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Gilfach Goch is a community, electoral ward and small former coal mining village mostly in the Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales, near the larger community of Tonyrefail. Some areas in the North Western part of the village lie within Bridgend County Borough. It is situated in the Cwm Ogwr Fach (Small Ogmore Valley) between the River Ogmore (Large Ogmore Valley) to the west and the Cwm Rhondda (Rhondda Valley) to the east.
In 1903 local historian Owen Morgan theorised that the area was the location of an ancient site of importance to the local . During the Roman Conquest of Britain, Roman cavalry attacked the 'defenceless of Dinas Rhondda', but were routed when thousands heeded the call of the Druids. Morgan concludes that coch refers to the blood shed by the defeated Roman soldiers.
These theories have been queried more recently, as it has been shown that the area known as Gilfach Goch and, in particular, the site where the red cinders of the ironworks are found, was not originally named as such. Prior to 1860, Gilfach Goch was an area of mountain land situated in the Ogwr Fach valley in the parish of Ystradyfodwg far north of present-day Gilfach. Ordnance survey maps have shown that the name Gilfach Goch is not only the name of the community that sprang up with the coming of coal, but the hill and a strip of land on the east bank of the Ogwr Fach. This section of the Ogwr Fach valley is very narrow and lends itself to the description cil- fach, but is also home to a tributary of the River Ogwr whose bed contains iron ore. The ore reddens the appearance of the stream, which could be the origin of the name.
The scattered development of the village's collieries caused a similar scattered approach to the housing; the logic of their placement is now lost, since the mines have all closed. At the south end of the village there are a series of parallel cul-de-sac properties lined with cottage pairs, instead of the terraces synonymous to the region. This unusual layout was promoted by the Cardiff-based Welsh Garden Cities Ltd as their first Garden Village and was built between 1910 and 1914.
In the 2001 census, of all rural areas with a population over 1,500, Gilfach Goch had the largest percentage of people in the whole of England and Wales who stated that they had Irreligion.
The most notable religious building is the church of St Barnabas which began construction in 1896 and was completed in 1899. A nave with a lower chancel was added in 1933. During the Second World War the church was hit by a Luftwaffe bomb; it was reconstructed in the 1950s.
Gilfach Goch Community Council represents the community at the local level, with seven community councillors. Councillors, Gilfach Goch Community Council. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
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