Community Assembly of Cwmbran

Community Assembly of Cwmbran

Serving, supporting and protecting our local community

The Community Assembly of Cwmbran lies within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire and Cwmbran. It was designated as a New Town in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield.

There is evidence that Neolithic and Bronze Age people used the area, with the Iron Age Silures tribe also occupying the region before being subdued by the Roman legions based at nearby Usk and Caerleon.

Around 1179, Hywel, Lord of Caerleon gave a gift of money and land to found the Cistercian abbey at Llantarnam. At the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII the abbey was closed and was bought by a succession of wealthy landowners. By the 18th century the abbey had passed into the ownership of the Blewitt family, who were to become key figures in the early industrialisation of Cwmbran. Brick making, lime kilns, iron ore mining, quarrying and coal mining were established during this period, along with a canal to transport goods to the docks at Newport.