Pentre

Coordinates: 51°39′17″N 3°29′32″W / 51.654736°N 3.492269°W / 51.654736; -3.492269

Pentre is a village and community, near Treorchy in Rhondda valley, falling within the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village's name is taken from the Welsh word Pentref, which translates as homestead, though Pentre is named after a large farm that dominated the area before the coming of industrialisation. The community takes in the neighbouring village of Ton Pentre.

Early and industrial history

Pre-1850, the area which is now Pentre was made up of several scattered farms tended by tenant farmers for absentee landlords. With the discovery, in the early 19th century, of economically viable coal deposits in Dinas Rhondda it was not long until expeditions reached the mid valleys. In 1857 Edward Curteis of Llandaff leased the mineral rights of Tyr-y-Pentre from Griffith Llewellyn of Baglan and soon had two levels opened, the Pentre and Church. During the early part of 1864 deeper shafts had been sunk by the Pentre Coal Company. The mines in the Pentre were some of the most profitable of all the collieries in the Rhondda.

Pentre Ifan

Pentre Ifan is the name of an ancient manor in the civil parish of Nevern, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It contains and gives its name to the largest and best preserved neolithic dolmen in Wales. The Pentre Ifan monument is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and was one of three Welsh monuments to receive legal protection under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. It is now in the guardianship of Cadw, with public access.

The Monument

As it now stands, the Pentre Ifan Dolmen is a collection of 7 principal stones. The largest is the huge capstone, 5 metres (16 ft) long, 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) wide and 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) thick. It is estimated to weigh 16 tonnes and rests on the tips of three other stones, some 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) off the ground. There are six upright stones, three of which support the capstone. Of the remaining three, two portal stones form an entrance and the third, at an angle, appears to block the doorway.

Original use

The dolmen dates from approximately 3,500 B.C. and has traditionally been identified as a communal burial. Under this theory the existing stones formed the portal and main chamber of the tomb, which would originally have been covered by a large mound of stones about 30 metres (98 ft) long and 17 m wide. Some of the kerbstones, marking the edge of the mound have been identified during excavations. The stone chamber was at the southern end of the long mound, which stretched off to the north. Very little of the material that formed the mound remains. Some of the stones have been scattered, but at least seven are in their original position. An elaborate entrance facade surrounding the portal, which may have been a later addition, was built with carefully constructed dry stone walling. Individual burials are thought to have been made within the stone chamber, which would be re-used many times. No trace of bones were found in the tomb, raising the possibility that they were subsequently transferred elsewhere.