Editing Cwmbran (section)

== History ==
Cwmbran was founded in 1949 as a [[New towns in the United Kingdom|new town]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.torfaen.gov.uk/en/PlanningAndDevelopment/Regeneration/Cwmbran-Regeneration/Cwmbran-Regeneration.aspx |title=Cwmbran Regeneration |publisher=Torfaen County Borough Council |access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the [[South Wales Coalfield]], but the area has a long history.

There is evidence that [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]] people used the area, with the [[Iron Age]] [[Silures]] tribe also occupying the region before being subdued by the [[Roman legion]]s based at nearby [[Usk]] and [[Caerleon]].

Around 1179, Hywel, Lord of Caerleon gave a gift of money and land to found the [[Cistercian]] [[abbey]] at [[Llantarnam]]. At the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] by [[Henry VIII]] the abbey was closed and was bought by a succession of wealthy landowners. By the 18th century the abbey had passed into the ownership of the Blewitt family, who were to become key figures in the early industrialisation of Cwmbran. Brick making, [[lime kiln]]s, [[iron ore]] mining, quarrying and [[coal mining]] were established during this period, along with a [[canal]] to transport goods to the docks at [[Newport, Wales|Newport]].

In 1833, the [[Ordnance Survey]] map of Monmouthshire shows Cwmbran as a farm situated in the area now known as Upper Cwmbran, in the valley named Cwm Brân. Cwmbran now covers about {{convert|3000|acre|km2}} and has a population of around 50,000.

Following some investigation by local residents Richard Davies and Mike Price, the Ancient Cwmbran & The Cistercian project was designed and created by Richard Davies and Torfaens Heritage Officer Claire Dovey-Evans. A £48,000 grant has been provided by the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] and Torfaen Borough Council to explore some previously unrecorded sites of interest in  Fairwater, [[Greenmeadow]] and [[Thornhill, Cwmbran|Thornhill]] areas of Cwmbran. In a national Heritage Lottery Fund publication the project was described as exemplified community project.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8235000/8235561.stm|title=BBC – South East Wales – Uncovering history of a new town|date=3 September 2009}}</ref>

The [[Cistercian Way (Wales)|Cistercian Way]] also passes through [[Llantarnam]], Old Cwmbran, [[Greenmeadow]] and Thornhill before reaching the ancient chapel of [[Llanderfel]] on [[Mynydd Maen]], and then onwards to [[Twmbarlwm]].

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Cwmbran was the site of heavy industrial development. Coal and iron ore were extracted on Mynydd Maen, and moved by inclined planes and tramways into the Eastern Valley for use in factories such as the [[Patent Nut and Bolt Company]] (which became [[Guest Keen and Nettlefolds]] in 1900),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwmbran.info/gkn.htm |title=History of Cwmbran Works 1800-1969 |access-date=2012-02-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119063921/http://www.cwmbran.info/gkn.htm |archive-date=2012-11-19 }}</ref> various tin plate works and brickworks. This industry drove the creation of the [[Monmouthshire Canal]], the [[Newport and Pontypool Railway]] and the [[Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway]]. Very little of this industrial heritage remains today, though many of today's light industrial or retail estates were created on the sites.

[[File:Cwmbran - The Tower.jpg|thumb|upright|The Tower, a 23-storey housing block built in Cwmbran in the 1960s]]
Following the [[New Towns Act 1946]], ministries and county councils were asked to nominate sites for housing. For Wales, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government proposed Church Village and Cwmbran. The Church Village proposal was vetoed by the Ministry of Power as new housing there would have interfered with plans for the expansion of coal mining in the area; however, Cwmbran was passed in 1949.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idoxplc.com/idox/athens/ntr/ntr/cd1/html/txt/u2830300.htm |url-status=dead |title=Why Cwmbran |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317110434/http://www.idoxplc.com/idox/athens/ntr/ntr/cd1/html/txt/u2830300.htm |archive-date=2012-03-17 }}</ref>

Cwmbran was a civil parish and, from 1974, a [[Community (Wales)|community]] in its own right, one of only five in the new district of Torfaen. In 1985, the Cwmbran community was abolished, replaced by Cwmbran Central, [[Fairwater, Torfaen|Fairwater]], [[Llantarnam]], [[Pontnewydd]] and [[Upper Cwmbran]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1985/129/pdfs/uksi_19850129_en.pdf |title=The Torfaen (Communities) Order 1985 |website=legislation.gov.uk|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |date=1 February 1985 |access-date=15 September 2019 }}</ref>