Risca, United Kingdom

From the early nineteenth century, the area around Risca was dominated by coal mining and transport systems to access the mines, although there is also evidence that lead and coal were being extracted much earlier.

The first large-scale mine was the Black Vein Colliery, which was located near to the boundary between Risca and what is now Cross Keys and closed in 1921. The New Risca Colliery, which was between what is now Wattsville and Cross Keys, operated until 1967.

The Black Vein coal seam was very explosive and the mines working it experienced a series of serious mine accidents. In 1846, 35 miners were killed in an explosion at the Black Vein Colliery, and in 1860 more than 140 miners were killed at the same mine. In 1860, an explosion at the New Risca colliery, which was working the same seam of coal, killed 120 men.

Brickworks, quarries and copper, tin and iron works also developed in and around Risca through the nineteenth century.

Risca was served by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company lines to the north from Tredegar (via the Sirhowy Railway) and Ebbw Vale towards Newport to the south, including passenger facilities at the original Risca railway station.

The dominance of coal in the local economy meant that mine closures in the 1930s and 1940s caused severe unemployment in Risca. Some charitable relief was sent by the Mayor of Oxford's Mining Distress Committee. In 1931, this included - with the help of a grant from the Educational Settlements Association - the founding of the Educational Settlement at Oxford House, Risca. The first wardens of the settlement were a couple, Mr and Mrs Wills. David Wills was a UK pioneer of psychiatric social work, a holder of a William Straight Fellowship at the New York School of Social Work at Columbia University. Oxford House, Risca was founded at Hillside, moving in 1937 to The Grove. Oxford House is now an adult education centre operated by Caerphilly Borough Council.

By the end of the 1970s, most of the local coalmines had closed and the majority of the population were working in other industries.

The town is now part of the Cardiff Capital Region which has a combined population of 1,543,293.