Early legends tell of a medieval park, or hunting preserve in the area called Parc Cwm Brychiniog, which was subsequently made into four farms in Tudor times, one of which was called Parc Uchaf and another Parc Isaf. Thus the area became known as Cwmparc and its stream Nant Cwmparc ( Cwm being the Welsh for valley), with the development of the mining village in the valley in the 19th Century the village also became known as Cwmparc.

Details of the early history and development of Cwmparc are contained within the booklet, ‘History of Cwmparc. King Coal Invades a Sylvan Valley' which was awarded the prize at Treorchy Semi-National Eisteddfod in 1923. The author describes Cwmparc in 1923 as ‘ a mining village of considerable pretensions, aspiring almost to the more dignified name of township' with a population of about five thousand. He describes the Parc Colliery and further down the valley The Dare, and the constant processions of coal-laden trucks running down the railway that flanked the Parc River.

The pioneer of Cwmparc's development was David Davies, Llandinam described as, ‘foremost of Welsh industrial kings and founder of the renowned Ocean Coal Company', who had in 1862 negotiated with Crawshay Bailey to commence coal mining on the Tremains Estate. Sinking operations were begun in August 1866 and by the end of that year Parc Pit had produced its first output of coal. He describes how Railway Terrace was the first of the new streets in Cwmparc to be built near to the railway leading from the pithead. The street was known euphemistically as ‘Tub Row' because of the habit of the occupants for leaving their tin bath tubs out on the pavements in the evening, ‘thus setting a trap for, and imperilling the life and limbs of unwary strangers on a dark night'. As for the rest of the village he describes how Parc Road, the main street, ‘ now more than half a mile long', contained the more ‘reputable' buildings, such as the Miners Institute, two hotels and three chapels. He details how, with the influx of population, housing in the early days of Cwmparc was a major problem.

Thirteen years later in 1936 the author provided an additional chapter to update his work. When looking at the then current state of the village there is quite a different tone from that taken thirteen years previously. He describes the industrial history of the village as being ‘overhung with gloom' and the district as being ‘haunted by the spectre of unemployment'. The village's main employer, and indeed reason for being, The Parc and The Dare pits had always worked intermittently and had been ‘unable to absorb all the eager claimants for work'. There had been moments of industrial strife, notably the 1926 general strike and the ‘stay in' strikes of 1935.

In 1954 the National Coal Board merged the two pits, and finally in 1966 after a hundred years of production the Parc and Dare pit closed for the last time, leaving Cwmparc's ‘sylvan' valley to revert in some measure back to its original beauty.

The day war came to Cwmparc

On the night of April 29th/30th 1941 the small mining village of Cwmparc was devastated by the bombs of Hitler's Luftwaffe, an event that survivors of that night of terror will never forget. The reason why this small Rhondda settlement was targeted will never be known, but some theories suggest that possibly a bombing mission planned for Swansea or Port Talbot had failed, causing the German bombers to offload their bombs on their way home. Whatever the reason for the raid the result brought devastation and death to this small close-knit mining community. Most of the bombs fell on houses in Treharne Street and Parc Road, and the resultant death toll was twenty-seven men, women and children. One of the most poignant aspects of the raid was the death of three young evacuees from London. The three, 13-year-old George Jameson, his 11-year-old brother Ernest, and his sister Edith lived at 14 Treharne Street, had been sent to Cwmparc as a place of safety in order to avoid the dangers of the London Blitz. Another victim was Ivor Wright, a member of the local Home Guard. Ivor had seen a parachute floating to the ground, and believing it to be a German parachutist ran to confront the ‘invader', it was however a German incendiary bomb dropped attached to a parachute, which killed him instantly.

Cotemporary reports in the local paper, ‘The Free Press and Rhondda Leader', describe how when the air raid warning first went off residents expected a boring wait in the air raid shelter until the all clear should sound. Indeed many did not even leave for the shelters as the sounding of the siren was a common event and until that tragic evening had heralded nothing more than an uncomfortable period in an air raid shelter. This time however it was different as the paper's correspondent describes,

‘…suddenly, with horrifying unexpectedness, there was heard a clutter like the rattling of a thousand machine guns in simultaneous action. There were queer noises of objects falling on the roof, and outside in the street was a din of shouting . . .   The scene was one such as could only exist in the wildest imagination. Incendiary bombs had been dropped and more were still falling, blazing brightly in their hundreds, and many little houses in the main street were already in the incipient stage of being afire'.

The writer goes on to describe the heroic efforts of the emergency services in extinguishing the incendiaries as they landed and recovering the dead and injured from the debris. However just as everything seemed to be under control, ‘The air became frightful with the drone of returning raiders, and the first of two high explosive bombs fell', these bombs completely demolished two houses and damaged extensively many others. Many of the accounts describe the many acts of heroism and bravery of the rescuers on that night, and in the days following, tunnelling through ‘mountains' of debris to reach those trapped beneath.
Following the war in November 1948 a memorial service was held outside the Cwmparc Library and institute commemorate the sacrifice of the 27 victims of the raid. An illuminated two faced clock and a plaque to those who had died in the Second World War was unveiled by Colin Harries a 14 year old schoolboy from Treharne Street, who had been saved that night from a bombed house. Read the Acrobat (.pdf) document listing those killed that awful night.