Neath, Glamorgan

Description
Neath, a market-town, a municipal and parliamentary borough, the head of a poor-law union, petty sessional division, and county court district, a seaport, and a parish in Glamorgan. The town stands on the river Neath, the Neath Canal, near the Julian Way or Sam Helen Way, the G.W.R., and the Neath and Brecon railway, 8 miles NE of Swansea, 39 WNW of Cardiff, and 196 distant by railway from London. It dates from very early times, and was called Nedd by the ancient Britons, and Nidum or Nidus by the Romans. A castle was built at it by Jestyn ap Gwrgan, and was rebuilt by Richard de Granville, to whom Robert Fitzhamon gave the manor at the conquest of Glamorgan. An abbey was founded on the bank of the river about half a mile from the town, in 1111, by Richard de Granville; belonged at first to Grey friars, but passed to Cistercians; was visited by King John in 1210, on his way to Ireland; was visited also by Edward I. in 1284; gave temporary refuge to Edward II. after his escape from Caerphilly; made a great figure in the subsequent history and fortunes of the town; and has left some interesting ruins. Evidently the bed of the river has silted up considerably since the time of the erection of the old abbey and castle. When the foundation of the railway bridge was being made the head and antlers of a deer were found 18 feet below the present bed of the river. The British forces, under the sons of Caradocap Jestyn, whose lordship extended from the Tawe to the Avon, attacked the Norman lords at Neath in the time of King Stephen; made so terrible an onslaught that so many as 8000 men are said to have been slain in the conflict; and so completely routed the survivors that they fled for refuge to the several castles of Gower. Llewelyn ap lorwerth and Morgan Gam laid siege to Neath Castle and burned it in 1231, and at the same time set fire to the houses of the town and destroyed many of the inhabitants. The manor was given by Richard de Granville to the abbey, went at the dissolution to the Cromwells, and passed to the Hobys, the Mackworths, and the Grants. Gnoll, on a bill above the town, was the seat of the Mackworths and the Grants. Remains of the castle, comprising the main gateway and towers, still exist in the centre of the town. The ruins of the abbey are extensive; retain an original crypt, and other original portions of so fine a character as to have induced Leiand to describe the pile as " once the fairest in all Wales;" consists largely of parts of the church, in Early English and Early Decorated architecture ; and include buildings of Tudor date, erected by Sir P. Hoby, who converted the priory house into a private residence.

The town is sheltered by lofty hills, and surrounded by a country naturally beautiful and healthy. The streets are narrow, yet well built, and contain a number of good shops and good dwellings. The corporation has, however, within the last few years done much to widen and improve the streets. The town-hall, in the centre of the town, is a handsome modern edifice with a corn market, and the borough police station is in the basement. The Gwyn Hall in Orchard Street was erected in 1888 on ground given to the corporation by the late Mr Howel Gwyn. It comprises a large hall for concerts, &c., a council chamber, and municipal offices. The meetings of the Glamorgan County Council are held here. A bronze statue of Mr Gwyn, by Raggi, stands in front of the halL The town contains also a good literary institution, an assembly-room in Windsor Road, Constitutional and Liberal clubs in Orchard Street, and a county police station, with a police court, in Windsor Road. The parish church of St Thomas the Apostle is large and ancient, and was restored in 1874. St David's Church was built in 1866-67, and is a large, handsome, cruciform building with a lofty tower, called Vaughan Tower, after the name of its donor. There are Roman Catholic, Baptist, Calvinistic Methodist, Congregational, Wesleyan, and Bible Christian chapels, and a Friends' meeting-house. The workhouse was erected in 1838, and has since been rebuilt. The town has a head post office, stations on the G.W.R., the Neath and Brecon railway, and the Rhondda and Swansea Bay railway, and three banks, and is a seat of petty sessions and county courts. Markets are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and fairs on the last Wednesday of March, first and second Wednesday after 12 May, Trinity Wednesday, and last Wednesday in July; great fair on second Thursday in Sept., last Wednesday in Oct., and first and second Wednesday after 12 Nov. Flannel fairs are held yearly on last Wednesday in March, first Wednesday after 12 May, and last Wednesday in Oct. Great wealth of minerals exist in the surrounding country and up the vale of the Neath. There are copper works, iron and brass foundries, tin-plate works, fireclay works, chemical works, and collieries. Vessels of 300 or 400 tons come up to quays at the town, and a large floating harbour was commenced in 1874, but has never been completed; the upper part of it is now spanned by a fine drawbridge belonging to the Rhondda and Swansea Bay railway. Barges ply on the canal, up the Vale of Neath, and down to the mouth of the river at Briton Ferry; and a large export trade is carried on, both in the produce of neighbouring mines, and in the produce of the local factories. A steamer also plies twice a week to Bristol. The town was chartered by Edward II.; is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors; and unites with Kenfig, Loughor, Aberavon, and part of Swansea to form the Swansea district of boroughs, returning one member to the House of Commons. Its borough limits, both municipally and parliamentary, comprise all Neath parish and part of Blaenhonddan hamlet. Population, 11,113.

The parish comprises 1161 acres; population of the civil parish, 11,060; of the ecclesiastical, with Llantwit, 14,355. The Gnoll, Dyffryn, and Cadoxton Lodge are the chief residences. The living is a rectory, united with the perpetual curacy of Llantwit, in the diocese of Llandaff; net value, £228 with residence.