Editing Pontypool (section)

===Urban and civic development===
[[File:Pontypool Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1930025.jpg|thumb|[[Pontypool Town Hall]]]]
The growth of Pontypool accompanied the development of industry. Originally a dispersed, rural settlement, the first centres of growth took place in the hamlets of Trosnant and Pontymoile. However, as the focus of industry and investment became increasingly centred on Pontypool, the town began to emerge as a focal point for the wider, scattered community.<ref>Cadw (2012), p.10</ref>

Pontypool was a little village within old Trevethin parish<ref>The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5</ref> in the ancient [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of [[Abergavenny Hundred|Abergavenny]] of the [[Monmouthshire (historic)|County of Monmouth]]. In 1690, during the reign of [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], the Crown accepted a petition for a market to be established in Pontypool, permitting a weekly market and three annual fairs—the village thus officially became a town. A market hall and assembly rooms were erected in 1730–31, thereby elevating the civic position of the community.<ref>Lloyd (2009), p.15</ref> During the early eighteenth century, the Hanbury family were also developing their Pontypool Park estate as a permanent family residence. The development of industrial works and employment opportunities near the emerging town also precipitated the building of dwellings along the Afon Lwyd to provide housing for the workforce. Trade and commerce also developed and Pontypool, largely due to the endeavours of the Vaughan family, acquired a strong reputation for clock-making during the eighteenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, a small town had clearly developed, providing employment, housing and a commercial role, also serving as an important local centre for the surrounding hamlets.<ref>Lloyd (2009), pp.25–26</ref> By the time Archdeacon [[William Coxe (historian)|William Coxe]] visited Pontypool at the dawn of the nineteenth century, the town had some 250 houses and a number of thriving shops and businesses, catering for a population of approximately 1,500 people.<ref>Cadw (2012), p.12</ref>

Pontypool continued to grow during the nineteenth century, with many new houses and buildings being erected during the late Victorian period. Concurrently, the outlying villages also grew, effectively providing suburbs to Pontypool town centre. Key civic and community buildings were created during the course of the century, including an abundance of chapels and churches, [[Pontypool Town Hall]], which was provided by Capel Hanbury Leigh in 1856, and a great number of shops, banks, public houses, hotels and a public library from 1906.<ref>Cadw (2012), pp.13–14</ref>

The town also developed an important educational role. Pontypool became home to a Welsh Baptist College in 1836, when it moved from Abergavenny. The college trained many Welsh Baptist ministers, large numbers of whom went on to lead congregations in Wales and overseas. It relocated to the new [[University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire]], in Cardiff, in 1893.<ref>D Hugh Matthews, ''From Abergavenny to Cardiff: History of the South Wales Baptist College'' (1806–2006), (Swansea: Gwasg Ilston, 2007)</ref> The former Pontypool College became the County Grammar School for Girls in 1897 and, in the following January, [[West Monmouth School|West Monmouth Grammar School]] was opened for boys. The school's origins date back to the early seventeenth century when William Jones, a wealthy merchant, left a considerable fortune to the [[Worshipful Company of Haberdashers|Company of Haberdashers]] to provide charitable and educational services in Monmouth. [[Monmouth School]] was built in 1615 and many years later, the trustees of the charity decided to invest in additional schools within the county. 'West Mon' School was consequently built, at a cost of £30,000, on a site donated by John Capel Hanbury in 1896.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=West Monmouth School|title=School History|url=http://westmonmouthschool.com/school-information/school-history/|access-date= 9 March 2015}}</ref>

Urban growth continued in the twentieth century as national social reforms encouraged the provision of public housing schemes to improve the quality of housing in working class communities. Redevelopment programmes in the latter half of the century resulted in the demolition of old streets and historic buildings, as well as the creation of new road networks to relieve the increased pressure of vehicular traffic.<ref>Cadw (2012), p.14</ref>