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Pencoed (also Pen-coed; ) is a town and community in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. It straddles the M4 motorway north east of Bridgend and is situated on the Ewenny River. At the 2011 census it had a population of around 9,166.
The standard pronunciation in modern Welsh is or . However, the diphthong 'oe' in a monosyllable is generally reduced to a long vowel 'o' o: in South Wales, so the local pronunciation is . This is sometimes spelled as "Pen-côd" in texts written in Gwenhwyseg (the local dialect).
The area remained heavily wooded and sparsely populated until the eighteenth century. A map of 1729 shows "coal pitts" in the area and coal, lime, timbers and stone all contributed to the growth of the town. The development of the industrial villages was heavily influenced by Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s route for the South Wales Railway and the construction of a Railway Station between Pencoed and Penprysg in 1856. The two hamlets became the centre of the town of Pencoed. In just over a century and a half, Pencoed’s population increased from less than 500 to more than 12,000.
The town consists of three distinct areas, which were once four small hamlets. To the north is Penprysg ("copse end"), which lies at the end of the low ridge (100 m) of Cefn Hirgoed ("long wood ridge"). To the west is Hendre ("lowland winter homestead", literally "old settlement") which rises gently from the railway line in the centre of the town towards the common land at Ystadwaun, on older maps as Ystad y Waun and Gwastadwaun ("level moor"). The central and eastern part of the town, which lies on the valley floor near the railway, consists of Pencoed itself and Felindre ("mill settlement"). There are numerous streams rising and running through the town, and two main rivers, the Ewenni Fawr (Great Ewenny) and the Ewenni Fach (Little Ewenny). At the centre of the town, close to the station, is the war memorial (known locally as the Monument), the shopping centre and the local Community Hall (Pencoed Miners' Welfare Hall). The town is well provided with sports facilities, schools, pubs and clubs. A new development, Earlswood Parc, was announced in 2002 and now has been completed, incorporating various Westbury built homes and Bocam business park.
The current mayor is Councillor Barry Doughty. Council documents pencoedtowncouncil.gov.uk
Pencoed hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1998.
The Raspberry Pi single-board computer is manufactured at the Sony Technology Centre in Pencoed, which produces 44,000 every week.
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