Aberdare Boys’ Grammar School

The School History

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Old School

Documents and photographs
charting the School’s History

Various accounts of the history of the school have been written and published in the past. On this page you will find a variety of documents that describe the origins and development of the school. We have used material from The Aberdare Times, The Aberdare Leader, The Aberdarian and from the School Records. There are also copies of special publications that marked the school’s golden jubilee and the school’s centenary.

You may also be interested in The Cynon Valley History Society, to go to the CVHS site click here

Click on the images below to open these pages


Donor names & sums of money contributed to help establish the school. Details of payments incurred during construction.	The Western Mail account of the 1893 ceremony of laying the Foundation Stone by Lord Aberdare.	The South Wales Daily News account of the 1893 ceremony of laying the Foundation Stone by Lord Aberdare.

Some biographical details of John Henry Phillips, the architect who designed the school and many other buildings in Wales.	School Roll Extracts from the School Records, Class Lists & Letters together with the first Aberdare Intermediate School Register of Scholars. new content – 1921 Entries	An 1899 newspaper account about proposed building extensions with some information about the first Clerk to the Governors, Rev Benjamin Evans, (of Gadlys Welsh Baptist Chapel, behind the school).

Extracts from the minutes of Governors’ Meetings around 1900, chaired by Mr. D. P. Davies, J.P. (Ynyslwyd).	An account from the Aberdare Times of the Opening Ceremony. This is a transcript of the article in the Aberdare Times of October 3rd, 1896 about the ceremony to mark the opening of the school.	Newspaper notice giving details of start of term. This notice from the Aberdare Leader of August 23rd, 1913 gives details of the start of term and scholarship examinations.

W. Charlton Cox’s account of the first ten years of the new Intermediate School. This article first appeared in the 1906 edition of the Aberdarian. This facsimile was reproduced in the 1978 Diamond Jubilee edition.	The Memorial Plaque dedicated to those who fell in the Great War, 1914–1918.	The Mining & Engineering Laboratory opening ceremony. Later to become the Biology Lab & Room 10.

Headmasters’ Reports to Governors. New report inside	The Memorial Plaque dedicated to those who fell in the Second World War, 1939–1945.	A history of the school published in 1946. This history was written by the first Headmaster, W. Jenkyn Thomas, on the school’s 50th anniversary. It also includes a brief history of the Girls’ Intermediate School.

Some information about how the changes from the selective system to the comprehensive education system were planned in the Cynon Valley.	The memorial plaque and official programme booklet that commemorates the official opening of the grammar school at its new site in 1965. This plaque used to hang in the assembly hall of the new school facing the stage.	A brief history of the early days of the school written by the Rev. R. Ivor Parry for the 75th anniversary of the school. Extracted from The Aberdarian of 1971.

The unpublished booklet compiled to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the School in 1971–72.	A short history of the school from The Aberdarian of 1978. This Aberdarian magazine, the 75th edition, contained a short account of the history of the school, written by K.J. Morgan, Head of History, when it became the Aberdare Boys’ Comprehensive School.	Compendium published on the school centenary in 1996. This compendium of memories from former pupils was compiled by the late Ken Griffiths on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the school. Ken was a Governor, former pupil and teacher at the school.

Pamphlet issued for the 1998 Dare Valley Centre ABCS Exhibition	The plaque to mark the renaming of the School in 2009.	The programme for the School Renaming Ceremony 15th October 2009

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