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HISTORY OF BARRY

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barry (Welsh: Y Barri pronounced [ə ˈbarɪ]) is a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately 9 miles (14 km) south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches the resurrected Barry Island Pleasure Park. According to Office for National Statistics 2016 estimate data, the population of Barry was 54,673.

Once a small village, Barry has absorbed its larger neighbouring villages of Cadoxton and Barry Island, and now, Sully. It grew significantly from the 1880s with the development of Barry Docks, which in 1913 was the largest coal port in the world. The place was possibly named after Saint Baruc.[2]

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BARRY

Early history

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The area now occupied by Barry has seen human activity in many periods of history. Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age microlith flint tools have been found at Friars Point on Barry Island and near Wenvoe[3] and Neolithic or New Stone Age polished stone axe-heads were discovered in St. Andrews Major.[4] A cinerary urn (pottery urn buried with cremation ashes) was found on Barry Island during excavations of Bronze Age barrows[5][6] and two more were found in a barrow at Cold Knap Point.[7] A large defended enclosure or Iron Age promontory hillfort was located at the Bulwarks at Porthkerry[8] and there was evidence of the existence of an early Iron Age farmstead during construction of Barry College off Colcot Road.[9]

In Roman times farmsteads existed on the site of Barry Castle and Biglis and there were verbal reports of discovery of a cemetery including lead coffins with scallop-shell decoration.

BARRY CASTLE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN

Both St. Baruc’s Chapel and St. Nicholas Church have re-used Roman bricks and tiles incorporated in their building fabric[10] and a Roman villa was discovered in Llandough.[11] 

In 1980 a Roman building consisting of 22 rooms and cellars in four ranges around a central courtyard was excavated at Glan-y-môr and is believed to be a third-century building associated with naval activity, maybe a supply depot.[12]

The Vikings launched raids in the area and Barry Island was known to be a raider base in 1087.[13] Flat Holm and Steep Holm islands in the Bristol Channel have their name Holm name derived from a Scandinavian word for an island in an estuary. The excavation of the Glan-y-môr site revealed the site had been reused in the 6th and 7th century and also between AD 830 and 950 as a dry stone sub-rectangular building with a turf or thatched roof.[10]

Medieval Barry

The main feature of the area at this time was the island in the Bristol Channel, separated from the mainland by a tidal estuary. It is described in Giraldus Cambrensis or Gerald of Wales’ Itinerarium Cambriae (“Journey through Wales”, 1191). He states that Barry derives its name from St. Baruc whose remains are deposited in a chapel on the island. The local noble family who owned the island and the adjoining estates took the name of de Barri from the island.[14]

Following the Norman conquest of England the area was divided into manors with the Barry area split into two large lordships,  Penmark and Dinas Powys.

Penmark was split into the sub-manors of Fonmon, West Penmark and Barry. Dinas Powys was split into the sub-manors of Cadoxton and Uchelolau (Highlight).[15] The sub-manor of Barry was granted by the de Umfraville family to the de Barri family and the seat of the manor was Barry Castle, located on high ground overlooking the Bristol Channel, a site occupied in Roman times by a native homestead.[16]

BARRY CASTLE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN
BARRY CASTLE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN
BARRY CASTLE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN

 The castle was a small fortified manor house, built to replace an earlier earthwork. By the late 13th century the castle had two stone buildings on the east and west sides of a courtyard. Early in the 14th century the castle was strengthened by the addition of a large hall and gatehouse on its south side, the ruins of which are all that survive today.

BARRY CASTLE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN
BARRY CASTLE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN

By now Barry had grown into a village and port with its own church and watermill but in the 14th century its population was drastically reduced by the Black Death and the consequences of the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr.[17] 

It took the population some 300 years to recover and once more hold the title of village, essentially a sparsely populated area with a few scattered farms and much of the land a marsh that a small river flowed through.[18] 

By 1622 the pattern of fields, where enclosure was almost complete, around Barry village was pretty much as it was to remain until the growth of the modern town. According to the 1673 Hearth-Tax list the parish contained thirteen houses.

Whitehouse Cottage, the oldest existing inhabited house in modern Barry, dates from the late 1500s with the east end of the building added in around 1600. It overlooks the sea at Cold Knap.[19]

Industrial history

Further information: Barry Docks

The viaduct at Porthkerry Park was once crossed many times daily by rail transporting coal down from the Welsh valleys north of Bridgend

By 1871 the population of Barry was over 100, with 21 buildings, the new estate-owning Romilly family being involved in the buildup of the village but it remained a largely agricultural community.[10][20] 

It grew when it was developed as a coal port in the 1880s. The coal trade was growing faster than the facilities at Tiger Bay in Cardiff ever could and so a group of colliery owners formed the Barry Railway Company and chose to build the docks at Barry. Work commenced in 1884 and the first dock basin was opened in 1889 to be followed by two other docks and extensive port installations.

The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks whose trade grew from one million tons in the first year, to over nine million tons by 1903. The port was crowded with ships and had flourishing ship repair yards, cold stores, flour mills and an ice factory. By 1913, Barry was the largest coal exporting port in the world.

Barry Docks

Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry which, with Cadoxton, soon formed a sizeable town. The railways which had played a major part in the development of the dock helped make Barry Island a popular resort. Barry Memorial Hall on Gladstone Road was inaugurated in November 1932, and obtained its name to honour those locals who lost their lives in World War I.[21]

During its industrial peak a number of ships sank off the Barry coast.

Barry Scrapyard

Following the rise of diesel and electric power on the UK railways, the marshalling yards at Barry Docks became the largest repository of steam engines awaiting scrapping in the UK. 

Dai Woodham owned the Woodham Brothers Scrap yard and he allowed rail preservation organisations to buy back the locomotives at the scrap value, allowing around 200 of the 300 locomotives to be saved for future generations, although during the years of storage many were vandalised or looted by souvenir hunters.

When interviewed just before his death, Woodham was reluctant to take full credit for this and pointed out that the town of Barry with its redundant sidings was the major factor in allowing these locomotives to be saved.

References

  1. “Parish population 2011”. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  2. Solutions, TCRM Web & IT. “History of Barry Town how it has developed pre-industrial, post industrial”.
  3. G Dowell (1971). Archaeology in Wales Volume 11 pp. 10–11. Council for British Archaeology.
  4. H. N. Savory (1948–50). Axes of Pembrokeshire Stone from Glamorganshire Volume XIII pp. 245–6. Board of Celtic Studies.
  5.  J Romilly Allen (1873). A description of some cairns on Barry Island, Glamorganshire Volume 28 (1873) pp. 189–91. Archaeologia Cambrensis.
  6. “Archaeologia Cambrensis Volume 28 (1873) – Table of Contents”. ARCHway. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
  7. Aileen Fox (1936). An account of John Storrie’s excavations on Barry Island in 1894-5 Volume LXIX (1936) pp.12–28. Cardiff Naturalists Society.
  8. Jeffrey L Davies. “An excavation at the Bulwarks, Porthkerry, Glamorgan 1968 Vol 122 (1973) pp. 85–98”. Archaeologia Cambrensis. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
  9. H.J. Thomas and G. Davies (1965). Archaeology in Wales Volume 5 pp.25. Council for British Archaeology.
  10. Donald Moore (1984). Barry The Centenary Book. The Barry Centenary Book Committee Limited. ISBN 0-9509738-0-7.
  11. H.S. Owen John (1978–79). Llandough: a late Iron Age farmstead, Romano-British villa and medieval monastic grange G-GAT Annual Report pp. 27–38. Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.
  12. G Dowell and E.M. Evans (1980–81). Glan-y-môr, Cold Knap, Barry G-GAT Annual Report pp. 1–3. Glamorgan–Gwent Archaeological Trust.
  13. “Times Past”. Barry Town Council. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  14. “Itinerary of Baldwin in Wales by Giraldus Cambrensis”. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
  15. John Stuart Corbett (1925). Glamorgan, Papers and Notes on the Lordship And Its Members… with a Memoir. Cardiff Naturalists Society.
  16. Manorial map of Barry Glamorgan, III (part ii), p.120. RCAM (Wales) Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments (Wales).
  17. Glamorgan, III (part ii), pp.215–43. RCAM (Wales) Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments (Wales).
  18. “A General History of Barry Town”. Barry Town Crier. Archived from the originalon 4 May 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  19. “Whitehouse Cottage, Cold Knap Way, the Knap, Barry”. British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  20. “Population Statistics for Barry”. Genuki (UK & Ireland Genealogy). Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  21. Gaffney, Angela (1998). Aftermath: Remembering the Great War in Wales. University of Chicago Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7083-1494-4.
  22. “Glamorgan Record Office Register of Electors” (PDF). Glamorgan Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  23. “List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies”. Glosk.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  24. “The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with “L””. Leigh Rayment’s Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 29 April2007.
  25. “The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with “B””. Leigh Rayment’s Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 29 April2007.
  26. “Vale of Glamorgan”. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 29 April2007.
  27. “BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Vale of Glamorgan”. BBC News.
  28. “Vale of Glamorgan”. University of Keele. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  29. “South Wales Central”. University of Keele. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  30. “Glamorgan Record Office Borough of Barry records”. Archive Network Wales. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  31. “New Vale of Glamorgan Mayor is elected”. Barry & District News. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  32. “Rhoose 1971-00 averages”. MetroFrance. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  33. “National Eisteddfod of Wales Locations since 1880”. Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  34. “British Pathe National Eisteddfod”. British Pathe. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  35. as were the end-fight scenes from “The Christmas Invasion” in August 2005. “The Empty Child – location guide”. BBC. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  36. “Square will be fit for a King” Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Barry & District News, 3 April 2003. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  37. Rebecca Lord (18 November 2016) “Art Central Gallery celebrates tenth anniversary with diverse exhibition”, Barry & District News. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  38. Art Central, Vale of Glamorgan Council.
  39. “Barry Comprehensive School, 1971–98”. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  40. “Primary Schools”. Vale of Glamorgan Council. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  41. F. M. L. Thompson Sir John Habakkuk, Obituary in The Independent dated 11 November 2002
  42. Brian McFarlane, ed., The Encyclopedia of British Film (4th edition, 2016), p. 1905
  43. Bernard Wasserstein (2004). “Janner, Barnett, Baron Janner (1892–1982)”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  44. Flynn, Jessica (28 December 2006). “Dracula star drops in to see patients”. Wales Online.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
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