Creunant Primary School
A
new junior school was commissioned and built in 1911 to accommodate the 180
pupils at the undersized National School. The school housed many more classrooms
and better facilities. Reception and Nursery buildings were added to the
school grounds which centralised education in the village from the Infants
school. Currently the school succeeds in providing a diverse education to
its 100 plus pupils.
Blaendulais Primary School
Opened
in 1884, this the principal junior school in the village, but with only 33
pupils in its first year. A steady increase in pupil numbers subsequently
led to three new classrooms built. In 1907 an Infants school was built adjacent
to it in 1907, but later torn down 10 years later. In 1949 many of the older
children from other schools in the Valley were transferred here. Today the
school is a great source of learning for many children of Seven Sisters offering
a great base for interactive education.
Ysgol Gymraeg Blaendulais
Previously
the site of an Infants school building of the adjacent primary school. This
was later taken down and a new building was erected in 1961 as a primary
school for young Welsh learners. Other schools at this time were now mixed-Welsh
with English increasingly the prominent language taught. Ysgol Gymraeg Blaendulais
to this day provides an excellent base for Welsh learning, serving the communities
and hinterlands of the Dulais Valley with after school and extra-curricular
activities.
Maesmarchog Community Primary School
In 1913 an Infants School for 150 pupils was opened to accommodate the influx of families to the top of the Valley. The numbers grew further as an overflow at the Vestry Roman Road needed to be created. The school expanded for 240 students in form of a mixed Primary and Infants. As numbers declined after the Second World War, 1967 saw the infants school closed and only 127 in the mixed Primary. The school continues to thrive with bright pupils from the top lying Valley community.
Crynant National School
As it is still widely known today, this prolific building has been central to the educational, spiritual and social needs of the community since its inception in 1857. Pupil numbers exceeded 130 in its prime. St. Margaret’s Church acquired its services as a hall in 1913 and broadened its scope and services. In 2007 the building has been sold with the intention of redevelopment.
Onllwyn School
This purpose-built school replaced the end of terrace “Y Tae” makeshift school house in 1892, responding to growing pupil numbers and Government legislation. The pupils were only taught up to second infants, and then had to move onto one of the higher schools in the Valley. An extension was built onto the original two classrooms in 1907. Pupil numbers declined annually after the Second World War and subsequently closed in 1964.
Crynant Infants School
Built in 1907 to house the swelling numbers at the National School, the younger infants were to be educated at a new facility in Woodland Road. This was to be the base for the infants up until the late 80s, early 90s in which they were transferred to the Primary School. The building is now the Community Centre providing many services to the community.
Sunday Schools
Picking up from where the Circulating Schools left off, this movement was developed by Thomas Charles. Sunday Schools were well established throughout the nation by 1797 including one in Crynant. Welsh continued to be the medium of learning. This was to be the primary source of education until the establishment of the National School in 1857.
Crynant Circulating School
Perhaps the first established school in the Valley, under the scheme developed by Griffith Jones in 1719, and becoming a notable institution in the village during 1740, with Welsh as the desired medium of education. Speculation to the school’s location differs from the Gelli Estate (now Godre’r Rhos Chapel) and the chapel of Ease. The movement ceased in 1779 ending the school.
Cwmdulais Secondary Modern School
Opened in January 1962 at Brynteg in Seven Sisters as a junior mixed school for pupils in the upper valley. The school boasted better facilities and education as an overflow, but was superseded by the current schools of Blaendulais where investments went to.
Copyright © 2024 Dulais Valley Partnership
