Gelligaer

Morphology: gelli+caer
Phonetic: gare-ll-ee-guy-rr

Literally meaning "grove by the fort", the village gets its name from its history as a Roman auxiliary fort and even further back in history from when there was an Iron Age fort on the adjoining hill, Buarth-y-gaer that is immediately to the east of the village. One of the greatest Welsh saints of the 6th century, Cadog, was born in Gelligaer (the local ward name is Saint Cattwg) and legend has it that he was a monk, had magical powers, was a kind and generous host and was a very successful dairy farmer – in fact the name carries on in Llangadog in West Wales, famous for the now closed creamery that produced fantastic custard and rice pudding, and you can still purchase the Welsh Cadog cheese in local supermarkets. The spelling of Gelligaer has altered over the years in reflection of the way the name has been pronounced e.g. Gelligâr from 1750. Gelligaer Church Hall, erected in 1911 has a plaque with the spelling Neuadd Kell Y Gaer 1911 which is still there. Early map spellings also have the name beginning with the letter K, such as Kil-gaer 1281, Kylthy-gaer in 1307, Kilthi-gaer in 1349 and Kethlygajer on Pieter van den Keere's map of Monmouthshire in 1605.