Edge Rewrite
pun Source code View original
Jump to content

// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Sirhowy a knight? Sir-how-y.

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sirhowy
The remnants of the Sirhowy Ironworks
Sirhowy is located in Blaenau Gwent
Sirhowy
Sirhowy
Location within Blaenau Gwent
OS grid referenceSO144101
Community
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTREDEGAR
Postcode districtNP22
Dialling code01495
PoliceGwent
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Blaenau Gwent
51°46′59″N 3°14′46″W / 51.782990°N 3.246011°W / 51.782990; -3.246011

Sirhowy (Welsh: Sirhywi) is a village in the Sirhowy Valley (Welsh: Glyn Sirhywi) and the county of Blaenau Gwent in South East Wales. It is located 0.83 miles (1.34 km) north east of Tredegar, 1.44 miles (2.32 km) north west of Ebbw Vale, and 16.73 miles (26.92 km) north west of Newport. The Sirhowy River flows past the west of the village,[1] while the A4048 runs near it.

History

[edit]

The toponymy of Sirhowy

[edit]

Tredegar-born historian Oliver Jones (1969) discussed the toponymy of Sirhowy:

     'At different times the name has been rendered as Sirhowey, Sirowi, Sroway and Sirowy, all of which stem from the poets, lease-writers and map-makers of the past. The uncertainty of its spelling is clearly shown as early as 1590 in an old document connected with the Manor of Abercarn in which reference is made to "the land called Rue Cam y Boulthe in the place called Glynne Sirowy on the east side of the stream called Sirowye. ... "Sirhowy" in the opinion of Eiddil Gwent,[2] the first of our local historians, is derived from Siriol Gwy, "siriol" meaning pleasant or charming and "gwy" an old Welsh word for water - the name meaning Pleasant Water.'[3]

English historian and archdeacon William Coxe cited 'Sorwy' six times in his 1801 book 'Historical Tour of Monmouthshire'.[4] In his last citation he referred to 'the banks of the Sorwy'.[5] Like Coxe, Jones observed that 'References taken from many sources show [the original name] to be Sorwy'.[6] However Jones also observed that 'many different spellings' existed, which he attributed to the English writers who had difficulties in pronouncing the name.

In his 1971 'History of Ebbw Vale', Ebbw Vale-born Arthur Gray-Jones added a different slant to the origin of the name 'Sirhowy'. Having complimented the 1969 'Early Years [sic] of Sirhowy and Tredegar' by Jones as 'admirable',[7] he documented that 'the highest reaches of the Monmouthshire valleys were formerly known as the "Wilds"'[8] and that the 'oldest local names date from [an] early Celtic period'.[9] Finally he cited as an example of a local name, 'Sirhowy - Sorwydd or perhaps Siriolwydd - sor, sullen or siriol, cheerful stream.'[9]

The Ironworks

[edit]

Academic historian John Edward Lloyd documented that the Revd. Henry Burgh of Monmouth succeeded to what he described as 'the Sirhowy lands (with other considerable property)' upon the death of his father, John Burgh of Troy (near Monmouth)[10] and that, in 1778, his son, Charles Henry Burgh, granted a lease to John Sealy and Bolton Hudson, grocers and teamen of the City of London, and Thomas Atkinson a merchant of Skipton in Yorkshire, and William Barrow, a grocer and teaman also from the City of London:

'to build such and so many Furnaces, Forges, Foundries, Mills, Engines, Storehouses, buildings, etc., for the placing and keeping of ore, coal, and charcoal for the making and manufacturing of iron, as the said John Sealy and others may think convenient.'[11]

Of the partners, only Atkinson seems to have had experience in iron manufacturing. Jones (1969) described him as 'the leading partner'.[12] Gray-Jones (1971) essentially explained why. He described Atkinson as being 'an experienced ironmaster', 'having been producing iron near Ulverston in N. Lancashire'.[13]

Local historian Philip Prosser (1990) documented that (having been granted a lease) the leaseholders built an iron furnace[14] to meet 'the demand for iron for munitions [for] the Seven Years War of 1756-1763 and the American War of Independence 1775-1783'.[13][15] A flurry of legal documents followed which were signed by various parties. Initially, in 1794, with only Barrow remaining from the leaseholders, 'Articles of Agreement' were entered into between him and the Rev. Matthew Monkhouse of Monmouth and Richard Fothergill[16] of Clapham, London, who Lloyd described as being 'joint proprietors of the Sirhowy Iron Works'[17] operated the ironworks.[18]

Until the end of 1817, Fothwergill and Monkhouse held the lease for the property.[19] Then, by 1818, James Harford of Harford, Partridge and Co. of Ebbw Vale had bought 'all the ownership rights of the Sirhowy Company',[20] which then comprised 'three blast furnaces, collieries and iron ore mines'.[19] However, by 1877 the works was overproducing iron. Consequently it was partly demolished. Nevertheless it continued to produce coke until 1905.[21]

The ironworks are of regional and national significance, and are well preserved.[21] The remains of the site include the three masonry arches, furnace base, waterwheel tunnel, and other earthworks.[21] It is a scheduled monument listed by Coflein and Visit Wales and is open to visitors.

Governance

[edit]

Sirhowy is covered by an electoral ward of the same name,[22] however this covers a far larger area to the northwest of the village. The population of the ward in 2011 was 5,630.[23] The ward's Councillors are Brian Thomas (Ind, Sirhowy), Malcolm Cross (Lab, Sirhowy), and Tommy Smith (Lab, Sirhowy).[24] The area is represented in the Senedd by Alun Davies (Labour)[25] and the Member of Parliament is Nick Smith (Labour).[26]

Facilities

[edit]

Facilities in Sirhowy include a Tai Calon Community Housing centre named Star Centre, Welsh Government funded Flying Start hub,[27][28] one pub, one restaurant, an IndyCube co-working space, and two garages. The Gwent Heritage voluntary group has extensively documented the history of the area as far back as its mining establishment. The group's branch meets regularly to contribute to the collection of materials covering the region.[29]

The village was previously served by the defunct Sirhowy railway station. The village is now a 40-minute walk 2.2 miles (3.5 km) from Ebbw Vale Town railway station.[30] Services run to and from Cardiff Central from the village. In 2021 services will also run to Newport.[31] The village is served by three bus services: the 'X4' (Cardiff to Brynmawr/Abergavenny), the 'E11' (Ebbw Vale to Tredegar) and the '97' (Ebbw Vale to Peacehaven).

Tourism

[edit]
Pen-deri farm and the hamlet of Gwrhay taken from on the Sirhowy Valley Walk climbing up from Argoed.

The Sirhowy Valley Rridgeway Walk is available to walkers. The Sirhowy area is popular with rock climbers because the geology of the area offers 'one of the best chunks of quarried sandstone in the area'.[32] The magazine 'UK Climbing' describe this as providing a 'brilliant line-up of fingery wall climbs' and 'plenty of excellent (slightly) easier climbing on some of the best rock around.'[32]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Sirhywi, Blaenau Gwent (or Sirhowy) (Sirhowy) - area information, map, walks and more". OS GetOutside. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. ↑ Eiddil Gwent was the bardic name of David Morris (c. 1798/1878), see Jones 1959 and Roderick 1981.
  3. ↑ Jones 1969, p. 12.
  4. ↑ Coxe 1801.
  5. ↑ Coxe 1801, p. 262.
  6. ↑ Jones 1969, p. 13.
  7. ↑ Gray-Jones 1971, p. 6.
  8. ↑ Gray-Jones 1971, p. 10.
  9. 1 2 Gray-Jones 1971, p. 11.
  10. ↑ Joseph Alfred Bradney documented on page 168 in Volume II Part I of his A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time that John Burgh of Troy was the steward of the Duke of Beaufort.
  11. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 145.
  12. ↑ Jones 1969, p. 30.
  13. 1 2 Gray-Jones 1971, p. 38.
  14. ↑ Prosser 1990.
  15. ↑ The furnace 'stood near the confluence of Nant Melin brook and the river Sirhowy at the place then called Aber-Sirhowy.' (Jones 1969, p. 30) It initially supplied Tredegar Ironworks and then the Ebbw Vale Ironworks with pig iron.
  16. ↑ Ychwanegol 1959.
  17. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 147.
  18. ↑ The furnace was one of the first coke furnaces in South Wales (Pickin 1982), following the first-known use of it by Abraham Darby in 1709. Coal for the furnace was obtained from Bryn Bach and Nantybwch, the first small scale coal mining operation in the area.
  19. 1 2 Gray-Jones 1971, p. 76.
  20. ↑ Lloyd 1906, p. 149.
  21. 1 2 3 "Sirhowy Ironworks, Tredegar (34141)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  22. ↑ "Blaenau Gwent CBC: Councillor Derrick Bevan". www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  23. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Sirhowy Ward (as of 2011) (W05000764)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  24. ↑ "Blaenau Gwent CBC: Councillor Directory". www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  25. ↑ "Member Profile". National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  26. ↑ "Nick Smith MP, Blaenau Gwent". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  27. ↑ Moffett, Liam (18 March 2015). "Blaenau Gwent Flying Start hub opens its doors". walesonline. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  28. ↑ "Blaenau Gwent CBC: Flying Start". www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  29. ↑ "Cwm & Waunlwyd | Community archive | A group in the Gwent Heritage network of community archives". Cwm & Waunlwyd. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  30. ↑ "Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent (or Glyn Ebwy)(Glyn Ebwy) - area information, map, walks and more". Ordnance Survey Get Outside. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  31. ↑ "Restoration of Newport-Ebbw Vale rail link on track for 2021". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  32. 1 2 "Sirhowy". www.ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.

References

[edit]
  • Coxe, William (1801). Historical Tour of Monmouthshire Part the Second. London: T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  • Gray-Jones, Arthur (1971). A history of Ebbw Vale (Second impression ed.). Arthur Gray-Jones. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  • Jones, Oliver (1969). The early days of Sirhowy and Tredegar. Tredegar: Tredegar Historical Society.
  • Jones, Thomas Isfryn (1959). "Morris, David (Eiddil Gwent; c. 1798 - 1878), author (1919-1990), writer". In Johnston, Dafydd; Gruffydd Jones, Elin Haf (eds.). Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  • Lloyd, John (1906). The early history of the old South Wales Iron Works (1760 to 1840). London: Bedford Press.
  • Pickin, John (1982). "The ironworks at Tintern and Sirhowy". Gwent Local History. 52 (Spring): 3–9. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  • Prosser, Philip (1990). A look at old Tredegar in photographs (Volume 1 ed.). Old Bakehouse Publications.
  • Roderick, Alan (1981). "A history of the Welsh Language in Gwent Part Two". Gwent Local History. 51 (Autumn): 2–32. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  • Ychwanegol, Dolenni (1959). "Fothergill family, iron-masters, etc.". In Johnston, Dafydd; Gruffydd Jones, Elin Haf (eds.). Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sirhowy&oldid=1361077343"