History of Maesteg

The earliest settlement in the Llynfi Valley was sited at the Bwlwarcau Iron Age Hill fort near to Llangynwyd Village, which dates back some  2,000 years. Surrounding the Maesteg Area there is significant evidence of settlements from the Bronze Age, such as the ones at  Carn Llechart, Carn Bugail and Crug yr Afan  these date back to nearly 4,000 years ago, Maesteg is also close to the Gower, where the oldest remains of man have been found in the United Kingdom, dating from 26,350 years ago +/- 500 years.

Until the early nineteenth century Maesteg remained a small rural village, with the surrounding area  made up of smaller villages; with Llangynwyd being regarded as the principal village, due to it having the oldest and most developed infrastructure in the valley.
Maesteg began to develop and expand as the techniques of the Industrial Revolution began to grow in South Wales. Iron became the major source of employment  with the opening of the Iron Works in the 1820s. This was fuelled by coal seams which also existed in the valley.
A second Iron works was set up about ten years later, and the two companies were bought  by Sir John Bowring in 1843. Sir Bowring left Maesteg in 1848, when he was put in charge of the British consulate in Canton, he then became Governor of Hong Kong (1854-59).

The Bowring family has left a lasting legacy on the town; John Street in Nantyffyllon is named after him. There also exists the Bowrington Arcade, which was built at the end of the nineteenth century at the corner of Neath Road and Llynfi Road in the Town Centre.

By 1886, Iron making had ceased in Maesteg, so started a dark period in Maesteg's history; however, work in the coal industries had began, with the sinking of Garth colliery in 1864 and another 5 collieries were sunk before the end of 1908. 

Collieries in the Llynfi Valley

The Death of the coal Industry
 Caerau and Coegnant colleries were closed before the Miners' Strike of 1984/1985. St John's was closed that same year, but still before it's natural end, this caused harsh economic hardship  for many of the population of Maesteg during the mid/ late 1980s
 

Since the demise of the coal mining industry in Maesteg, it has seen little, if any, heavy industry. Maesteg was little prepared for the closure of the mines in the 1980s and this lead to high unemployment which was exacerbated by the nationwide recession of the early 1990s.

The economic climate has improved in recent years; there are several large factories, one making cosmetics, another making rubber and another making insulation , along with a paper mill which employ large numbers of people in the town. Service industries especially in the retail sector also employ large numbers of people. Maesteg has some nationwide retail chains, such as Woolworths, New Look, Wilkinson and a Somerfield supermarket, along with Tesco . Maesteg has also retained and encouraged small shops within its Town Centre.

It is unlikely that Maesteg will ever develop any serious heavy industry again because of its location; whilst the Llynfi Valley is the widest valley in South Wales, it only has one main road which stretches the length of the valley giving poor access to Bridgend and the M4 motorway.

 

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