Place:Bedwas, Monmouthshire, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Bedwas is a village two miles northeast of Caerphilly, now situated in the Caerphilly County Borough and within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales.

Bedwas has as its neighbours the settlements and parishes of Trethomas, Graig y Rhacca and Machen, and together they form a council ward.

Traditionally a farming village, Bedwas was originally called Lower Bedwas. Maesycwmmer, a small village not far from Bedwas, was originally named Upper Bedwas. The two villages became known as what we know them today in the 19th century. Bedwas owes much of its own development to the development of the South Wales coalfield and the Welsh coal mining industry. This is depicted in the early Census records. According to the 1811 census, Lower Bedwas consisted of 47 occupied houses and 65 families, a total of 254 residents. 59 of these families were engaged in agriculture and 6 in trade, manufacture and handicraft. By 1911, the population had risen to 3,231 according to the census. In the late 19th century it was home to four coal pits and the construction of a large-scale colliery, Bedwas Navigation Colliery, had been completed by 1913. The colliery had an explosion in 1912.

Bedwas and Machen Urban District existed between 1912 and 1974.

Bedwas Navigation Colliery, along with other collieries, closed in the Miners' Strike (1984–85), and did not re-open. Light industry replaced mining as the main local employer.

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