Welsh Icons - Towns & Villages
Gelli, Rhondda

 

Gelli, Rhondda

 Back

 Previous

Next

Photos Wanted

Do you have any photographs of this location we can use on the site?
Please email them along with a description to [email protected].
They will remain your copyright and you will be credited as the photographer.

Gelli is a village in the Rhondda Fawr valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales, situated on the southern bank of the Rhondda Fawr River. Gelli is a former coal mining village which is now a district of the larger neighbouring village of Ystrad.

Early and industrial history
The village of Gelli takes its name from a farm that was once found in the area, which translates from the Welsh language roughly as 'small wood or copse'. Before the industrialisation of the area there were few settlements in the area, mainly small agricultural and farm buildings. Archeological finds in the area have provided proof of earlier populations, mainly Bronze Age, though Gelli does house one of only two definite Romano-British finds in the Rhondda Valleys. Roman finds in the uplands of Glamorgan are scarce, but the settlement at Hen Dre'r Gelli, excavated in 1903, is the only undefended settlement of its type in the Rhondda. A lengthy archealogical report was published in 1906, but little remains of the site, with much destroyed during the construction of the Nant y Gwyddon refuse tip.

The farmlands of 19th century Gelli were owned by absentee landlords, like Crawshay Bailey and the Earl of Dunraven, who would gain from selling the areas when coal exploration began. The first pit sunk in Gelli was in the 1870s, undertaken by the firm owned by Edmund Thomas and George Griffiths. The Gelli Colliery was then purchased by brothers, John and Richard Cory who deepened the pit further. The colliery suffered a mining accident when a gas explosion in 1893 took the lives of five miners. Subsequently the pit was sold to the Powell Duffryn Company, who owned the mine until the nationalisation of the mining industry in 1947. A second pit was opened by David Davies in 1877, the Eastern Colliery, though this closed in 1937.

Modern Gelli
As with all villages in the Rhondda Valley, since the end of the coal mining industry, the area has suffered an economic depression with a history of unemployment higher than the national average. With little employment in the area apart from retail services many people commute to work outside the valley.

Gelli is neighboured by the towns of Ton Pentre and Ystrad and due to the fact that the B4223 link road, that services Llwynypia to Cwmparc, goes through Gelli it experiences fairly heavy levels of traffic. It has also suffered in the past from flooding, due to its low level in comparison to the River Rhondda, and after two serious floods in 1960 and 1970, the council responded by improving flood defenses to the Rhondda Wall.

Gelli is also home to a landfill site which has been at the centre of controversial reports connecting it with birth defects in children born in the nearby vicinity. The reports resulted in a full scale environmental report, and the decision by the local authorities to cease the dumping of domestic waste at the site.


 Schools/Colleges in Gelli:
 Ysgol G.G. Bronllwyn (Primary)
       Colwyn Road
       Gelli
       Rhondda Cynon Taff
       CF41 7NW
 01443 435294


 Chemists/Pharmacies in Gelli:
 Gelli Pharmacy
       192 Gelli Road
       Gelli
       Pentre
       Mid Glamorgan
       CF41 7NA
 01443 435101



 

[Home] [Artists] [Arts & Crafts] [Buildings] [Entertainers] [Events] [Famous Welsh] [Food & Drink] [Journalists] [Musicians] [Places] [Politicians] [Products] [Songs] [Sport] [Symbols] [Writers] [Welsh Info] [Welsh Produce] [About Us] [Vox Pop] [Our Sponsors] [Contact Us] [Facebook Fans] [Welsh News] [Welsh Shop]

All copyrights acknowledged with thanks to Wikipedia. Another site by 3Cat Design 2006-2010
Whilst we try to give accurate information, we accept no liability for loss or incorrect information listed on this site or from material embedded
on this site from external sources such as YouTube.
If you do spot a mistake, please let us know. Email: [email protected]

This Space
could be YOURS
From Just £10
a Month

Click Here to
Find Out More

Help us to keep
this Site up and running

 


Welsh News


Join us on Facebook


Follow us on Twitter

 

 

Key

Bold Red
Internal Link
Red
External Link

                 Admission Charges
                 Address
                 Arts/Galleries
                 Buses
                 B&B’s/Guest Houses
                 Campsites/Caravans
                 Castles
                 Credit Cards
                 Cricket
                 Disabled Facilities
                 Email
                 Farmers Markets
                 Fax
                 Film
                 Food
                 Football
                 Parks/Gardens
                 Golf
                 Historic Houses
                 Hotels
                 Libraries
                 Museums
                 Opening Hours
                 Places of Worship
                 Pubs/Bars
                 Rugby
                 Shops/Gifts
                 Taxis:
                 Telephone No.
                 Theatres
                 Tourist Information
                 Trains
                 Vets
                 Web Address
                 Welsh Produce
                 Youth Hostels
                 llustration(s) or photograph(s) viewable Illustration(s) or photograph(s)

 

Please help us to keep this site
running as a free resource