MERTHYR-TYDVIL (MEICTHYR-TUDFYL), a parish and market-town and borough (newly created) and head of a union, in the upper
division of the hundred of CAERPHILLY, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 24 miles (N. N. W.) from Cardiff, and 175 (W. by
N.) from London; containing 84,948 inhabitants. This place derives its name from Tydvil, or Tudvyl, daughter of Brychan,
Prince of Brycheiniog in the fifth century. The latter, having towards the close of his life retired with part of his
family into this neighbourhood, was attacked by a party of Saxons and Irish Picts, who put him to death, together with his
son Rhfin Dremrudd, and his daughter Tydvil; and a church was soon afterwards erected near the scene of slaughter, in
honour of the murdered Tydvil, and received the appellation of Merthyr Tydvil, or " Tydvil the Martyr." Concerning the
earlier history of this place, now so important for the richness of its mineral produce and the vast extent of its
manufactures, very few events of general interest are recorded. It continued till the middle of the last century an
obscure village, noticed only in the Welsh annals as containing within its limits a border fortress called Mortals castle,
erected by Gilbert, Lord of Glamorgan, for the protection of his estates in this part of the principality, against the
attacks of the tenantry of the adjacent territories of the lord of Brecknoek, by whom they were frequently invaded. The
uncertain and ill-defined limits of these contiguous lordships generated perpetual feuds between their respective owners;
and the erection of the castle added materially to the acrimony with which the hostilities were conducted. In the reign of
Henry I., the castle is said to have been occupied by Ivor Bfich, a native lord of Upper Senghenydd, who from this place
is supposed to have made a descent upon Cardiff castle, and to have taken Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and his lady
prisoners, and detained them in confinement till they consented to observe the ancient cuatoms.of the country, and restore
the laws of Hywel Dde. In the time of Leland the place does not appear to have been regarded as possessing any importance:
that writer, having noticed Modals castle, makes no further mention of Merthyr, than as the parish through which '4'
Morlais riveret goith to the ripe of Tave:" the fortress was demolished by the parliamental, forces in the middle of the
seventeenth century. The first .ongregation of dissenters known to have assembled In Wales was formed here, about the year
/820, when Vavasour Powel, celebrated in the annals of non-conformity, while preaching to this congregation, was
apprehended and emit-witted to Cardiff gaol. According to a curious journal kept by the incumbent of the pariah at that
time, the dissenter, were not contented with the liberty of paying only what they pleased for tithes, but were in the
habit of entering the church in a body, during the performafice of divine service, and forcibly wresting the Bo& of Common
Prayer from the hands of the officiating minister; and when he ascended the pulpit to preach, a teacher of their i own
sect would climb up into one of the yew-trees in the churchyard, and commence an address to his followers. In June 1881,
serious dissensions arose between the workmen and the proprietors of the several mines in the parish, which were attended
with consequences much to be regretted. The workmen having assembled in a tumultuous manner, the riot act was read by the
police magistrate of the district, and the yeomanry and military, together with a company of the militia, which was then
at Cardiff, advanced to the spot, and at length succeeded in restoring order, though unhappily not without the loss of
several lives on the side of the workmen, andsome of the military being wounded. Major Falls, who commanded the regular
forces, was severely wounded at the beginning of the conflict, and the command of the military devolved upon Lieutenant-
Colonel Morgan, of the Glamorganshire militia, whose coolness, intrepidity, and judgment were subsequently eulogised by
the lord-lieutenant of the county, in his reply to an address of the gentry of Glamorganshire on the occasion. The TOWN is
situated in a mountainous district, near the extremity of the Vale of T&f, and chiefly on the eastern side of the river of
that name, by which it is partly separated from the county of .Brecknock it was formerly very irregularly built, merely
consisting of assemblages of huts, cottages, and houses, confusedly mixed together, without any regard to order or
uniformity of style or arrangement, and occupying both banks of the river, which is crossed by two bridges; but very great
improvements have been made, within the last few years, by the construction of a street forming the principal
thoroughfare, in which are some shops and houses of more modern character; and near the centre of this street one of the
largest, most commodious and splendid market-places in Wales, was built a short time since by William Meyriok, Esq., of
Gwaelod-y-Garth, and William Thomas, Fag., of Court House, in a field, which was the property of the latter gentleman, and
the remainder of which has been leased out for -building, and now contains several streets of well arranged and uniform
houses. A large market-place has also been erected at Dowlais, by the Dowlais iron Company. A mechanics' 'institute
was.established in 1829, at Dowlais, in which, since the philosophical:society at Coedyeunrmer has been discontinued,
weekly lectures are delivered on general subjects, but chiefly on mineralogy and metallurgy: !therein also a society for
the discussion, In the Welsh language, of subjects connected with the history and literature of Wales. —A theatre, Of very
inferior character as a building, and 1104valmost concealed by small houses, by which it is unwounded, was formerly opened
by a respectable itinerant company; and races were once held on Twyn-y-Waun: but, from the depressed state of the iron
trade within the last few years, both these sources of amusement have been discontinued. Cyvarthva Castle and Park form a
fine object above the town; and Pen-y-Darren House, with its gardens, is equally interesting at the other extremity. But
thegeneral aspect of the vicinity is unprepossessing, the face of nature being disfigured by towering heaps of scoria from
the iron-mines, which are undergoing continued increase, thus precluding the growth of vegetation upon them, and
exhibiting from their nakedness, in combination with the dense columns of black smoke incessantly emitted from the works,
a repulsive appearance of rudeness and gloomy sterility. In the lower part of the parish, however, and in other detached
portions, are still several well-wooded and extensive plantations. The Vale of the Ttif, at the distance of some miles
below the town, is narrow and bounded by steep hills, but expands gradually towards the part on which the town is
principally built. The parish extends about ten miles from north to south; at the northern extremity its breadth is about
five miles, but towards the south it contracts to a breadth of less than one mile. The MINERAL treasures of this district,
though not fully explored, or rendered so extensively available as they have been since the middle of the last century,
were not altogether unappreciated or neglected previously to that period, as is evident from the great heaps of scoria,
and other remains which are frequently turned up by the plough in the adjacent lands. From the simple apparatus employed
in the mining operations prior to that time, it is clear that the process must have been tedious and the produce
inconsiderable; and it appears from tradition that the ore was smelted in small blomeries. blown by bellows similar to
those used in the common forgesof smiths. About a hundred and seventy years since, some small improvements were introduced
into the operations; and works upon a more enlarged scale were constructed on the site upon which the Pen-y-Darren works
have been subsequently established, wherein the bellows were worked by a water-wheel, said to have been one of the
earliest instances of the application of water to this purpose known in the island. Charcoal was used in calcining the
ore, instead of coke, the method of preparing the latter from mineral coal being at that time unknown; and the wood for
the supply of these works is thought to have been obtained from a common contiguous to the town, called Coedycummer. To
the general use of charcoal for this purpose may be attributed the great want of timber on the districts adjoining the
town, which are known to have been in former times richly and extensively wooded.- The present extent and importance of
the iron and coal works, and the consequent enlargement of the town, and the amazing increase in the amount of its
population, are to be primarily attributed to Mr. Anthony Bacon, subsequently member of parliament for the borough of
Aylesbury, who, about the middle of the last century, in conjunction with some other gentlemen, obtained a lease for
ninety-nine years, at £200 per annum, of a mineral tract in this district, abounding with coal and iron-ore, and extending
about eight miles in length, and four in width. Mr. Bacon shortly afterwards erected a furnace and works at Cyvarthva, for
smelting the ore, and subsequently a forge for the manufacture of bar iron. The Dowlais and Plymouth works were
successively established by different companies; but they were not carried on to any great extent, or with any
considerable benefit to the proprietors. Soon after the commencement of the American war, Mr. Bacon entered into a
contract with government for supplying the different arsenals with cannon, and built at Cyvarthva a foundry, and works for
the boring' of cannon, which in 1782 be let on lease to Mr. S. Homfray, who contracted with him for all the iron produced
at Cyvarthva, at £4. 10. per ton, long weight, and for as much coal as he should require, at the rate of four shillings
per ton. Mr. Homfray, having entered into this contract for a term of fifty years, completed his establishment, and
introduced a number of the best workmen from England; be made great improvements in the machinery for boring cannon, and
also erected some forges for manufacturing bar iron; but, in consequence of some misunderstanding with Mr. Bacon, he in a
very short time disposed of his portion of the Cyvarthva works to Mr. Tanner, of Monmouth, who subsequently sold it to Mr.
Richard Crawshay, an iron- master from London. Upon his retirement from the works at Cyvarthva, Mr. Homfray, in company
with some other gentlemen, established the Pen-y-Darren iron-works, in 1784, which he conducted with very great success;
and in 1793 he discovered a method of producing what is here called Finer's metal, a discovery of the highest value and
importance in the manufacture of iron, as this valuable ingredient not only increases the quantity, but also improves the
quality of the iron. After superintending the Pen-y-Darren works for some time, Mr. Homfray projected the construction of
a canal from the Cyvarthva works at Merthyr- Tydvil to Cardiff, over a tract of country singularly difficult, from the
hilly nature of the ground; but from some disagreement that arose between the managers and the proprietors, he finally
withdrew from the concern, the control of which devolved upon Mr. Richard Crawshay, and has proved of incalculable benefit
to the county at large, and to the shareholders in particular. On the death of Mr. Anthony Bacon, his various works were
let on lease to different gentlemen; those at Cyvarthva were taken by Mr. Richard Crawshay, who had previously held that
portion of them which were originally leased to Mr. Homfmy; the works at Hirwaun, by Mr. Glover, and the Plymouth works,
by Mr. Hill. The Cyvarthva works, under the superintendence of Mr. Crawshay, who had a great amount of capital at his
command, rapidly increased in extent and improvement; and in the year 1800, that gentleman constructed an overshot water-
wheel of cast iron, fifty feet in diameter, at an expense of £4000, by the power of which the operations were greatly
accelerated. This wheel was set in motion by a stream of water brought from a considerable distance by an aqueduct eighty
feet above the bed of the river; but, after being used for a considerable time with great effect, it was at length
superseded by two steam-engines, one of eighty and the other of seventy horse power. The principal establishments in the
iron trade are, the Cyvarthva works, belonging to Messrs. Crawshay; Dowlais, belonging to Messrs. Guest, Lewis, and' Co.;
the Plymouth works, to Messrs. Hill; and the Pen-y-Darren, to Messrs. Thompson and Forman. In the year 1830, the two first
had each nine furnaces in blast, exclusively of others out of work or under repair; the third had five furnaces in
operation, and the fourth had four, making a total of twenty seven furnaces in blast. The general average quantity of pig-
iron produced from each furnace per annum is two thousand five hundred tons; but the new furnaces at Dowlais yield each
above five thousand tons annually, and the three at. the Dyfryn also average each more than four thousand five hundred. In
the same year the quantity of iron manufactured at the works collectively was sixty-six thousand five hundred tons, in the
making of which were consumed five hundred thousand tons of coal, two hundred and eighty thousand of iron-stone, and more
than one hundred thousand of limestone; and the number of men employed, including those in the mines and quarries
connected with them, was, at Cyvarthva, three thousand; at Dowlais, three thousand five hundred; at the Plymouth works,
one thousand five hundred ; and in the Pen-y-Darren works, one thousand: making a total of nine thousand persons. Since
1830, however, the works have been considerably extended; those at Dowlais having thirteen furnaces in blast; two
additional furnaces having also been built at Cyvarthva; and Plymouth having altogether seven furnaces, with the addition
of a new puddling forge and rolling-mill. In the twelve months ending the 31st January, 1840, the following quantities of
iron were conveyed down the Glamorganshire canal, from Merthyr, namely, from Dowlais 45,218 tons; Cyvarthva 35,507; Pen-y-
Darren 16,130; Plymouth 12,922; total 109,777 tons: and in addition to the iron exported, there cannot be less than 10,000
tons annually consumed at the different works in tram-plates, wheels, castings for machinery, and bar-iron for tools of
various descriptions. The quantity of iron-ore and iron-stone used annually is fully equal to 380,000 tons, of which about
90,000 are the produce of Devon, Somerset, the forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire, and the mines in Cumberland. A colliery
for the sale of coal has been opened at Waun Wyllt, and another at the Gmig; and the quantity of coal, conveyed from these
two works during the year ending January, 1840, was 25,993 tons. The stratum of coal found is excellent for smelting the
ore, and is accompanied with parallel veins of argillaceons iron-ore, which penetrate the mountains to a great depth, and
yield upon an average about thirty-five parts of metal out of a hundred; the mines are wrought by levels. The limestone is
not so strong as that in some parts of England; but it varies in quality and in colour from a deep black to a richly
variegated marble of all hues. Stone of a fine kind for millstones also exists in abundance in the mountains in the
neighbourhood. The home trade of the place, consisting chiefly of the importation of shop goods and manufactured articles
for the supply of this populous district, is very considerable; these are brought to the town by the canal from Cardiff,
chiefly from Bristol. The canal from Merthyr-Tydvil to Cardiff, better known by name of the Glamorganshire canal, was
projected originally by Mr. Homfray, while connected with the Pen-y-Darren iron-works, as related above, and was commenced
under an act of the 30th of George III., and completed under another of the 36th of the same reign, in 1796. It begins at
the Cyvarthva works; is carried over the river TM by an aqueduct, and over a line of country singularly difficult from the
hilly nature of the ground; and terminates at Cardiff, a distance of twenty-five miles, having in its whole course a total
fall of six hundred and eleven feet. About two miles and a half from the town, opposite to Troed-y-Rhiw mill, is a
powerful steam-engine, constructed by Messrs. Bolton and Watt, for raising water from the Tif, for the supply of the
canal. There are several tram-roads from the ironworks, mines, and collieries in the district. The Merthyr-Tydvil railroad
takes a course parallel with the canal from Merthyr to the aqueduct, but on the opposite side of the river, a distance of
about ten miles, by which means any interruption to the conveyance of the mineral produce during dry seasons, when the
canal is scantily supplied with water, is obviated by forwarding it on the rail, in waggons constructed for the purpose;
and in 1836 an act was obtained for making a railway from this town to Cardiff, called the Rif Vale line, with branches,
which was opened in April 1841. The value of land has increased in a ratio corresponding to the improvement of the place
in commercial and manufacturing importance. One farm in the neighbourhood, which, in the year 1775, the time when the
first furnace was erected, was let for £2. 10, per annum, now produces a rental of £50; and another, which at the same
period was let for £5, has since been advanced to £100 per annum. The increase in population has been also equally
progressive: the return according to the census of 1801, was 7705; in 1811, 11,104; in 1821, 17,404; in 1831, 22,083; and
in 1841, 34,943, of whom 9867 were in the Dowlais district. The market days are Wednesday and Saturday: in 1835 an act was
obtained for providing a marketplace and regulating the markets. A fair for cattle is held on May 14th; and at Twyn-y-
Waun on a neighbouring hill within the limits of the parish, are fairs on the first Monday in July, and the first Monday
in August, also for cattle. An act for a market-place and market at the village of Dowlais was passed in 1837, the
provisions of which, and of the act of 1835, have been carried into effect. Merthyr-Tydvil has, with the parish of
Aberdare, and the village of Coedycummer, in the adjoining parish of Vainor, county of Brecknock, been constituted a
borough by the act of 1832 for "Amending the representation, with the privilege of returning a member to parliament: the
right of voting is vested in every male person of full age occupying, either as owner or as tenant under the same
landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of at least ten pounds, provided he be capable of registering as
the act ilemands; and the number of such tenements within the limits of the borough, which are correctly detailed in the
Appendix to this work, is about eight hundred and thirty, in MerthyrTydvil and Coedycummer, and one hundred and thirty in
Aberdare: the returning officer is annually appointed by the high sheriff for the county. It is also a polling-place in
the election of knights for the shire. The parish, together with those of Aberdare and Gellygaer is under the
superintendence of a stipendiary police magistrate, appointed by act of parliament of the 10th of George IV., with a
salary of £600 per annum, one-half of which is, under the provisions of that measure, levied on the several furnaces in
the three places, and the other half by a rate on the inhabitants of Merthyr-Tydvil alone. The petty-sessions for the
upper division of the hundred of Caerphilly are held in the town. The LIVING is a rectory, rated in the king's books at
£20. 5. 7i.; present net income, £675, with a glebe-house; patron, Marquess of Bute. It is in contemplation on the death
of the present incumbent, to subdivide;his extensive parish into parochial districts, which are already marked out for
that purpose, and of which Dowlais will be one. The church, dedicated to St. Tydvil, and entirely rebuilt within the last
few years, is a spacious structure, in the later style of English architecture, with a high tower; it has recently
received three hundred and forty-four additional sittings, including two hundred and eighty-two free, in consideration of
which the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches and tha2pels granted £150 towards defraying the cost. At
Dowlais is a church, erected by theroporietors of the iron-works there, at an expense of 0; it is a neat and appropriate
edifice, containing four hundred and fifty sittings, of which one-half are free: the living is a rectory not in charge, in
the gift of the Marquess of Bute. Towards the erection of a new church at Merthyr the noble patron has given a munificent
donation of £300, Sir John Guest, Bart., £250, the Hon. Robert H. Clive, M.P. £100, and the bishop, iron- masters, and
land-owners, other sums proportionably large, aided by grants of £1000 from the Church Commissioners, and £500 from the
Church Building Society; in addition to which the patron proposes to endow the living with £50 per annum: the site
selected forms part of the glebe, and is in a very eligible spot, near the centre of the street. There are five places of
worship for Baptists, seven for Independents, two for Wesleyan; two for Calvinistic Methodists, and one for Unitarians;
all in Merthyr, exclusively of Dowlais. In the parish are several day schools, including four on the National plan, two of
which are at Dowlais, one for boys and the other for girls, maintained by the Iron-company, and the two others,
respectively for boys and girls, are supported by subscriptions, aided by small payments from the children, which are
given to the master and mistress, is addition to a salary of £50 to the former, and of £30 to the latter: Sunday schools,
also, in connexion with the church and very many of the dissenters' meeting-houses, are well attended. John Williams, in
1735, bequeathed a rent-charge of £4, one-half of which he appropriated to teaching poor children of dissenters to read
Welsh, and the other to the poor of the dissenting congregation at Merthyr; and the residue of his interest in a moiety of
the lands of Pen-yDarren farm he devised to support the Protestant dissenting minister at Merthyr. Other chapels having
subsequently sprung up in the parish, the congregation of the original one was dissolved; but one of the new buildings,
erected at Ynysgow, has bee* considered by the court of chancery a continuation of the former, and its minister now
receives the residue of the charity, which amounts to about £54 per annum, chiefly arising from the rents of houses in the
town. The rural part of the farm, consisting of about 80 acres, was let in 1784 to a company of iron masters, who have
erected on it several furnaces, and it has become most valuable from the great quantity of coal and iron-stone found
beneath the surface. The poor law union, of which Merthyr is the head, was created November 3rd, 1838, and comprises the
following nine parishes and townships: namely, Aberdare, Gellygaer, Llanvabon, Llanwonno, Merthyr- Tydvil, Rhigos, and
Ystrad-Dyvodog, in the county of Glamorgan.; and Penderin and Vainor, in the shire of Brecknock: it is under the
superintendence of 21 guardians, and contains a population of 52,864. The only vestiges of antiquity in the parish, worthy
of notice, are the remains of Morlais Castle, occupying the highest paint of a lofty hill, surrounded by a desolate tract
of country, now abounding with rabbits. The ruins of this ancient fortress, though inconsiderable, convey some idea of As
original strength; the walls inclosed a pentagonal area of no great extent. The principal apartment of the castle, though
almost buried in the rains of the other parts of the building, is yet remaining; a circular roam of about thirty feet in
diameter,with a vaulted roof supported on a single central pillar; the inner wall is divided into twelve arched
compartments, in which were originally windows: the entrance into this apartment is by a narrow gallery or passage, now so
obstructed by the ruins of the walls as to be almost inaccessible. Immediately below the ruins of the castle, the lesser
Tfif, impetuously rushing along its rugged bed to its confluence with the greater river of that name, is crossed by a
bridge of picturesque appearance, called Pont Sarn, thrown over a chasm in the limestone rock, thirty feet in width, the
sides of which are fringed with underwood, and at the base are fragments of rock obstructing the channel of the river,
which roars beneath. At a short distance above Pont Sam is a hollow in the rock, designated Dryford Cavern, into which a
spring falls from above, and in times of flood, overflowing the brink, forms a cascade of interesting and romantic
appearance. Several chalybeate springs flow from the mountains in various parts of the parish. At a place called Gethin,
between the river Tfif and the canal, are the remains of a small but very ancient furnace; and about two miles lower down,
between Getbin and the engine for supplying the canal, are the ruins of a similar one, near which, in the river, are the
oak stakes which once formed a weir, named Wattle Weir: but of the origin or history of these works nothing has been
recorded even by tradition. GwibeenTar, an eminent Welsh poet, is said to have been a native of Tavedale, in the vicinity
of the town.