Cwmbran

Coordinates: 51°39′11″N 3°01′16″W / 51.653°N 03.021°W / 51.653; -03.021

Cwmbran (/kʊmˈbræn/, Welsh: Cwmbrân /kʊmˈbrɑːn/, also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a new town in Wales. Today forming part of the county borough of Torfaen and lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was established in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield. Cwmbran means Crow Valley. Cwmbran is twinned with Bruchsal in Germany and Carbonne in France.

Comprising the villages of Old Cwmbran, Pontnewydd, Upper Cwmbran, Croesyceiliog, Llantarnam and Llanyrafon, its population had grown to 47,254 by 2001. This makes it the seventh largest urban area in Wales.

History

Cwmbran is a new town which was established in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield; though there is evidence that Neolithic and Bronze Age people used the area, with the Iron Age Silures tribe also occupying the region before being subdued by the Roman legions based at nearby Usk and Caerleon.