Tongwynlais Historical Society

29/03/2026

Lots of work going on at the Tollhouse this morning. Main job was to sow thousands of wildflower seeds. In a few months there will be lots of food for busy bees! 🐝 Well done team, great job! 👏

28/01/2026

WOW we are delighted in sharing a LEGO Tollhouse created by Jack Davies. It's brilliant, thanks Jack x

After completing the microscale Lego Tollhouse in part 1, I was immediately inspired to create a “Minifig-scale” version. I don’t collect Minifigures but I’ve acquired a few…

22/01/2026

Lucy Gilder has written a lovely article about the Tollhouse in The Cardiffian.

Volunteers removed 70 years of vegetation as they uncover the remains of building from the 1700s.

21/01/2026

All welcome to attend a talk on the history of the Tongwynlais tollhouse. February 11th 2026, 2pm at Whitchurch library Hub.

25/12/2025

A very Happy Christmas everyone!
Here is a seasonal (true) tale of long-time Tongwynlais resident, Christmas Evan Davies. He was born in Whitchurch on Christmas day 1890 to Hannah and Evan Davies (surname sometimes also spelt as David). Appropriately enough, his fathers’ profession was as a carpenter and joiner. Initially, the family lived on Merthyr Road in Whitchurch, but by 1901 when Christmas was 11, they had moved to Queens Square, Tongwynlais, and later moved onto Mount Pleasant, Birch Hill in the village. In 1911, he was working at the Melingriffith tinplate works- a career that was to be disrupted by World War I. Christmas enlisted and served in the Royal Army Service Corps as a driver, for his service receiving the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Following his military service, he returned to Tongwynlais, and married Esther Lloyd of Taffs Well. The couple lived at his parental home in Wyndham Street, later moving to Mill Road with their children and Esthers elderly father. He resumed his employment at the Tinplate works-the 1939 register described this as ‘Tinplate packer-heavy work’. He remained at the works until his death in 1956 at the age of 66. At the time of his death his residence was on Castle Road.

29/10/2025

Christmas Cards from Tongwynlais. We have a very limited edition of a set of 5 cards depicting Tongwynlais from days gone by including Lawn Terrace (Merthyr Road), Greenmeadow Mansion, The Lewis's Arms, Forest Cottage (Forest Cafe) and Mill Road. They are £10 for a set of 5, all proceeds will go towards THS projects. Send us a message if you would like a set. Artwork by Andrew Racz.

05/05/2025

A wheel appeared in the Taff recently just under the Ironbridge. The lack of rain possibly washing away the silt that covered it for years. With rain forecast, some of the team took the opportunity to rescue it.

Research suggests it was a cartwheel from a horse drawn agricultural cart made between 1850 to WWI. It is a full spoke wheel made of oak and handmade by splitting circles of wood and putting together like a trivial pursuit pie. We are slowly drying it out and it’s in amazing condition despite its age.

We are not exactly sure what to do with it, any ideas welcome.

24/03/2025

We were pleased to host Tongwynlais Primary School at the tollhouse today. It was a pleasure to have them, they were a great group and asked lots of interesting questions.

23/03/2025

Lots of work going on this morning at the Tollhouse. We planted our little garden and threw hundreds of wildflower seeds in our big garden. Had a good tidy and oiled our fireplace. Hopefully in a few months our garden will look gorgeous 🌻. Well done team, great job!

08/03/2025

THS team went for a wander today to dig in the dirt. Didn’t detect much at Greenmeadow but ventured to the old tip to find bottles, ceramics, oyster shells (menu staple in those days) and a WWI uniform button. Thanks all for lots of fun in the spring sunshine. Good luck to Wales in the rugby today and have a great weekend all.

24/02/2025

This is the Auction Catalogue from 6th December 1927 for the Land & Buildings owned by the Lewis Family. If you lived in Mill Road, Merthyr Road, Wellington Street & Wyndham Street chances are it was owned by them. The document contains the names of the tenants and how much they paid in those homes. In addition, other lots of land and buildings including the Lewis's pub. We don't currently have any details of how each lot sold for, more research required on this. Special thanks to Mike Cradock for loaning this to me to be able to share with you all.