:Caerphilly

The name of the town in Welsh, {{lang|cy|Caerffili}}, means "the fort ({{lang|cy|caer}}) of Ffili".{{Cite book|last=Owen|first=Hywel Wyn|title=The Place-Names of Wales|publisher=University of Wales Press|year=2015|isbn=9781783161645|pages=22}} Despite lack of evidence, tradition states that a monastery was built by St Cenydd, a sixth-century Christian hermit from the Gower Peninsula, in the area. The Welsh cantref in the medieval period was known as Senghenydd.{{sfn|Evans|1948|p=210}} It is said that St Cenydd's son, St Ffili, built a fort in the area, giving the town its name.{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Thomas|title=The Place-names of Wales|year=1912|publisher=JE Southall|location=Newport, Monmouthshire|page=168|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028086621#page/n3/mode/2up }} An alternative explanation is that the town was named after the Anglo-Norman Marcher Lord, Philip de Braose.

The town's site has long been of strategic significance. Around AD 75 a fort was built by the Romans during their conquest of Britain.{{cite web|url=http://www.roman-britain.org/places/caerphilly.htm|publisher=roman-britain.org|title=Roman Auxiliary Fort, Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan|access-date=4 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124144324/http://www.roman-britain.org/places/caerphilly.htm|archive-date=24 January 2012}} An excavation of the site in 1963 showed that the fort was occupied by Roman forces until the middle of the second century.

Following the Norman invasion of Wales in the late 11th century, the area of Sengenhydd remained in Welsh hands. By the middle of the 12th century, the area was under the control of the Welsh chieftain Ifor Bach (Ifor ap Meurig). His grandson Gruffydd ap Rhys was the final Welsh lord of Sengenhydd, which fell to the English nobleman Gilbert de Clare, the Red Earl, in 1266.{{sfn|Evans|1948|p=210}} In 1267 Henry III was forced to recognise Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as Prince of Wales, and by September 1268 Llywelyn had secured northern Sengenhydd. Gilbert de Clare had already begun to take steps to consolidate his own territorial gains, beginning the construction of Caerphilly Castle on 11 April 1268.{{sfn|Newman|1995|p=167}} The castle would also act as a buffer against Llewelyn's own territorial ambitions and was attacked by the Prince of Wales' forces before construction was halted in 1270. Construction recommenced in 1271 and was continued under the Red Earl's son, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester.{{cite web|url=http://www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html|title= Caerphilly Castle|access-date=4 July 2012|publisher=castlewales.com}}{{sfn|Davies|Jenkins|Menna|Lynch|2008|p=106}} With only interior remodelling carried out to the castle by Hugh le Despenser in the 1320s, Caerphilly Castle remains a pure example of 13th-century military architecture and is the largest castle in Wales, and the second largest in Britain (after Windsor).{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/castles_caerphilly.shtml|title= Caerphilly Castle|publisher=BBC|date=24 November 2010|access-date=4 June 2012}}

File:Caerphilly Big Cheese 28-29 July 2012- Caws Mawr Caerffili 27-29 Gorffennaf 2012 (7690836096).jpg

The original town of Caerphilly grew up as a small settlement established just south of the castle by Gilbert de Clare. After the death of de Clare at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Edward II became guardian of de Clare's three sisters and heiresses. In 1315 he replaced de Badlesmere with a new English administrator, Payn de Turberville of Coity, who persecuted the people of Glamorgan. Then, like many in northern Europe at the time, the region was in the throes of a serious famine. In coming to the defence of his people, Llywelyn Bren, the great-grandson of Ifor Bach and Welsh Lord of Senghenydd, incurred the wrath of de Turberville, who charged him with sedition. Llywelyn appealed to Edward II to call off or control his self-interested agent, but Edward ordered Llywelyn to appear before Parliament to face the charge of treason. The King promised Llywelyn that if the charges were found true, he would be hanged. Llywelyn fled and prepared for war. On 28 January 1316, Llywelyn began the revolt with a surprise attack on Caerphilly Castle. He captured the constable outside the castle and the outer ward, but could not break into the inner defences. His forces burned the town, slaughtered some of its inhabitants and started a siege. The town was rebuilt but remained very small throughout the Middle Ages.{{sfn|Newman|1995|p=176}} The first evidence of its emerging importance was the construction of a court house in the 14th century, the only pre-19th-century building, apart from the castle, that remains in the town.

At the beginning of the 15th century the castle was again attacked, this time by Owain Glyndŵr, who took control of it around 1403–5. Repairs to the castle continued until at least 1430, but just a century later the antiquary John Leland recorded that the castle was a ruin set in marshland, with a single tower being used as a prison.{{sfn|Evans|1948|p=214}}{{sfn|Newman|1995|p=169}} In the mid-16th century the 2nd Earl of Pembroke used the castle as a manorial court, but in 1583 the castle was leased to Thomas Lewis, who accelerated its dilapidation by removing stonework to build his nearby manor, the Van.{{sfn|Newman|1995|p=169}} The Lewis family, who claimed descent from Ifor Bach, left the manor in the mid-18th century when they purchased St Fagans Castle, the Van falling into decay.{{sfn|Davies|Jenkins|Menna|Lynch|2008|p=106}}{{sfn|Evans|1948|p=214}}

During the 1700s, Caerphilly began to grow into a market town, and in the 19th century, as the South Wales Valleys underwent massive growth through industrialisation, the town's population grew. Caerphilly railway station was opened in 1871, and in 1899 the Rhymney Railway built its Caerphilly railway works maintenance facilities; however, the expansion of the population in the 19th century was more to do with the increasing market for coal.

File:Gateway Church, Twyn Community Centre, Caerphilly - geograph.org.uk - 3135444.jpg: Converted church which serves as the town council's offices and meeting place.]]

There are two tiers of local government covering Caerphilly: Caerphilly Town Council at community level and Caerphilly County Borough Council at borough level. The town council is based at the Twyn Community Centre.{{cite web |title=Contact us |url=https://www.caerphillytowncouncil.co.uk/contact-us/ |website=Caerphilly Town Council |access-date=14 October 2022}} The borough is named after Caerphilly, but covers a much larger area. The county borough council's main offices are not in the town of Caerphilly itself, but in the more central location of Ystrad Mynach.{{cite web |title=How to find us |url=https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/contact-us/How-to-find-us |website=Caerphilly County Borough Council |access-date=15 October 2022}}

Historically, Caerphilly formed part of the ancient parish of Eglwysilan in the county of Glamorgan. A local board was established to provide local government for Caerphilly in 1893, covering the two parishes of Eglwysilan and Llanfabon. The district covered by the board included a substantial area to the west and north-west of the town itself, extending to Taff's Well, Nelson and the southern part of Ystrad Mynach.{{cite news |title=Glamorganshire County Council |url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4428661/4428665/100/ |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=South Wales Echo |date=13 November 1891 |location=Cardiff |page=4}}{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1894 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=296 |quote=The County of Glamorgan (Caerphilly) Confirmation Order, 1893 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QkwwAQAAMAAJ |access-date=14 October 2022}} In 1894, local boards were reconstituted as urban districts.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1894|year=1894|chapter=73|access-date=14 October 2022}}

Caerphilly Urban District Council governed the area from 1894 until 1974. It established its headquarters at a converted house called Bron Rhiw on Mountain Road.Ordnance Survey 25-inch maps: 1919 - building labelled "Bron-rhiw" / 1946 - same building labelled "Council Offices"Planning application 5/5/84/0503: Proposed sub-divisional police station at ex-Rhymney Valley District Council Offices, Mountain Road, Caerphilly, granted 23 November 1984{{cite web |title=Bron Rhiw, Caerphilly |url=https://coflein.gov.uk/en/archive/6223282 |website=Coflein |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |access-date=15 October 2022}} The urban district was abolished in 1974, with the majority of the area becoming part of Rhymney Valley District in the new county of Mid Glamorgan, except for the Taff's Well ward which went instead to Taff-Ely. A Caerphilly community was established at the same time, being a lower-tier authority, initially covering that part of the former urban district within Rhymney Valley.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|chapter=70|access-date=14 October 2022}} The community was divided in 1985, with separate communities being created for Aber Valley, Llanbradach, Nelson, and Penyhreol, and transferring the part of Ystrad Mynach which had been in the Caerphilly community to the Gelligaer community. This left the reduced Caerphilly community just covering the town itself.The Rhymney Valley (Communities) Order 1984 (S.I. 1984/1875){{cite web |title=Changes to Community and Community Ward Boundaries |url=https://ldbc.gov.wales/sites/ldbc/files/publications/161221commwardbounden.pdf |website=Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales |access-date=13 October 2022}} Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw the abolition of Mid Glamorgan County Council, and Rhymney Valley merged with neighbouring Islwyn borough to become the Caerphilly County Borough.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1994|year=1994|chapter=19|access-date=14 October 2022}}

Caerphilly is featured in the Sex Pistols documentary The Filth and the Fury. Protests and a prayer meeting were held outside the Castle Cinema on the evening of 14 December 1976, when the group were playing a concert there. However, Caerphilly was one of the few councils that would allow the group to perform (Leeds and Manchester being the others). Caerphilly Castle was used as a filming location for Merlin and the Doctor Who episodes The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People (2011).

Caerphilly hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1950.

There are a number of notable figures who grew up in Caerphilly. They include comedian Tommy Cooper and the footballers David Pipe, Aaron Ramsey and Robert Earnshaw, whose family relocated to the town from Zambia.

The town has a rugby union club, Caerphilly RFC, who play in League Two East Central of the WRU National League.{{Cite web |title=League 2 East Central |url=https://community.wru.wales/club/national-leagues/national-leagues-fixtures-and-results/league-2-east-central/ |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=Welsh Rugby Union {{!}} Club & Community |language=en-GB}}

Caerphilly also has its own angling club named [https://www.caerphillyangling.com/ Caerphilly & District Angling Association] which was founded in the late 1940's.{{Cite web |title=A Brief Club History. |url=https://www.caerphillyangling.com/history |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Caerphilly & District Angling Association}}

The town is known outside Wales for Caerphilly cheese and has hosted two food fairs, the Caerphilly Food Festival, which is held on the streets of the town, and the Big Cheese Festival, which has been held in and around Caerphilly Castle every summer since 1998. Visitor numbers reached 80,000 in 2012.{{cite news |title=Caerphilly's Big Cheese draws thousands to town |url=http://www.campaignseries.co.uk/news/campaign_news/10582455.Caerphilly_s_Big_Cheese_draws_thousands_to_town/ |work=Campaign |place=Newport |date=31 July 2013 |access-date=20 January 2015 |archive-date=20 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120235519/http://www.campaignseries.co.uk/news/campaign_news/10582455.Caerphilly_s_Big_Cheese_draws_thousands_to_town/ |url-status=dead }} The event includes a wide variety of cheese stalls as well as a funfair, fireworks{{cite news|title=Ponty Big Weekend and Caerphilly Big Cheese |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/ponty-big-weekend-caerphilly-big-1909809 |work=Wales Online |date=26 July 2010 |access-date=20 January 2015}} and a cheese race around the castle.{{cite news|title=Your guide to the Big Cheese 2012 |url=http://www.caerphillyobserver.co.uk/news/642772/channel-4s-embarrassing-bodies-show-to-visit-big-cheese-2012/ |work=Caerphilly Observer |date=27 July 2012 |access-date=20 January 2015}}

File:Plaque on Caerphilly Common - geograph.org.uk - 1767439.jpg ST1188]]

Caerphilly hosts a fundraising musical event called Megaday.{{Cite web|url=http://www.megaday.net/|title=Home|website=www.megaday.net}} In the Winter there is also the Festival of Light, which involves the procession of hundreds of lanterns through the centre of the town.

In 2012 Caerphilly County's only art gallery, Y Galeri, opened in St Fagan's Street in the town centre. It was part of plans to build a wider arts centre with exhibitions, workshops and talks.{{cite news|title=New art gallery opens in Caerphilly |url=http://www.caerphillyobserver.co.uk/news/591467/new-art-gallery-opens-in-caerphilly/# |work=Caerphilly Observer |date=29 May 2012 |access-date=20 January 2015}}

In 2015, Caerphilly-born writer Thomas Morris published a short story collection, We Don't Know What We're Doing, which is set in Caerphilly. The book won the 2016 Wales Book of the Year{{cite news|title=Wales Book of the Year: Thomas Morris wins top prize|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-36860130# |work=BBC |date=21 July 2016 |access-date=6 May 2021}} and a Somerset Maugham Award.{{cite web| url = https://www.societyofauthors.org/Prizes/Society-of-Authors-Awards/Somerset-Maugham/Past-winners| title = Society of Authors' Awards {{!}} The Society of Authors| date = 8 May 2020}}

The Caerphilly Heart Disease Study (also known as the Caerphilly Prospective Study) is one of the world's longest running epidemiology studies. Since 1979, a representative sample of adult males born between 1918 and 1938, living in Caerphilly and the surrounding villages of Abertridwr, Bedwas, Machen, Senghenydd and Trethomas, have participated in the study. A wide range of health and lifestyle data have been collected throughout the study and have been the basis for over 400 publications in the medical press. A notable report was on the reductions in vascular disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment and dementia attributable to a healthy lifestyle.{{Cite journal|pages=259–262|pmid=6332166|pmc=1052363|year=1984|title=Caerphilly and Speedwell collaborative heart disease studies. The Caerphilly and Speedwell Collaborative Group|journal=Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health|volume=38|issue=3|doi=10.1136/jech.38.3.259}}

The nearest airport is Cardiff Airport which is {{convert|19|mi|km}} away by road, it is a 35-minute drive and about an hour by train and shuttle bus.

Bristol Airport is {{convert|47|mi|km}} away by road.

Caerphilly has three railway stations. All are located on the Rhymney Line serving Cardiff.

• Caerphilly at the southern end of the town near the shopping area
• Aber in the western part of the town
• Energlyn & Churchill Park railway station in the far western part of the town

The rail service between Caerphilly and Cardiff Queen Street typically takes 13 minutes. From there services continue to Penarth, Cardiff Central, or on occasion Bridgend (Via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport).

The A469 trunk road runs through the town north to south and connects the north to the Heads of the Valleys Road and the South to the A48 Gabalfa Interchange. The A468 skirts the northern boundary of the town connecting the west with the A470 and the east with the M4 Motorway European route E30 at junction 28.

Caerphilly has a wide variety of bus services all stopping at Caerphilly Interchange which is integrated with rail services at Caerphilly Railway Station. Services are operated by Stagecoach, Harris Coaches and on Sundays and public holidays by New Adventure Travel.

Almost all services to Cardiff, Newport, Blackwood, Pontypridd, Ystrad Mynach and Bargoed are operated by Stagecoach. There are also many local services to Senghenydd, Bedwas, and Llanbradach. A community bus service called Connect2 is also operated by Caerphilly Council which serves Mornigton Meadows, Bryncenydd and Glenfeilds Estate.

Caerphilly Urban District Council (UDC) had its own fleet of buses, which began operating in 1920 although powers to operate them had been obtained by the UDC in 1917. In 1974, this fleet was amalgamated with those of Bedwas and Machen UDC and of Gelligaer UDC to create the bus fleet of Rhymney Valley District Council.{{sfn|Witton|1976|pp=28–29}} The fleet persists today as a heritage operation.{{Cite web|url=http://welsh-transport-heritage.co.uk/rhymneyvalleydc.htm|title=Welsh Transport Heritage :: Rhymney Valley Transport Preservation Society|website=welsh-transport-heritage.co.uk}}

{{update|section|date=April 2025}}

The South Wales Metro is a system integrating heavy rail, light rail and bus services in South East Wales around the hub of Cardiff Central. The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. Work has begun and the Core Valley lines (including Rhymney line) are to be electrified.

New trains will be introduced (British Rail Class 756), Increasing capacity, more frequent services and greener transport for the town and the local region. Caerphilly will also benefit from new greener buses which will also be integrated into the system. The Metro should be completed by late 2023 early 2024.

{{more citations needed section|date=November 2022}}

File:Tommy Cooper statue.jpg

:See also :Category:People from Caerphilly

• Norrie Alden (1909–1980), footballer
• Donald Braithwaite (1936–2017), former professional boxer, Bronze medalist at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
• Margaret Bevan (born c.1894), girl evangelist
• Manon Carpenter (born 1993), mountain bike world champion
• Tommy Cooper (1921–1984), comedian and magician; he has a commemorative statue in the Twyn area
• Daniel and Laura Curtis, composers
• Amy Dowden (born 1990), professional dancer.
• Sian Evans (born 1971), singer-songwriter of the band Kosheen
• Sam Fenwick (born 1992), squash player
• Matt Johnson (born 1982), TV presenter
• Roger Lewis (born 1960), journalist, writer and biographer, author of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
• Aaron Ramsey (born 1990), professional footballer
• Craig Roberts (born 1991), actor and director from Maesycwmmer, Caerphilly
• Eirlys Roberts (1911–2008), consumer advocate and campaigner{{cite web |title=Eirlys Roberts |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1582337/Eirlys-Roberts.html |website=Telegraph |access-date=2 July 2019 |date=21 March 2008}}
• Malcolm Uphill (1935–1999), professional motorcycle racer
• Leona Vaughan (born 1995), actress

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Davies|editor1-link=John Davies (historian)|editor2-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Jenkins | editor2-link=Nigel Jenkins| editor3-first=Baines |editor3-last=Menna|editor4-first=Peredur I. |editor4-last=Lynch|title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6 }}
• {{cite book |last=Evans |first=C.J.O. |title=Glamorgan, its History and Topography |year=1948 |publisher=William Lewis |location=Cardiff }}
• {{cite book |last=Newman |first=John |title=Glamorgan |year=1995 |publisher=Penguin Group |location=London |isbn=0-14-071056-6 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Witton |editor-first=Alan M. |title=Fleetbook 9: Buses of South Wales |date=September 1976 |publisher=A.M. Witton |location=Manchester |isbn=0-86047-091-1 }}

{{Commons category|Caerphilly (town)}}

{{EB1911 poster|Caerphilly}}

• {{wikivoyage inline|Caerphilly}}
• [http://www.caerphilly.org/ The Caerphilly Woodlands Trust]
• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2760598 Geograph- Photos of Caerphilly and surrounding area]
• [http://www.caerphillyobserver.co.uk/ Caerphilly Observer] Local news website

{{Caerphilly}}

{{Transport in Caerphilly County Borough}}

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Category:Towns in Caerphilly County Borough

Category:Communities in Caerphilly County Borough