Morphology: oak+dale
This is an example of naming a village in English, though using the traditional Welsh method of naming a village or town according to geographical features or landmarks. Oaks were common trees in the area and trees are a common part of many place names in Wales (as with Deri, also in Caerphilly county borough). The name was first used by the Oakdale Navigation Collieries Ltd, a subsidiary of the Tredegar Iron and Coal Co. The village was created specifically to house miners and their families as no settlement existed there previously and was actually designed through a competition in 1910-11 to build a village of 600 houses for such a purpose. Though it can be seen translated sometimes as Cwmderi, Cwmderwen, Glyn-y-deri or Glyn-derwen, no Welsh name officially exists for the village at the moment. The Welsh school in the area is named Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Derwen.
Supplied by Glamorgan Archives
Copyright held by John Cornwell -> National Museum