Dowlais
| Dowlais | |
| Welsh: Dowlais | |
| 240px The Guest Memorial Library |
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 Dowlais
Dowlais shown within Merthyr Tydfil |
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| Population | 4,270 (2011 excludes Pant) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SO075075 |
| Principal area | Merthyr Tydfil |
| Ceremonial county | Mid Glamorgan |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Merthyr Tydfil |
| Postcode district | CF48 |
| Dialling code | 01685 38 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney |
| Welsh Assembly | Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney |
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Dowlais is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. At the 2001 census it had a population of 6,646,[1] reducing to 4,270 at the 2011 census having excluded Pant.[2] The name is derived from the Welsh du meaning 'black' and glais meaning 'stream'. Dowlais is notable within Wales and Britain for its historic association with ironworking; once employing, through the Dowlais Iron Company, roughly 5,000 people, the works being the largest in the world.
Contents
Governance
Dowlais still remains as an electoral ward. Its total population at the 2011 census was 6,926.[3]
Notable buildings
Little remains of the works that once sustained the community throughout the Victorian era until the 1930s, the two notable buildings that remain are the Engine House, now used a community centre and the stable block which is now social housing.
Dowlais House, which has now been demolished, was once home to John Josiah Guest and Lady Charlotte Guest, and it was at Dowlais House that Lady Guest translated the Mabinogion. The Guest Memorial Library (1863); commissioned by Lady Guest and designed by Charles Barry, still stands.
Sport and leisure
Dowlais is home to rugby union club, Dowlais RFC.
Notable residents
- Laura Ashley, fashion designer
- Dai Astley, association footballer
- Richard Davies, actor
- Thomas Nathaniel Davies, artist
- David William Evans, lawyer and international rugby union player
- Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans, royal physician
- Lady Charlotte Guest, first translator of the Mabinogion into English
- Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, industrialist
- John Josiah Guest, engineer
- Richard Harrington, actor
- Robert Alwyn Hughes, artist
- Heinz Koppel, artist
- Gustavius Payne, artist
- Robert Rees, tenor
- Glanmor Williams, historian
- Gwyn Alf Williams, historian
External links
- Old Merthyr Tydfil: Dowlais - Historical Photographs of Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil.
- Photos of Dowlais and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
References
- ↑ Dowlais Ward 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics: National Statistics. UK government. Retrieved 14 May 2009
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