Twf Broad Street

Ym 1840, fe wnaeth dyn busnes o’r enw John Griffith Williams sefydlu marchnad dan do gyntaf Blaenafon. Adeiladwyd heol newydd, i gysylltu’r farchnad â’r gwaith haearn. O fewn 30 o flynyddoedd, roedd yr heol newydd, Broad Street, yn llawn siopau. Daeth pobl o bell ac agos (yn cynnwys o dramor) i sefydlu busnesau. Trwy gydol Oes Victoria, roedd y dref yn fwrlwm o weithgaredd ac yn cynnal ymhell dros 150 o fusnesau, a oedd yn darparu popeth oedd ei angen ar y gymuned.

Agorwyd y Tŷ Marchnad newydd ym Mlaenafon ddydd Sadwrn diwethaf, sydd, fel adeilad sylweddol, braf, yn glod mawr i’r rheini a aeth ati i'w greu… mae'r stondinau wedi eu gosod mewn ffordd chwaethus, ac mae llwybr ffordd newydd ar y gweill, ychydig yn is na stablau'r Cwmni Haearn i'r Farchnad.....Roedd y farchnad yn gwerthu cyflenwad rhagorol o gig, llysiau, esgidiau a llestri pridd, ac roedd y cyfan yn cael ei werthu'n gynnar iawn. (Cyfieithiad)

Hereford Times, 30 Mai 1840

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  • King Street was another commercial street (Acknowledgement: Pat Morgan Collection)
  • The Llanover Tithe Map of 1843-44 shows very little development in what later became Broad Street (Acknowledgement: Gwent Archives)
  • Lower Broad Street (c.1900) (Acknowledgement: Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Broad Street c.1911. In the photograph can be seen the English Baptist Chapel, the Forge Hammer Assembly Rooms and Fowlers’ Drapery shop (Acknowledgement: Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Other streets, including Albert Street, also grew up around Broad Street, selling goods and services (Acknowledgement: Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Broad Street at its junction with Market Street c.1900 (Acknowledgement: Blaenavon Community Museum)
  • Lower Broad Street (Acknowledgement: Pat Morgan Collection)
  • One of the first buildings to be built in Broad Street was Bethlehem Independent Chapel, which opened in 1840. It stood on the banks of the Nant Llechan stream, which may have been used for outdoor baptisms (Acknowledgement: N.A. Matthews)
  • Modern Broad Street (Acknowledgement: N.A. Matthews)
  • This Ordnance Survey (1880s) shows the growth of the town centre during Victorian times (Acknowledgement: Ordnance Survey 1st Edition (6 inch series) 1880s (Blaenavon UDC Copy))
  • John Griffith Williams (1809-1884) arrived in Blaenavon in about 1830. He traded as a draper and brewer. He established the market, a gas works, a waterworks and the Red Lion Hotel. He is buried in St. Peter’s Churchyard (Acknowledgement: N.A. Matthews)