Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/829

Rh MERTHYR-MAWR. 821 MERTON. parish, which abounds in hills, is email. The village consists of a few farmhouses and cottages. The living is a rect. in the dioo. of Llandaff, val. 109. The church is dedicated to St. Dovanus. The parochial charities produce about 4 per annum. MERTHYR-MAWR, a par. in the hnnd. of Ogmore, co. Glamorgan, 2 miles S.W. of Bridgend, its post town. It is situated on the river Ogmore, near the coast, and was formerly held by the Siwards and Stradlings, who had a seat here. It is a email rustic place. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dice, of Llandaff, val. 69. The church is dedicated to St. Teilaw. Merthyr House is the principal residence, in the grounds of which are two sculptured crosses. MERTHYR-TYDFIL, a par., market town, and par- liamentary borough, in the hund. of Caerphilly, co. Glamorgan, 17 miles from Brecon, and 20 from Aberga- venny. It has stations on the Vale of Neath and Taff Vale railways. There are also several tramroads from the ironworks, mines, and collieries in this rich mineral district to the basin of the Glamorganshire canal, which traverses the country from Merthyr-Tydfil to Cardiff, where it terminates in a floating harbour, opening into Peuarth Roads. The town of Merthyr is situated near the northern boundary of Glamorganshire, at the head of the vale of Taff, celebrated for its rich and thick veins of coal, in juxtaposition with parallel veins of argil- laceous iron ore, which penetrate the mountains to a great depth, and yield, upon an average, thirty-five parts of metal out of one hundred. Previous to 1755, it was an inconsiderable village, at which time the late Mr. Bacon obtained a lease of ninety-nine years from Lord Talbot, of Hensol, of the mineral ground, about 8 miles long by 4 broad, at the rate of 200 per annum. He erected a furnace at Cyfartha, and supplied the government with cannon until 1783, when he disposed of this mineral region in bases, having previously realised an immense property. Since this period it has gradually increased m population, numbering in 1851, C3,080, and in 1861, 83,844 inhabitants, including the neighbouring works of Penydarren, Cyfartha, and Dowlais, and the vil. of Coed-y-cumar, with the adjoining par. of Aberdare, which are included within the borough. Although the metropolis of the iron trade, and the producer of almost incalculable wealth, it was till within the last few years a dirty, neglected place, badly supplied with water and unpaved. As may be expected, the usual consequences of such a state of things manifested themselves in the high mortality as compared with the neighbouring towns, and in the frequent recurrence of fever, small pox, and cholera. Great improvement'* have, however, been re- cently made, and the streets are now paved and lighted with gas, and extensive waterworks are in course of con- struction. The town is situated 500 feetabove the sea-level, and is drained by the river Taff, which flows through it. The central part is almost wholly composed of long rows of workmen's cottages, without architectural adornment of any kind, but on the S. side of the town a suburb of neat villa residences has sprung up. It has no public buildings of any interest, the only places worth mention being the theatre, banks, philosophical society, several book clubs, and three market-places. The members of the Temperance societies are very numerous, as are also the Odd Fellows, both of which fraternities frequently parade the streets in holiday attire. The life and trade of Merthyr are wholly absorbed in the numerous iron- works in the vicinity, which arc the most extensive in any part of England, including the two vast concerns of Dowlais and Cyfartha, which are like townships in them- selves, sprung solely from the iron manufactory under the spirited direction of Sir John Guest, Lewis, and Co., and the Messrs. Crawshay; the former establishment producing above 1,000 tons of iron bars, rails, and rods per week, employing upwards of 4,000 hands, and the latter about 900 tons of cast iron per week, the greater part of which is converted into malleable iron. Besides the Cyfartha, which are said to be the neatest and best arranged works in all South Wales, the Messrs. Crawshay possess the Hirwain Works, situated about 6 miles from VOL. n. Merthyr. The Pen-y-darren Iron Company also pro- duced about 500 tons of malleable iron per week, but these works have been recently closed from pecuniary difficulties, a serious blow to the town and trade of Mer- thyr generally. The first locomotive steam-engine was constructed hero in 1S05, by Messrs. Vivian and Treve- thick, who tried it on the Taff Vale line, or rather tram- way, and the experiment was so far successful that the engine proceeded as far as Pontypridd, and there came to a stand. At a short distance from the town on the side of Mynydd Aberdare, stands Cyfartha Castle, the modern residence of Mr. Crawshay, and about three miles to the N., on the top of a mountain, are the ruins of the ancient Castle of Morlais, said to have been the seat of the King of Brecon, but dismantled by the parliamen- tary army in the reign of Charles I. The petty sessions for the upper div. of the hund. of Caerphilly are held in the town, which is a polling-place for the county elections. By the late Act for amending the representation of the people, Merthyr-Tydfil was constituted a borough in conjunction with the adjoining parish of Aberdaro and the village of Coed-y-cumar, in the parish of Vainor, with the privilege of returning one member to parliament. The tjorough is under the superintendence of a stipendiary police magistrate, appointed by Act of Parliament of the 10th of George IV. The cleaning and lighting of the streets are under the superintendence of a local board of health. It is also the head of new County Court and superintendent registry districts. The living is a rect.* in the dioc of Llandaff, val. 675. The church is a plain structure, with an inscribed slab in the outer wall, re- presenting " Arthur," a brother of St. Tydfil, to whom it is dedicated. The new church of St. David is also a neat building, erected in 1846. There are also two dis- trict churches, viz. at Pont-y-Rhun and Cyfartha, the livings of which are perpet. curs. The various denomi- nations of Protestant Dissenters have places of worship, and there is a Roman Catholic chapel. The state of education is advancing rapidly in this neighbourhood, and most of the young people can now read and write, which was not the case some twenty years ago. There are National, infant, and denominational schools, but the Sunday-schools are the most regularly attended, numbering above 6,000 scholars. Market days are Wednesday and Saturday. Fairs for cattle are held at Merthyr on the 14th May, and at a place called Twyn- y-Waun, in this parish, on the first Mondays in July and August. MERTON, a par. in the W. div. of the hund. of Brixton, co. Surrey, 1 mile N.W. of Mitcham, 5 miles W. of Kingston, and near the Wimbledon station on the London and South- Western railway, which passes close to the village. Merton Bridge is its post town. It is supposed to have been the place where the murder of Cynewulf, King of Wessex, took place, in 784,andwherea battle was fought between the Danes and Saxons in 871. It is spelled in Domesday Book Meretune, and was for- merly held by King Harold II. A mitred Austin abbey was founded here in 1115 by Gilbert-le-Nonnan, sheriff of Surrey. Henry I., in 1121, granted to the community a charter of incorporation, and the manor of Morton towards the erection of the church of St. Mary, where Hubert do Burgh fled for sanctuary from Henry III. A parliament was held at the priory in 1236, at which the Statutes of Merton were passed. On that occasion the prelates tried to bring in the Roman or Civil Law, but were mot by the barons with the well-known reply, "Ifolumw leges Anglice mtttari." Here was concluded the peace between the king and the barons, by Gaulo the - papal legate. A portion of the inhabitants are employed in the calico-print and copper works, and some few in hat-making. The village, which consists chiefly of one street, is situated on the small river Wandle, over which a bridge was built in 1633, uniting this parish with those of Wimbledon and Mitcham. Most of the houses are modern. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 145. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient Norman edifice of flint, with a low-spired tower containing three bells. It was built by the founder 6n