Lisvane 1 Lisvane
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Lisvane 1 Lisvane Lisvane Welsh: Llys-Faen Part of Parc Cefn Onn Country Park, Lisvane Lisvane Lisvane shown within Wales Population Expression error: "3,319" must be numericTemplate:Infobox UK place/trap OS grid reference ST190830 Community Lisvane Principal area Cardiff Ceremonial county Cardiff Country Wales Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town CARDIFF Postcode district CF14 Dialling code +44-29 Police South Wales Fire South Wales Ambulance Welsh EU Parliament Wales UK Parliament Cardiff North Welsh Assembly Cardiff North List of places: UK • Wales • Cardiff Lisvane (Welsh: Llys-faen, llys court+ maen stone) is a community in the north of Cardiff, the capital of Wales, located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the city centre. Lisvane 2 The village has long been considered to be one of the more affluent and desirable districts of Cardiff, and Wales. A Lisvane postcode is much sought after with house prices traditionally higher than most other areas of the city. Lisvane has 3,319 residents,[1] and comprises approximately 1,700 dwellings, a local village shop, a primary school, a community cabin library, a park, a nursery, a parish church, a war memorial, a Scout hall and community or village hall. History Early history The Welsh language name Llysfaen, or Llys Faen means ‘Stone Court’ (llys – court and faen/maen – stone). There have been several alternative spellings in the English language over the centuries such as: Lysvayen, Lucyvene, Llisuine, Lyssefayn, Lysfayn, Lucyvine, Lucyvenye, Lucyveny, Leysvayen, Les Ffayne, Lliffeni. The village probably settled on the present name form around 1630. Each early Welsh kingdom was divided into lesser administrative units, Cantrefs, which were further subdivided into Cymydau (commotes). In each commote the royal taxation house was a large building made almost certainly of stone because it had to be permanent, weather proof and thief proof. The commote of Cibbwr/Kibbor was on land between Cefn Onn ridge and the coast and most historians agree that Llysfaen was its administrative centre, however Roath has also staked a claim. There is now no indication of the actual whereabouts of the Llys Faen or Stone Court, although various theories have been advanced. The earthworks at Graig Llwyn is held to be the oldest man-made feature in Lisvane, proposed by several archeologists to be the remains of an Iron Age stronghold. Unfortunately no definite date or purpose can yet be confirmed for this earthwork. At the start of the 13th century the parish lands of Llanishen and Lisvane had been divided into Norman manors that were expected to provide food for the castle garrisoned at Cardiff. The southern facing slopes of the ridge above Lisvane with their rich agricultural land soon became the grain growing area for the supplies which were transported to Roath Mill for processing. There is a persisting local oral legend that the Cromwell family once lived briefly in the Black Griffin Inn, and also that Oliver Cromwell stayed there prior to the Battle of St Fagans in May 1648. There is no actual evidence to support this although it is feasible and he must have lodged somewhere, but it is more likely that the Inn’s only Cromwellian association is with soldiers of Cromwell’s Model army. The Tỹ Mawr The farmhouse, on the Graig slope overlooking the village, was included in the estate of the Lewis family. In 1900 part of the estate was let to Lisvane Golf Club, who established a 9-hole course there but two years later, the club moved to Radyr, taking the clubhouse with them. From just after the Second World War, the fox hounds of the local Lisvane Hunt were kennelled at Tỹ Mawr until it became a public house in the 1960s. The Llanishen and Lisvane Hunt had several homes over the years with the hunts most latterly setting off from Llan Farm on Graig Llwyn Road. The village hunt disbanded around 1997 on the death of the then hunt Master, thereby anticipating the ban on fox hunting by nearly a decade. There is a local tradition that for a period during the 1800s, Erw-wen, on Rudry Road, was also a pub or beer house, possibly called the Red Cow, although no documentary proof has yet been found. Lisvane 3 Methodist Church The Methodist Church in Lisvane seems to have had a history of building churches that do not last very well or are poorly maintained. Unlike the Norman parish church of St Denys that has stood for over seven hundred years, the first Baptist Chapel in Lisvane was built in 1789 on Chapel Road, now renamed Rudry Road, and only stood for less than thirty years until it had to be rebuilt during 1818. Less than forty years later the foundations of the second church were becoming unsafe and a third chapel was constructed, but by 1910 further renovations and repairs were necessary as it had become dilapidated. Just a hundred years later the Methodist congregation no longer supports a separate chapel building and now holds its weekly services in the Memorial Hall. Lisvane and the Cold War A few yards away from the Ordnance Survey's triangulation point on the Graig stands Lisvane’s only cold war nuclear bunker. During World War II the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) observation post stood on the Graig with its clear views over the village and the city of Cardiff. The volunteer ROC observers spotted many German Luftwaffe raids approaching across the channel and activated the air raid warnings in the Cardiff area. In early 1966 a protected nuclear fallout shelter (or bunker) was completed on the site for the ROC (OS Grid Ref: ST 1898 8508), who by the 1960s had switched from above ground aircraft spotting to underground operations with instruments to detect nuclear explosions and warn the public of approaching radioactive fallout in the event of nuclear war. The only time post members had been mobilised and volunteers spent nearly ten days underground was during the Cuban Missile Crisis as the government prepared the country for potential outbreak of war. The Lisvane nuclear bunker was abandoned by the ROC in 1991 when the Corps itself was disbanded with the end of the Cold War and as a result of recommendations in the governments Options for Change review of UK defence. The Lisvane nuclear bunker still exists but it was purchased by a mobile phone communications company who built a radio mast inside the fenced compound and sited some of their equipment in the underground facility. Governance Community Council The village has an elected community council with ten elected members. Welsh Assembly The Welsh Assembly member for Cardiff North is Jonathan Morgan. Lisvane electoral ward in Cardiff Lisvane 4 Westminster The electoral ward of Lisvane falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff North - The current MP is Jonathan Morgan (Conservatives). The ward is bounded by those of Caerphilly county borough to the north; Pontprennau & Old St. Mellons to the east; Pentwyn to the southeast; Llanishen and Cyncoed to the south; and Rhiwbina to the west. Geography Geological structure The surrounding soils are mostly a strong, brown, dry earth, well adapted for arable farming and the growing of grains of all kinds that contributed to the area being a mostly farming community until the modern era. Soils were further enriched over the millennia by alluvial deposits from the meandering River Taff and other smaller tributaries. The substratum under the whole area is a limestone and lime shale that was likely laid down under a warm ocean at some stage in the distant past and subsequently ground down by glaciers during the last ice age around 18,000 years ago. M4 motorway The neighbouring suburbs are Llanishen to the south, Thornhill to the west and Lisvane's effective northern border is the M4 motorway. The M4 corridor around Cardiff was announced in 1971 as a replacement for a northern link road that had been on the statutes since 1947 but never built. The northern 'Lisvane route' for the M4 was eventually chosen after a number of noisy public enquiries and active objections from village residents. The new motorway was completed and opened in July 1980. The Graig The Graig Hill is situated north of Lisvane. It borders on Caerphilly. There is also a quarry near the Graig which is now abandoned. The Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk runs along the top of the Graig, and has some very good walks and mountain biking routes. Particular favourites for locals include routes to the east to Rudry and the Maenllwyd Inn, and to the west to Caerphilly mountain, The Travellers Rest, and further on to Tongwynlais, Castell Coch and the Taff Trail. Demography The United Kingdom Census 2001 demographically showed that the total population of Lisvane was 3,320 which represented a seventy eight percent increase since 1971 but down by 30 since the previous 1991 Census. The average age was 42.3 years old and 66% of the adult population were married. Of the 3,320 total, children under the age of 19 accounted for 711 and people over the age of sixty five totalled 877. Only 1,515 were in full time employment and 188 of those worked exclusively from home. Of those that travelled to their place of employment 1,090 drove by private car, 74 travelled by train and 43 by bus, 34 walked, 9 cycled and 77 travelled as passengers in other vehicles. The white population accounted for 95.5% (3,158) of the residents and of the remainder 2.4% (77) were Asian, 1.23% (39) Chinese, 0.8% (25) were of mixed race and only 0.07% (21) were Black.