At one time the
Gurnos was a wooded area and the largest farm in the Borough of
Merthyr Tydfil, with a number of farm cottages and a mill with a
stream. Gurnos could be a form of curn = cairns and has been
translated in books of place names as 'the place of cairns'.
Charles Wilkins in his book, 'History of Merthyr
Tydfil', suggested that gyrnos meant 'night fold'.
Tir y Gyrnos was the
name of an ancient land-holding in the hamlet of Garth in the parish
of Merthyr Tydfil. In 1449 Morgan ap Gwilym ap Meurig occupied Tir y
Gyrnos and paid an annual ground rent to the lord of the manor of 7s
4d. According to the 1716 Gyrnos Sale Document, John
Richards, sold Y Gyrnos for £500 with all accessories including a
water grist mill called Melin y Gyrnos with a small dwelling house
and garden, as well as several parcels of land. Edward Edwards was
reputedly the last of the family to live at Gyrnos before the
property was transferred to William Crawshay. In
1771 the Cyfarthfa Iron Works took out a lease for limestone at
Craig Fawr y Gyrnos at £2 2s 0d annual rent. The Farm itself
was later leased by the Crawshay Ironmasters. The
1850 Tithe Map indicates that the Gyrnos was merged into
‘Cyfarthfa’. The Gurnos Farm was linked to the Cyfarthfa Ironworks
and the farm supplied Cyfarthfa Castle with fresh food stuffs, meat,
eggs, milk and the woods provided fuel to burn on the great fires of
Cyfarthfa Castle. Limestone quarries developed on the Gurnos
land and old photographs show tall trees in this
area. The Gurnos quarry supplied of limestone to the
Cyfarthfa Ironworks and the Gurnos
Limestone Tramroad connected the two.
A succession of farmers lived in the Gurnos farmhouse and managed
the land for their Ironmasters. In 1881, the farm homestead was
occupied by William Charles from Breconshire. The 1901 census names
David Lewis, originally from Carmarthenshire, as the farmer,
together with his son Lewis. The land is now dissected by the Heads
of the Valley road and the ancient homestead easily seen from
passing vehicles. At the beginning of the twentieth century
the farm was owned by Lord Buckland. The first sheep dog trials in
the Borough were held here, however, on 23rd September,
1923 the Merthyr Express, contained the headline ' Sale of Stock at Gurnos Farm' and the news that Lord Buckland was giving up farming
at the Gurnos. As this was the largest farm in the area, a new
tenant was son found and John Williams took over. Thomas William
Parry farmed the Gurnos Farm from the early 1950s to the 1970s and
he bred award winning Welsh mountain ponies here.
The Gurnos Farm area was the largest stretch of
clean, uncontaminated land in the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil. There
are no tunnels, underground workings or dumping of industrial waste
in this area; making it the ideal site for a new housing development
following slum clearance. It has been said that the architects were
inspired by the Italian hill-side villages. Gurnos
Housing Estate was established in the early 1950's and it has been
extended, becoming the largest housing estate in Northern Europe.
Many of the initial streets were named after trees;
Oak,
Acacia,
Rowan etc. The design of
the Gurnos estate was based on the
Radburn system; with
common areas, small gardens and homes packed closely together.
In 1968 it was decided to build a new hospital in the Gurnos.
The Prince Charles Hospital covers a site of 32 acres. The first
phase of 362 beds was opened in 1978 by H.R.H. Prince Charles. In the
1970s the Gurnos was made into a separate Ward. A
number of amenities developed within the ward including a shopping
precinct and a community centre. There are three schools within the
ward Pen-y-dre High School, Goetre Infants & Junior and St. Aloysius
Infants & Junior. The public house
was called The Matchstick Man,
after late boxer
Johnny Owen.
There is now a police station within the ward.
