Cwmaman is probably typical of many small towns in the South Wales Valleys, in that it developed in tandem with the growth of the coal mines that proliferated here, as the demand for the high grade coal grew, not just in Britain but throughout the world.

As in the rest of the area, this was an agricultural district that had remained the same, probably since the Black Death in the 1660s and even at the beginning of the 1840s when ironworks had been in existence for some years, there were only about 40 people living in the Aman Valley, and it was still very agricultural.

However, this was shortly to change. With the advent of the coal mines in the 1850s, there was a spectacular increase in the amount of people living here and in the amount of buildings constructed to cater for them, which included houses, shops, pubs and the Cwmaman Public Hall and Institute.

The first public house that was opened was the Shepherd's Arms in 1850 and this is still serving the public. Other pubs that opened subsequently included the Cwmneol Inn, the Globe Inn, the Ivy Bush Inn, the Mount Pleasant Inn and the Railway Inn. Places of worship were built almost in tact with the appearance of the pubs. The first was Moria Welsh Congregationalist Chapel, which opened in 1855, and was followed by Seion Welsh Baptist Chapel in 1859, Soar Welsh Presbyterian Chapel in1859, Bethel English Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1873, St. Joseph's Anglican Church in1881 and Trinity English Baptist Chapel in1901. The arrival of the English language places of worship is indicative of the influx of workers who were not from Wales, as was the case in the other valleys' towns.

The fate of the town has followed that of all the other South Wales Valleys, a period of boom up until the end of the First World War, a long period of economic depression between the two world wars, then a slow economic decline after the 1960s that is only now being rectified.

T. Francis, Quarryman

D. Lewis, Hirwaun

J. Davies, Tin Mill owner

R. Davies, Hirwaun