Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society continue the Autumn/Winter Series of illustrated talks with…

The Lost Farmsteads of Risca 1600-1980

The transformation of Risca, from Rural Parish to Modern Industrial Town

an entertaining and informative talk presented by

Mr Robert  Southall,

On Wednesday 6th March 2024
at Crosskeys RFC

Doors open at 7.00pm ready for a 7.30pm start.

Risca House farm

In the 1736 the newly created parish of Risca was remote, sparsely populated and rural. Its population was somewhere between one and two hundred individuals and there was no significant urban area.  Instead the landscape was one of scattered farms and cottages with a small number of those  clustered near to the  ancient medieval Church of  St Peter  and the single public house, the Church House Inn, now the Darran.

Cwm Byr Uchaf. The Darren

The coming of the canal in the 1790s began the transformation of the parish and by 1801, Risca had a population of 240. The railway and the coal industry were to prove the major catalysts in the shift towards industrialisation and urbanisation and by 1906 the population of the new Risca Urban District exceeded 11,000.

The change within Risca had been gradual and the transformation from an agrarian economy to an industrial one overlapped leaving vestiges of the old ways of life for much longer than other areas.

This presentation looks at the gradual replacement of the historic fields and farmsteads of the Risca area by houses, roads, schools, sports grounds and other hallmarks of the modern World and through the use of maps, census material and photographs we will explore the lost farms, the people who lived in them and scratched a living off the land in those bygone rural days.

New Pontymister Farm

Entry to the talk is FREE to CTS members or £3.00 to non-members (you can become a member of CTS for £10 on the night if you wish)

Drinks available at the Bar ~

A raffle will be held on the night (donations of prizes to the raffle are very welcome)

All proceeds go towards the work of Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society

The Lord Mayor of Cardiff passing Ty-Isaf

You could help us out and download the poster below, print it out and display it where everyone can see it.

MORE INFORMATION

Rob Southall also curates the Lost Farmsteads of Mynydd Maen Facebook page which is well worth a visit if you are interested in local history and the buildings and characters that formed the area in which we live.