Old Cefn Bridge

Cadw's description

Location

Situated on the S side of Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer crossing the Afon Taff Fechan just N of the present road bridge of the A470.

History

Probably late C18, said to have been built between 1775 and 1781. It carried the old Merthyr Tydfil to Brecon road over the Afon Taff Fechan and the Gurnos tramroad. The Gurnos tramroad connected the Vaynor limestone quarries to the nearby Cyfarthfa Ironworks. A bridge is shown on the road between Merthyr Tydfil and Brecon on the Plymouth estate map of 1766 surveyed by Edward John Eyre . It is called 'New Bridge' in a lease of 1763 and on a 1799 map of Glamorgan by George Yates. It is included in a 1832 list of Glamorgan county bridges and seems to have survived the calamitous floods of July 1854. By 1899 the Vaynor Parish Council was concerned about the dangerous state of the bridge and it was replaced c1910 by the current road bridge just S.

Exterior

Bridge, coursed rubble stone, single broad shallow arch with thin stone voussoirs. Low rubble stone parapets probably rebuilt, with later iron railings.

Reason for designation

Included as a C18 bridge of historical importance carrying the old Merthyr Tydfil to Brecon road over the Afon Taff Fechan and the Gurnos tramroad.