Merthyr Tudful

Local tradition holds that, around 480 CE, a girl called Tudful, daughter of a local chieftain named Brychan was murdered by Saxon pagans, and buried in the town. Tudful was considered a martyr after her death. Merthyr translates to "martyr" in English, and when the town was founded, it was named in her honour. A church was eventually built on the traditional site of her burial.

Merthyr was known as the 'Iron Capital of the World' in the early 19th century, due to the scale of its iron production.

The worlds first ever railway journey happened in Merthyr in 1804, travelling 9 miles from the ironworks at Penydarren to the Glamorganshire Canal on the Merthyr Tramroad.

 The 1851 census found Wales to be the world's first industrialised nation, as more people were employed in industry than agriculture, with Merthyr the biggest town in Wales at that time.