Aberavon

Here is a substantial reading list of books which relate to Glamorgan, either county or parish.

References to the town of Aberavon at

• The British Library, London
• The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

Chapels Database - a list of all known non-conformist chapels or other non-Anglican religions in the parish

Aberavon, St Mary - see Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph

 Various items   - on the People's Collection Wales site

• St Mary's Church, Aberavon
• St Joseph's R.C. Church, Aberavon
• St Dyfrig's, Aberavon, built in 1885 as a Mission Church to St Mary's
• St Paul's Church, Sandfields, built in 1911
• Salem Vestry Day and Sunday School, Aberavon, pre-1900
• Christchurch, opened in 1973, provided a place of worship for the Welsh Congregationalists of Wern and the English Baptists of Bridge Street Chapels, which were demolished during the redevelopment of Aberavon town centre. It was sold to a car firm and later demolished in 1989.

For full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on  FreeReg

The church is dedicated to St. Mary, is in the Benefice of Aberavon, and Diocese of Llandaff. Details of the present incumbent of this benefice can be found at the Church in Wales website. The church can be found at grid reference SS763903.

Modern Parishes & Chapels of Ease :-

• Aberavon, St. Paul
• Aberavon, Holy Trinity

WGAS - West Glamorgan Archive Service

The following Religious Institutions are covered in the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) :-

• Aberavon, St. Mary - Bishops Transcripts, 1696-1869
• Aberavon, Carmel Calvinistic Methodist - Christenings, 1815-1837
• Aberavon, Taibach St. Mary, Tabernacle Independent - Christenings 1822-1837

Aberavon - on Wikipedia

Various landscapes / seascapes  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Geograph
• Flickr

Transcript of complete name listing for Port Talbot and neighbourhood, from Slaters Directory for 1858-1859.

Transcript for Aberavon and neighbourhood from Slaters Directory 1880

The transcription of the section for Aberavon from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

Description of parish from A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Aberavon to another place.

Some of the hamlets, towns and villages within this parish

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• High Street, Aberavon  
• Aberavon Railway Station
• Water Street, Aberavon
• The Opening of Aberavon Market
• Earl and Countess of Jersey and the Mayor of Aberavon pictured outside the Municipal Offices in Aberavon.
• Old Aberavon Market
• The Aberavon Urban Sanitary Authority's new fire engine being proudly displayed at Pentyla, Aberavon. This appliance would have attended the fire at the Jersey Beach Hotel in December, 1908.
• Daimler Bus operated by local businessman Richard Barry, c.1920s, that provided a service between the Market and Aberavon Beach.
• Visit of the Prime Minister, J Ramsay Macdonald, MP to Aberavon Hospital in 1924.
• A view of the Copper Works at Aberavon with a horse and cart in the foreground.

This diagram shows the position of this parish within the county of Glamorgan - click on this to see a full size diagram of the county

Parish map(Kain/Oliver)

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Extract from Kitchen's Map of Aberavon, c.1753, showing Aberavon Marsh, the site of the present Sandfields Estate.  
• Map of the parish of Aberavon in the County of Glamorgan

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS755902 (Lat/Lon: 51.596773, -3.799381), Aberavon which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

The crew and committee of the Port Talbot RNLI outside the old lifeboat station at Aberavon Beach.   - on the People's Collection Wales site

Places, villages, farms etc within Aberavon parish  as shown on the online parish map from the CD of   Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Rina Callingham)

• Aberavon [101] - Aberavon Burrows, Aberavon Moors, Aberavon Station (seaside), Golf Links, Great Western Railway, Hotel

Newspaper extracts

A Mobile Photographic Studio, Aberavon   - on the People's Collection Wales site

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Aberavon Borough, records 1753-1860 & c.1307-1917     "Aberavon, Glamorgan, was a chartered town established by the Avene family during the 12th century. In 1372 Aberavon received a further charter from Edward Le Despenser, ................... Borough government was reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, with the provision of elected councils and improved financial regulation. In 1921 the Borough of Aberavon merged with Margam Urban District Council to form the Borough of Port Talbot ......................."

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Aberavon National School Log Books  1874-1922     "Aberavon National School was situated in Aberavon, Glamorgan and built in 1831. ............................."
• Aberavon Unsectarian School log books   1885-1979       "Aberavon Unsectarian School was opened in 1885. It later became Aberavon Council School and was also known as Mountain School ......."  
• Sandfields School [Aberavon] records  "Sandfields School records, 1885-1954, including log books, 1885-1954; HMI school reports, 1939-1948; records relating to school events, c.1950-c.1953"
• Traethmelin School, Sandfields, records    "Records of Traethmelin School, Sandfields, 1961-1980, including admission registers, 1961-1980."

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Ground floor plan for Aberavon Schools & Front and flank elevations for Aberavon School -  Thomas, Robert George  
• Sandfields Infants School.

Various items   - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Aberavon beach 
• Mayor's Procession, Aberavon.
• Aberavon Boys' Club International Youth Caps with their trophies.(rugby)
• Aberavon Boys' Club under 14's soccer team at Vivian Park , Sandfields, 1963-64.
• Scouts and Guides Parade, Aberavon 1964
• Aberavon Harlequins RFC, League Champions and winners of the Hospital and League Cups and Medals 1922-23 season.
• Competitors in the round the pier swim at Aberavon Beach, 1973
• Aberavon Junior Schools Rugby Team
• Aberavon RFC, 1919-1920 Season