Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen
| Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen | |
| Glamorgan | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SN705115 |
| Location: | 51°47’14"N, 3°52’44"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 4,240 (2011[1]) |
| Post town: | Ammanford |
| Postcode: | SA18 |
| Dialling code: | 01269 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Neath Port Talbot |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Neath |
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is a village in north-west Glamorgan hard against the border with Carmarthenshire. The village is located five miles east of the nearest town of Ammanford in that county and nearly twenty miles north of Swansea. Nearby villages include Cwmgors, Brynaman, Tairgwaith, Cwmllynfell, Glanaman and Garnant.
Etymology
The name Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is believed to be an alteration of what was originally gwaun cegerwen (i.e. "white hemlock heath" in the Welsh language, ceger being a dialect form of cegid).[2] In local usage, the name is often shortened to "Y Waun", meaning "the heath" in Welsh.
Sport
Cwmgors RFC play their home games at Parc-y-werin, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen. Their clubhouse is also situated at New Road, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen.
Pwll-y-Wrach
At one time, almost all of the land of The Waun was owned by the Jones Family who also owned the "Pwll-y-Wrach Estate". It was run by the Head and later by their sons (and spouses). They still own parts of the land of the village but most has been sold off. Both farmhouses connected to the Estate are still standing. They are: Pwll-y-Wrach and Glangwrach. Pwll y Wrach is the main house where the head of the family lived.
It is no longer a farming estate but remains to own much of the land in the village. The name means the Witch's Pool in English, because of an old myth that the witches lived in it because of the greeny-blue colour and would sometimes come out to haunt the locals.
Notable natives
- Sir Gareth Edwards, former Wales and British Lions rugby player; a street, Maes Gareth Edwards, is named after him
- Dame Siân Phillips, actress
- Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Llandaff
- Lizzie Woods, National Organiser, Labour Representation Committee and leader of the dispute to award cleaners working in royal palaces the London Living Wage