>

A survey in 1766 shows that the Plymouth family owned the freeholds of most of Radyr. It continues to do so today. Plymouth Estates sold {{convert|22|acre|0}} of residential land in Radyr in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.coark.com/images/uploads/Annual_Review_2007.pdf |title=Property Profile 2007 |year=2007 |access-date=28 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705131134/http://www2.coark.com/images/uploads/Annual_Review_2007.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2008 }}</ref>

===Development from the 18th century===
Many residents of Radyr worked in the [[Melingriffith Tin Plate Works]], on the other side of the River Taff in Whitchurch.<ref name="Memories"/> The works opened in 1749 and closed in 1957.<ref name="tinworks">{{cite news |url=http://www.whitchurchandllandaff.co.uk/Melingriffith.htm |title=It's goodbye to Griffith's Mill |last=Pride |first=W.E. |date=30 July 1957 |newspaper=[[Western Mail (Wales)|Western Mail]] |access-date=5 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421084347/http://whitchurchandllandaff.co.uk/Melingriffith.htm |archive-date=21 April 2009 }}</ref>

[[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]]' 1849 ''Topographical Dictionary of Wales'' says of Radyr:<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Lewis (publisher) |year=1849 |title=A Topographical Dictionary of Wales |location=London |publisher=Samuel Lewis & Co |chapter=Radyr – Rhuddlan |pages=345–356 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47882}}</ref>

<blockquote>"A parish, in the poorlaw union of Cardiff, hundred of Kibbor, county of Glamorgan, in South Wales, 3½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Cardiff; containing 279 inhabitants. This parish probably derives its name, signifying "a cataract," from the rushing waters of the river Tâf, by which it is bounded on the north-east. It was formerly comprehended within the hundred of Miskin, but has been recently separated therefrom. It comprises about eleven hundred acres of arable and pasture land, inclosed and in a profitable state of cultivation: the surface is in some parts elevated, and in others flat, but nowhere subject to inundation; the soil is a strong brown earth, favourable to the production of good crops of grain of all kinds, potatoes, and hay. The substratum is partly a hard brown stone, and partly limestone of very good quality. Radyr Court, formerly the seat of the family of Matthew, ancestors of the late Lord Llandaf, has been partially taken down, and the remainder has been modernised, and converted into a farmhouse. The turnpike-road leading from Cardiff to Llantrissent passes a little to the south of the parish; and the Tâf-Vale railway runs through it, nearly parallel with the river, which is crossed by the line in this vicinity. Some of the inhabitants are employed at the iron-works in the parish of Pentyrch.</blockquote>

<blockquote>''The living is a vicarage, endowed with £200 royal bounty; patron and impropriator, the representative of the late Earl of Plymouth, who is lord of the manor: the tithes have been commuted for £113. 9s. 0d, of which a sum of £38. 9s. 0d is payable to the impropriator, and a sum of £75 to the vicar. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a neat plain edifice, with a curious turret at the west end. There is a place of worship for Calvinistic Methodists; a Sunday school for gratuitous instruction is held in it, and another at Radyr Court. In the parish is a spring of very cold water, called Y Pistyll Goleu, "the bright water-spout," issuing from the side of a hill, under a considerable depth of earth over a limestone rock: it has by some writers been termed mineral, but it is not known to possess any other properties than that of its extreme coldness, which renders it efficacious in curing sprains and weakness of the sinews."'' </blockquote>

Until the mid 19th century Radyr was a collection of small farms, crofts and cottages, but after [[Radyr railway station]] opened in 1863,<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutton |first=John |title=The Taff Vale Railway |volume=1 |location=KEttering |publisher=Silver more than |year=2006 |isbn =978-1-85794-249-1}}</ref> the population rose from 400 to more than 600 in 20 years.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/GLA/Radyr/population.html |title=Population Statistics for Radyr |access-date=28 June 2008}}</ref> The [[Taff Vale Railway]] and its successor, the [[Great Western Railway]], brought significant employment to Radyr. Junction Terrace (the first street in Radyr) was built to house the railway workers. It was the start of strong demand for housing in Radyr that transformed the hamlet.<ref name=TC&G/> The [[Barry Railway]]'s [[Walnut Tree Viaduct]], built in 1901, dominated the village for some 70 years.

===Wartime===
[[File:Radyr War memorial.JPG|thumb|Radyr War memorial]]
In the [[World War I|First World War]] the community raised funds for a "Radyr bed" at the nearby Welsh Metropolitan Military Hospital in [[Whitchurch, Cardiff|Whitchurch]] and established a "Citizen Guard" made up of those too old or too young to enlist.<ref name=TC&G/> Losses suffered by the village are recorded on the War Memorial in Heol Isaf.

In the [[World War II|Second World War]] thousands of children were evacuated from metropolitan areas such as [[London]], [[Birmingham]] and [[Liverpool]]. One evacuee from [[Woolwich]], Patricia Armstrong aged nine, was knocked down by a passenger train and killed on a Saturday afternoon in May 1943 while using the Gelynis foot crossing at Morganstown. She was lodged with a family in Morganstown.<ref>{{cite web |last=Strange |first=Keith |title=Cardiff Schools & The Age of the Second World War |url=http://history.cardiffschools.net/WW2school_logs.doc |access-date=14 May 2011 |page=179 |format=DOC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210155702/http://history.cardiffschools.net/WW2school_logs.doc |archive-date=10 December 2006 }}</ref> As [[Cardiff Blitz|air raids on Cardiff]] increased, even younger children from Radyr were evacuated to boarding schools at Rhoose and Bridgend.<ref>{{cite book |last=Strange |first=Keith |title=Cardiff schools and the age of the Second World War |page=15 |url= https://www.scribd.com/doc/2589099/Cardiff-schools-and-the-age-of-the-Second-World-War |access-date=5 May 2009}}</ref>

===Post-war history===
An extensive housebuilding programme started in the 1960s, and Radyr's population grew rapidly — particularly children. In 1964 Radyr Primary School had 135 pupils on its roll. This number more than trebled in the next decade.<ref name=TC&G/> A new development, the [[Danescourt]] estate, was built on land surrounding Radyr Court and St John the Baptist parish church, and the land was officially incorporated as a suburb of Cardiff in 1974.<ref name="suburbs">{{cite web |title=The Suburbs and Radyr and Morganstown |url= http://www.cardiffians.co.uk/suburbs/radyr_and_morganstown.shtml |publisher=Cardiffians |access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref> Danybryn Woods, near the development, was retained as the entire forest is protected by a [[tree preservation order]] and is home to many species of plants and wildlife.<ref>{{cite web |title=Danybryn Woods |url=http://www.radyr.org.uk/docs/1814 |publisher=Radyr & Morganstown Community |access-date=19 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719201346/http://www.radyr.org.uk/docs/1814 |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> Radyr railway station was renovated in 1998 and the tracks through the station were renewed, reducing journey times to Cardiff city centre.<ref name="suburbs"/>

In 2017 construction started on the first phase of a new Cardiff suburb of 7,000 houses, named [[Plasdwr]], on countryside along the Llantrisant Road between Radyr and St Fagans.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/building-work-first-set-homes-12622402 |title=Building work for first set of homes in Cardiff's £2bn garden city to begin before Easter |work=Wales Online |date=17 February 2017|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref>