Aberdulais

Aberdulais
Glamorgan
Location
Grid reference:	SS773995
Location:	51°40’51"N, 3°46’24"W
Data
Population:	2,400  (2011)
Post town:	Port Talbot
Postcode:	SA10
Dialling code:	01639
Local Government
Council:	Neath Port Talbot
Parliamentary constituency:	Neath

Aberdulais is a village in Glamorgan, lying on the River Neath. The village grew around the Aberdulais Falls, the site of successive industries and now a hydro-electric station.

Industrial history

Aberdulais has been the heart of many businesses for a number of years. The first business there was a copper smelting industry; that failed because it received only sporadic copper delivered via boat from Cornwall. The site was then chosen again by an ironworks forge. This, too, failed, but not much is known, so it is not known why. It was chosen twice to be the site for an ironworks. Between the works, Aberdulais was used as a corn watermill; that failed because it was too small scale, and the high price of corn at the time of the Corn Laws. It was then used as a tinplate site; that failed because tinplate was made redundant after the invention of the Bessemer Process.

Amenities and attractions

Local attractions include the Neath and Tennant Canal and the Cefn Coed Colliery Museum. Aberdulais Falls and the associated industrial infrastructure are in the care of the National Trust in recognition of the site's value as a key part of the region's industrial heritage. The water wheel at Aberdulais falls produces £20,000 worth of electricity that powers the site, and the surplus is sold back to the National Grid.

Notable People

• Peter Hain MP, resident

Outside links

• Cwmdulais Historical Society
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Aberdulais and surrounding area
• Aberdulais Sion Calvinistic Methodist Chapel monumental inscriptions and images

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