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- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Machen is a large village 3 miles east of the centre of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly borough within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Its neighbours are Bedwas and Trethomas, and the three communities form a council ward. Machen lies on the Rhymney River; Mynydd Machen (Machen Mountain) provides a view over the village. In the 2011 UK census it has a population of 2,362.
Industrial history
Machen was a village rooted in the iron and coal industries stretching from the 17th Century. Though little trace remains, the village was the site of the Machen Forge and several coal mines. Machen Forge was an early adopter of the Osmond process for the production of wrought iron.
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Machen from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:
- "MACHEN, a parish in the [registration] district of Newport and counties of Monmouth[shire] and Glamorgan; on the river Rhymney, and on the Rhymney and Newport railway, 6 miles W of Newport. It has a station on the railway, and a post office, under Newport, Monmouth; and it comprises the hamlets of Lower Machen and Upper Machen in Monmouth, and the hamlet of Rhydgwern in Glamorgan.
- "Acres of the Monmouth portion: 4,460. Real property of Lower [Machen]: £9,491; of which £6,000 are in mines. Population in 1851: 1,004; in 1861: 963. Houses 192. The decrease of population arose from a coal-mine explosion, which caused the death of many of the workmen. Real property of Upper [Machen]: £8,706; of which £5,867 are in railways, and £19 in quarries. Population in 1851: 1,021; in 1861: 1,414. Houses: 291. The increase of population arose from the opening of a colliery. Acres of Rhydgwern: 707. Real property: with Rudry Van: £3,236; of which £846 are in mines. Population in 1851: 185; in 1861: 323. Houses: 68. The property is not much divided. Machen Plâs is a chief residence. There are remains of a castle. The land is hilly. The rocks include iron and lead ores and calamine. Extensive iron and tin works and a foundry are in Upper Machen. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Llandaff. Value: £351. Patron: Lord Tredegar. The parish church is good; and another church is in Upper Machen. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Calvinistic Methodists, and Wesleyans, good public schools, and charities £16."
In 1894 Machen was separated into three civil parishes, one for each of the hamlets in the original parish. Rhydgwern was officially moved into Glamorgan. By 1912 Machen Upper had formed an urban district with Bedwas.
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