Place:Rhigos, Glamorgan, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Rhigos (sometimes Rugos) is a village in the north of the Cynon Valley, in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 894. For postal purposes it comes under the town of Aberdare, although it is some 7 miles (11 km) from Aberdare town centre, and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Glynneath.

Rhigos lies at the apex of the Cynon Valley and the Vale of Neath. Glynneath is in Neath Port Talbot, while Rhigos is in Rhondda Cynon Taf. But before 1974 both were located in Neath Rural District. The village lies just off the old Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glynneath before the A465 road was extended. The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos and Cwm-Hwnt lie to the west of the main village.

The name Rhigos is an adaptation of the Welsh Y Rugos (y + grug + collective suffix os) meaning "the heath". Originally farmland until the late 1700s, the village developed in the Industrial Revolution through the mineral industry, extracting coal, iron ore and limestone. At least one of the coalmines was opencast and stayed in business until 2008 while deep mines closed in the 1980s and 1990s. The neighbouring parish of Hirwaun had a large ironstone works in the early 19th century.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Glamorgan Lots of leads to other sources and descriptions of former parishes.
• The FamilySearch Wiki on Glamorgan has recently been updated (early 2016) and looks remarkably like Wikipedia. Their map "Glamorgan Parish Map.jpg" enlarges to show all the original parishes. The sub-section "Parishes of Historic Glamorgan" lists all the parishes of Glamorgan and the newer preserved counties and principal areas in both English and Welsh. (Currently this website is still under construction.)

Maps

The first three maps are provided by A Vision of Britain through Time

• A map of 1832 showing larger towns and some villages (not as good as the England county maps in this series).
• Ordnance Survey map of Glamorgan illustrating the parishes, rural districts, urban districts and boroughs as revised to 1899.
• A 1930s Ordnance Survey map of Glamorgan illustrating the parishes, rural districts, urban districts and boroughs as revised to 1944.

These maps were found on Wikimedia Commons

• Glamorgan Administrative Map 1947 separating the various types of administrations with colour coding. These division were most likely in place until 1974.
• A map of Wales outlining the prinicipal areas of Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
• A map of Wales outlining the prinicipal areas of West Glamorgan
• A map of the Vale of Glamorgan principal area with the western part of Cardiff included

These maps of Glamorgan post-1974 were found on another site and are very useful for sorting out the up-to-date geography of the area

• A map of West Glamorgan showing the two principal areas and the towns located in them.
• A map of South Glamorgan showing the two principal areas and the towns located in them.
• A map of Bridgend, Merthyr and Rhondda showing the three principal areas and the towns located in them. The description states that this is "formerly part of Mid Glamorgan".
• A map of Caerphilly, Blaenau and Torfean showing the three principal areas and the towns located in them.