Gilfach Goch

Gilfach Goch is a community, electoral ward and small former coal mining village mostly in the Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales, near the larger community of Tonyrefail. Some areas in the North Western part of the village lie within Bridgend County Borough. It is situated in the Cwm Ogwr Fach (Small Ogmore Valley) between the Cwm Ogwr Fawr (Large Ogmore Valley) to the west and the Cwm Rhondda (Rhondda Valley) to the east. The translation of Gilfach Goch into English is easily understood (cil = nook or secluded area, bach = small) but several theories have been put forward as to where the name came from, especially the term coch = red. Writing in 1887, Thomas Morgan, put forward the idea that the name was derived from "...a heap of red cinders, which still remains as a memento of the ironworks that stood there in times of yore". In 1903 local historian Owen Morgan theorised that the area was the location of an ancient site of importance to the local druids. During the Roman Conquest of Britain, Roman cavalry attacked the 'defenceless of Dinas', but were routed when thousands heeded the call of the Druids. Morgan concludes that coch refers to the blood shed by the defeated Roman soldiers. These theories have been queried more recently, as it has been shown that the area known as Gilfach Goch and, in particular, the site where the red cinders of the ironworks are found, was not originally named as such. Prior to 1860, Gilfach Goch was an area of mountain land situated in the Ogwr Fach valley in the parish of Ystradyfodwg far north of present-day Gilfach. Ordnance survey maps have shown that the name Gilfach Goch is not only the name of the community that sprang up with the coming of coal, but the hill and a strip of land on the east bank of the Ogwr Fach. This section of the Ogwr Fach valley is very narrow and lends itself to the description cil-fach, but is also home to a tributary of the River Ogwr whose bed contains iron ore. The ore reddens the appearance of the stream, which could be the origin of the name.