Cwmcarn | |
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Cwmcarn Forest Drive in the spring. Looking towards the Graig. |
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Cwmcarn shown within Caerphilly | |
Population | 500 |
OS grid reference | ST219935 |
Principal area | |
Ceremonial county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | NEWPORT |
Postcode district | NP11 |
Dialling code | 01495 |
Police | Gwent |
Fire | South Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
EU Parliament | Wales |
UK Parliament | |
Cwmcarn is a village situated in the Ebbw valley in south Wales, in the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It grew with 19th-century coal mining, but is now known for its extensive mature forestry and greenery, that attract thousands of visitors and mountain biking enthusiasts each year.
Significant settlement at Cwmcarn came with Bronze Age migration of local tribes from the Gwent levels to the uplands of Mynydd y Grug, Mynydd Machen and Mynydd Maen (Twmbarlwm) and led to a later Iron Age (900–55 BC) hillfort to be constructed by the Silures on Twmbarlwm.
Roman forces took control of most of what became the Roman province of Britannia Superior in 43 AD but then took a further 25 years to gain control of the present day South Wales valleys. Roman control remained established until full scale withdrawal in the 5th century AD when the Kingdoms of Gwent and Glywysing were established. Gwent was defined as the land between the River Usk and the River Wye and Glywysing, the land between the River Usk and the River Tawe. Cwmcarn, located where the Carn and Ebbw river valleys meet, being situated within the Welsh Kingdom of Glywysing.