Oakdale: Village History and Industrial Heritage

Oakdale combines the history of a planned workers’ village with memorials to its mining past. This gives you a clear focus: village planning, community facilities and the memory of Oakdale Colliery.

A village with a planned layout

Oakdale Village was built between 1909 and 1924 to house employees of Tredegar Iron & Coal Co. and Oakdale Steam Navigation Co. The overall layout is horseshoe-shaped, arranged around Central Avenue and Square. Its construction period, purpose and form are connected: the plan concerns not just individual buildings, but the village as a whole.

The Workmen’s Institute

Oakdale Workmen’s Institute opened on 10 September 1917; its foundation stones had been laid on 3 July 1916. The building included a library, a reading room, a committee room and an upstairs concert hall. A 650-seat cinema was added in 1927. These rooms and the cinema give a concrete impression of the range of facilities the institute offered.

Oakdale Colliery: a timeline

Work began on sinking three shafts at Oakdale Colliery in 1908. The colliery closed in August 1989; it was the last deep mine in Gwent. These two dates mark key points in the history of mining: from the start of shaft construction to the end of deep mining. This places Oakdale’s industrial past in context without conflating the village’s origins with the later closure.

Memorials and their design

The Oakdale Colliery Memorial stands at the lower entrance to Oakdale Business Park. The “Turn, Turn Again” monument uses an old winding wheel, cut into three parts. The parts represent the three shafts of the former Oakdale Colliery. Local schoolchildren and Oakdale residents chose the winning design. Its material and form thus reflect the number of shafts; the choice of design also connects the memorial to a decision made by the local community.

A walk and more local history

Cadw offers the 15-minute heritage walk “Exploring Oakdale”, which focuses on Oakdale’s revolutionary design. Its stated duration provides a clear time frame for this themed introduction to village planning. You can distinguish this focus from exploring individual historical dates and buildings.

Pen-y-Fan Pond adds another aspect of local history: it is one of the last surviving reservoirs in Wales built to supply canals. Alongside the workers’ village and mining history, this also brings the water infrastructure into focus.

A listed building in the village centre

The Oakdale Public House is a Grade II listed building. It is located in the centre of Oakdale Village and borders the green space on its southeast side. The building was constructed as an integral part of the Oakdale Model Village Development for employees of Tredegar Iron and Coal Company and Oakdale Steam Navigation Coal Company. This also places an individual building in the context of its original role in the village’s development.

Discover more destinations: Rhymney, Cwmfelinfach, Caerphilly, Crosskeys, Bedwas, Blackwood.

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