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Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd is a post-medieval and modern mineral railway line situated in Wales. The route traverses the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, a Westphalian-aged sequence of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete that provided the economic foundation for mineral extraction and rail development across the region. The railway's construction reflects the industrial exploitation of these coal and iron resources during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when narrow-gauge and standard-gauge mineral railways became essential infrastructure for transporting extracted materials to processing works and ports.
The surviving section of track at Cefn Morfudd preserves evidence of the technological and engineering systems that characterised South Wales industrial transport. The railway's nickname, Parsons Folly, references local naming practices associated with the line, reflecting community recognition of its commercial role and physical presence in the landscape. The route is now protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference GM447, ensuring its preservation as a record of Wales's industrial heritage.
Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM447. View the official record →
Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd is a post-medieval and modern mineral railway line situated in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference GM447.
Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a railway. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is GM447.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Pen-y-Castell (6.4 km), Cwm-Clais Castle Mound (6.5 km), Cae'r Mynydd Ventilation Furnace and Mine (6.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway (Parsons Folly) Section on Cefn Morfudd stands on South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.