Penderyn, Rhondda Cynon Taf


Penderyn is a rural village in Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located near Hirwaun. Its origins and expansion begun as an agricultural market village, which supplied the ever growing needs of the nearby local Market Town of Aberdare, situated in the Cynon Valley in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales.
It lies on the A4059 road between Hirwaun and Brecon and is the last settlement on that road in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf before the border with Powys to the north. The village sits just within the southern boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The River Cynon passes through the area.
It is the home of Penderyn Whisky, produced by the Penderyn Distillery. The award-winning single malt whisky is the only whisky distilled in Wales, launched in 2004 after an absence of whisky distilling in Wales for more than 100 years.
Within the village, there are two chapels and one church.

Etymology

Penderyn contains two Welsh words:
- Pen, meaning Head

- and 'deryn',an abbreviation of "aderyn", Welsh for bird

History

Until the county's inclusion in Powys in 1974 the village lay in the traditional county of Breconshire, the name of which derives from the ancient Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog. Famous inhabitants of the village include David Wynne but the famous working-class hero Dic Penderyn who was involved in the Merthyr Rising of 1831 was not from this parish but from Aberafon.

Notable people