Place:Mynyddyslwyn, Monmouthshire, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

Mynyddyslwyn (sometimes spelled Mynyddislwyn) was an ancient parish, a civil parish and from 1903 until 1974 an urban district. It was one of those parishes containing a predominant town with a different name--in this case, Abercarn.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Mynyddyslwyn from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"MYNYDDYSLWYN, a village, a parish, and a [registration] sub-district, in Newport [registration] district, Monmouth[shire]. The village stands 1½ mile E of the river Sirhowy, 2½ E by S of Tredegar-Junction [railway] station, and 9½ N W of Newport. The parish comprises the hamlets of Clawrplwyf, Mynydd-maen, and Penmaen; and contains the town of Abercarn, which has a post-office under Newport, Monmouth. Acres: 15,938. Real property: £29,971; of which £12,970 are in mines, £60 in quarries, £220 in iron-works, and £3,446 in railways. Population in 1851: 5,994; in 1861: 6,877. Houses: 1,393. The property is sub-divided.

"The surface is hilly and boldly undulating; and descends to the rivers Sirhowy and Ebbw. Chemical works, iron and tin-plate works, and extensive collieries are at or near Abercarn. A large tumulus, supposed to have been a beacon or signal station, is near the church. The parish is a meet for the Tyisha harriers. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Llandaff. Value: £160.* Patron: the Bishop of Llandaff. The church is large and good; and has a tower, rebuilt in 1821. The [perpetual] curacy of Penmaen is a separate benefice. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Calvinistic Methodists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. Ruins of an ancient chapel of ease are in the vicinity of Abercarn."

Wikipedia describes the urban district in the 20th century

Mynyddislwyn was a civil parish and urban district in Monmouthshire, in southeast Wales. It was abolished in local government reorganisation in 1974.

The ancient parish of Mynyddislwyn covered a large part of the lower Ebbw and Sirhowy Valleys. In 1894 the Cross Keys area was included in the urban district of Risca, and Abercarn was constituted a separate urban district.

The remainder of the parish was included in St. Mellons Rural District, and included the hamlets of Fleur-de-Lis, Gelligroes, Penmain, Pontllanfraith and Ynysddu.

On October 1, 1903 Mynyddyslwyn became an urban district. In 1935 the boundaries were adjusted with Bedwas and Machen and Bedwellty urban districts under a County Review Order.

Mynyddyslwyn Urban District was abolished in 1974, with its area passing to the borough of Islwyn, in the newly created administrative county of Gwent. Further local government reform in 1996 included the area in the county borough of Caerphilly.

St Tudor's church rarely has services now due to low attendance and a small congregation.

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