Creigiau

Creigiau
Creigiau
Creigiau shown within Cardiff
Population 5,153 (ward 2011)[1]
Principal area
Ceremonial county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CARDIFF
Postcode district CF15
Dialling code 029
Police South Wales
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK Parliament
Welsh Assembly

Creigiau is a dormitory settlement in the north-west of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The village currently has about 1,500 houses and a population of approximately 5,000 people. The Cardiff ward is called Creigiau/St. Fagans. The village has a strong Welsh-speaking community, and along with Pentyrch has one of the largest clusters of Welsh-speakers in Cardiff. 23.4% of the village speaks Welsh.[2]

History

Creigiau's former industrial centre was a quarry, which opened in the 1870s and closed in 2001. The village was linked to Cardiff and Barry by the Barry Railway's Creigiau railway station, located on the eastern edge of the village, which was closed as part of the Beeching cuts. The Welsh language has always had a strong presence in Creigiau and the majority of its inhabitants still spoke Welsh in 1890.[3]

In the mid-1970s, housing estates sprang up to accommodate commuters. A further large housing estate was built during the 80s to further accommodate the growing number of commuters wanting to live in the village. This estate is still locally known as "the new estate" or "lower Creigiau".

Creigiau became part of the Unitary authority of Cardiff in 1996 following Local Government reorganisation.

Creigiau Pottery

A pottery studio was set up by Reg and Jean Southcliffe in 1947 as the Southcliffe Ceramic Company, renamed to Creigiau Pottery in 1948. Creigiau produced domestic tableware in either a pale grey glaze, or their best-known copper lustreware.[4][5] A distinctive Creigiau piece is their kitsch Welsh Pie Dragon, a lustreware pie funnel in the shape of a Welsh dragon rather than the usual bird.

In 1962, Tom also took over the Claypits Pottery at Ewenny, nearby to the Ewenny Pottery. He renamed it Vale Pottery, after the Vale of Glamorgan, it later being renamed again under new owners as Helyg Pottery.[4]

Amenities

Local amenities include a bilingual primary school, which teaches through the medium of both Welsh and English, a golf club, a small Tesco Express shop - which is also the Post Office, a Recreation Ground managed by village residents (home of local archery, cricket, football, petanque and tennis clubs), a GP surgery, and local pub called 'The Creigiau Inn'.

References

  1. ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  2. ↑ http://statiaith.com/blog/cyfrifiad-2011/mapiau-am-y-gymraeg-o-gyfrifiad-2011/
  3. ↑ Jenkins, Geraint H. (1998). Language and Community in the Nineteenth Century. Cardiff: Univ. of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1467-8.
  4. 1 2 "Creigiau Pottery". The Pottery Studio.
  5. ↑ Jonathan Griffiths. "Creigiau Pottery, circa 1976 -1979" (PDF).
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