In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Machen like this:
MACHEN, a parish in the district of Newport and counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan; on the river Rhymney, and on the Rhymney and Newport railway, 6 miles W of Newport. It has a station on the railway, and a post office,‡ under Newport, Monmouth; and it comprises the hamlets of Lower Machen and Upper Machen in Monmouth, and the hamlet of Rhydgwern in Glamorgan. ...
Acres of the Monmouth portion, 4,460. Real property of Lower M., £9,491; of which £6,000 are in mines. Pop. in 1851,1,004; in 1861,963. Houses, 192. The decrease of pop. arose from a coal-mine explosion, which caused the death of many of the workmen. Real property of Upper M., £8,706; of which £5,867 are in railways, and £19 in quarries. Pep. in 1851,1,021; in 1861,1,414. Houses, 291. The increase of pop. arose from the opening of a colliery. Acres of Rhydgwern, 707. Real property, with Rudry Van. £3,236; of which £846 are in mines. Pop. in 1851, 185; in 1861,323. Houses, 68. The property is not much divided. Machen Plâs is a chief residence. There are remains of a castle. The land is hilly. The rocks include iron and lead ores and calamine. Extensive iron and tin works and a foundry are in Upper Machen. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Llandaff. Value, #351.* Patron, Lord Tredegar. The parish church is good; and another church is in Upper Machen. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Calvinistic Methodists, and Wesleyans, good public schools, and charities £16.
Machen through time
Machen is now part of Caerphilly district. Click here for graphs and data of how Caerphilly has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Machen itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Machen, in Caerphilly and Monmouthshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6731
Date accessed: 16th April 2024
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