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Blaenau Gwent Holds Service Of Remembrance At Last Cholera Cemetery In South Wales

Three cholera outbreaks swept through South Wales in the nineteenth century killing thousands – today (Tuesday 22 July 2008) an ecumenical service to remember those cholera victims was held at the Cefn Golau Cholera Cemetery in Tredegar.

Blaenau Gwent Council has been working to protect the cemetery as a heritage and visitor site – a project funded jointly by the European Union’s interregional Green Mines initiative and the Pathways Community First Project.

Cllr Jason Owens, Blaenau Gwent Council’s Executive Member for Leisure said:

“This project is important for three reasons; firstly by preserving this cemetery that is of national importance, by telling local children and residents about their heritage and by informing tourists about the history of valley towns and the price they paid during the industrial revolution.”

There are 235 graves in the cemetery - some containing entire families. The people buried here perished in three cholera outbreaks. The first and largest outbreak was in 1832-3, the next in 1849 and the final one in 1866.

Although there is no record of how many people are buried there, it is estimated that hundreds of people in Tredegar alone died in the outbreaks. One estimate suggests that one in twenty perished – the population of the town at the time was 7,000.

During the outbreaks, the churches and chapels were ordered to be closed to those who had died of the disease that was popularly known as the ‘King of Terrors’. The Cefn Golau site was chosen as the last resting place of the victims from Tredegar because of its isolated location.

Blaenau Gwent Council has carried out the improvements at the cholera cemetery with permission from the local landowner and commoners.

An estate fence with kissing gate that allows smaller stock through but prevents access by horses and cattle now protects the site and the car parking area next to Cefn Golau pond has been surfaced.

A bilingual interpretation plaque has been put up to explain the history of the site. Many visitors used to enjoy recording the gravestones by taking rubbings of their surface but recent deterioration has prevented this. The plaque includes two etched panels with replica headstones so that visitors can take rubbings of these instead.