Handbook to Cardiff and the Neighborhood (With Map)
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HANDBOOK British Asscciation CARUTFF1920. BRITISH ASSOCIATION CARDIFF MEETING, 1920. Handbook to Cardiff AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (WITH MAP). Prepared by various Authors for the Publication Sub-Committee, and edited by HOWARD M. HALLETT. F.E.S. CARDIFF. MCMXX. PREFACE. This Handbook has been prepared under the direction of the Publications Sub-Committee, and edited by Mr. H. M. Hallett. They desire me as Chairman to place on record their thanks to the various authors who have supplied articles. It is a matter for regret that the state of Mr. Ward's health did not permit him to prepare an account of the Roman antiquities. D. R. Paterson. Cardiff, August, 1920. — ....,.., CONTENTS. PAGE Preface Prehistoric Remains in Cardiff and Neiglibourhood (John Ward) . 1 The Lordship of Glamorgan (J. S. Corbett) . 22 Local Place-Names (H. J. Randall) . 54 Cardiff and its Municipal Government (J. L. Wheatley) . 63 The Public Buildings of Cardiff (W. S. Purchox and Harry Farr) . 73 Education in Cardiff (H. M. Thompson) . 86 The Cardiff Public Liljrary (Harry Farr) . 104 The History of iNIuseums in Cardiff I.—The Museum as a Municipal Institution (John Ward) . 112 II. —The Museum as a National Institution (A. H. Lee) 119 The Railways of the Cardiff District (Tho^. H. Walker) 125 The Docks of the District (W. J. Holloway) . 143 Shipping (R. O. Sanderson) . 155 Mining Features of the South Wales Coalfield (Hugh Brajiwell) . 160 Coal Trade of South Wales (Finlay A. Gibson) . 169 Iron and Steel (David E. Roberts) . 176 Ship Repairing (T. Allan Johnson) . 182 Pateift Fuel Industry (Guy de G. Warren) . 188 Silica and Firebrick Industry (P, N. F. Sheppard) . 197 Agriculture (Hubert Alexander) . 200 . PAGE Scientific Societies (Gilbert D. Shepherd) . 204 Meteorology of Cardiff and District (Edward Walford) . 2 The Botany of Cardiff District (E. Vachell) . 2 The Zoology of the District (T. W. Proger, H. M. Hallett, H. Edgar Salmon, J. R. Le B. Tomlin, and J. Davey Dean) . 2 The Geology of the Cardiff District (Arthur Hubert Cox) 2 List of Books on the Natural History, Topography, and Antiquities of Cardiff and District (Wvndham Morgan) . 2 Cardiff and Neighbourhood, PREHISTORIC REMAINS. Bij JOHN WARD, M.A., F.S.A. " For the purposes of this sketch, the " Cardiff District is all the land on the north side of the Bristol Channel which lies within a circle having Cardiff for its centre and a radius of 25 miles. This circle contains the eastern two-thirds of Glamorgan ; all Monmouthshire, less about a fifth on the north and north-east ; an irregular strip of south Brecon- shire, and a small fraction of Gloucestershire in the extreme east. Besides Cardiff, the region contains the important towns of Newport and IMerthyr Tydfil, and the smaller towns of Bridgend, Cowbridge, Barrj-, Penarth, Pontj-pridd, Dowlais, Aberdare, and Caerphilly, in Glamorgan ; and Pontypool, Usk, Tredegar, Abertillery, Blaenafon, Aber- sychan, Abergavenny, and Chepstow, in Monmouthshire. Some of these are towns of ancient lineage, and some are of phenomenally recent growth with names familiar in their connection with coal. In studying the ancient remains (Roman and mediaeval as well as the earlier), a prominent feature in the physio- graphy of the district should be kept in mind, as it has to a considerable degree determined their distribution. The Great Western main line from Cardiff to Bridgend and beyond, passes through an undulating fertile country, dotted with ancient villages and exhibiting all the signs of having long been under cultivation. It is known as the Vale of Glamorgan, and is bounded on the south by the sea and on the north by a range of lofty hills. These hills are the scarp of a more elevated country which is sculptured in bolder relief and furrowed by deep valleys with interv^ening heights, bare and wind-swept. These uplands stretch northwards into Breconshire T^ith increasing elevations. Along the southern fringe, heights ranging from 800 to 1,000 feet are attained, but these are doubled before the northern 2 Cardiff. border of our district is reached. Eastwards, the uplands extend into Monmouthshire to the vicinities of Pontypool and Abergavenny, and their extent is indicated by a broken line on our first map. This line is the 400-feet contour which admirably serves the purpose, as few hills in the lowlands exceed that height, and only the deeper valleys in the uplands have their bottoms below that level. The rest of Monmouthshrie which comes within our purview, has not the bold relief of Glamorgan, but there is a con- siderable tract between Wentwood and the Wye which rises above the 400-feet contour, but it nowhere exceeds 932 feet. In its prehistoric remains, our district is decidedly rich. It would probably be difficult to find elsewhere in our island so many tumuli crowded within a space of the size of the portion of Glamorgan which comes within our range , or camps so thickly strewn as those of south and south-east Mon- mouthshire. Yet, unfortunately, it cannot be said that they have received the comprehensive and systematic study they deserve, and very few of them have been subjected to the most important implement of archaeo- logical research—the spade. In these respects they contrast with the Roman remains which also are numerous and important, but have been extensively explored and studied, and have materially widened ovir knowledge of Roman Britain. Palaeolithic Remains.—Nothing has been found in our district which has been satisfactorily assigned to palaeolithic man, although just beyond its eastward fringe, the Doward caves, and similarly beyond the western, those of Gower, have yielded important remains of that era. Chambered Tumuli.—There are within our district seven undoubted chambered tumuli. The largest is at Tinkins- wood, near St. Nicholas. The chamber is a fine example of megalithic construction, and the capstone (22ft. 4in. by 15ft. 2in.) is considered to be the largest in Great Britain, but is probably not the heaviest in consequence of its relative thinness. The mound, which has an approximately Prehistoric Remains. 3 east and west orientation with the chamber near the former end, has been much reduced, especially on the south side, by the removal of stones centuries ago, and probablity was during this process that the south side of the chamber was destroyed and the contents scattered. The remains were excavated in 1914, with results that exceeded expectations. The cairn was found to be in length, 130ft., and in width, 58ft. Sin. at the eastern end and 55ft. at the opposite end, and to be enclosed in the remains of a retaining-wall faced with quarried stones neatly fitted together. On the east, this revetment, instead of returning straight as on the other sides, curved inwards at a short distance from each corner and flanked a spacious approach to the chamber, the entrance to which was near the north corner. The great stones of its front had been clothed with a sloping wall, which apparently reached the capstone, the projecting edge of which would form a rude cornice. The entrance had been closed with a roughly squared flagstone which was found fallen inwards and broken. The scattered contents of the chamber consisted of human bones, all in a fragmentary condition, with a small number of sherds of handmade pottery and several bits of flint. The bones were submitted to Dr. Arthur Keith, F.R.S., who reported that they repre- sented at least fifty individuals, male and female, from infants to adults of seventy years of age. As the capstone was fractured and in a dangerous condition, a stone pier was introduced to ensure its safety ; and the retaining walls of the front of the tumulus were partially restored, the restoration being in herring-bone work to distinguish it from the ancient masonry. (" Arch. Camb." 1915, p. 253 ; 1916, p. 239.) A mile to the south-east, and near Maes-y-felin farm, is a similar chambered tumulus, with a similar orientation. Although on a smaller scale, the chamber, instead of being half-buried like that of Tinkinswood, stands more revealed, and for this reason is better known than its neighbour. West of Bridgend and between Laleston and Tv'thegston is a little-known tumulus of the kind. It is, in its present 4 Cardiff. condition, oval, but somewhat irregular, about 80ft. in length and G or 7 ft. high. On the summit lies a large thick slab (about 15ft. by 6ft. 8in.), which almost certainly is the capstone of a buried chamber. It is curious that so promising a site should have received so little attention from the archaeologist and the topographer. On the south side of the lane to Cae-yr-Arfan Farm, near Creigiau Station, are the remains of a chamber partly incorporated in the lane wall. The capstone (about 10ft. by 5ft., but originally wider) is in position, but the structure is in a ruinous condition. There is now no sign of a mound, though fifty years ago there were visible traces " of one on the south. Arch. Camb." 1875, p. 181 : 1913, p. Ill : 1915, p. 420.) Near Dj'ffryn, on the west side of Tredegar Park, are the remains of another. The mound, which is much reduced, has an east and west orientation, and the chamber, now a mere wreck, is near the former or wider end. Three of the uprights remain standing, but the capstone has been pushed off and is partially buried in the ground. These remains, although very conspicuous, are not marked on the Ordnance Survey. (Bagnall-Oakeley, " Rude Stone INIonuments, etc." •' p. 11 ; Arch. Camb." 1909, p. 271.) " Near Newchurch, Caerwent, is a megalithic chamber in a semi-wrecked condition, known as " Gaer Iwyd." No plan or measured drawing of it has been published and the published information is meagre.