Welcome to the Nercwys Parish Website

The resources of the Parish attracted early settlers with its good arable land, grazing for cattle and a number of springs and wells. The Parish is criss-crossed with footpaths that existed for centuries before the Enclosure Committee laid out the road system in the 18th Century. Some of the footpaths led to the village school and church. The village rises 500 ft from the river Terrig to Nercwys Mountain .

A brief review of the political struggles until the conquest of Wales in 1284 reveals that this area was very much a frontier zone which was continually fought over.

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For about 100 years, until the last colliery was closed in Nercwys in 1930, the extractive industries of lead and coal provided employment.

By the middle of the 19th Century, Nercwys was flourishing as a major Cannel coal producing area. The full potential of the Nercwys coalfield could only be realised by the development of an adequate tramway or railway network. The construction of the Nercwys private railway emerged around 1859. The scars on the landscape left by the mining of lead and coal are beginning to fade. A study of the ordinance survey map for the area reveals about 30 old lead shafts.

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Ariel Photo of Nercwys Village and surrounding area.

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The Old Folly

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