The last surviving house in the demolished Welsh village of Troedrhiwfuwh has sold for £49,050 after going to online auction with a guide price of just £1. The property, which stood alone after the rest of the village was bulldozed due to landslide fears, attracted 13 bidders who placed a total of 230 bids.
Fierce bidding war
Auctioneer Sean Roper of Paul Fosh Auctions described the sale as "truly unique." He said: "It's a vastly overused word but this a truly unique sale for all manner of reasons, the main one being that the house offers a real-life connection to a now vanished community where a population of more than 600 men, women and children and their pets, once thrived." The house, which is fire-damaged and roofless, sold after a fierce online battle between two keen buyers near the final stage.
The lost village of Troedrhiwfuwh
The Welsh mining settlement of Troedrhiwfuwh, near Caerphilly, was a compact yet thriving community with approximately 600 inhabitants living on the steep slopes of the Rhymney Valley. The settlement boasted roughly 100 terraced homes, primarily concentrated along three principal streets, and featured a school, church, shops and pubs, tracing its origins to the 1850s when it emerged to accommodate workers at the nearby mines.
Fears of a disaster like Aberfan
However, there were anxieties that the community could face the same danger as Aberfan, where a catastrophic landslip in 1966 killed 144 people, mostly children. Concerns centred on the geology of the terrain, with worries that the mountainside behind the settlement was shifting. In 1985, the inhabitants were relocated, and the village was demolished, leaving only one house standing.
The lone survivor
The lone house on the hill remains a curious link to another age. Why this otherwise ordinary three-bedroom house survived while all others didn't remains a mystery. The auctioneer noted that a new owner may wish to unravel the story. The property was once made up of two reception rooms, a kitchen and bathroom on the ground floor, and three bedrooms on the upper level. Outside, there is a rear yard with sheds, a front garden, and constant visual links to captivating valley and mountain views.
Other survivors
Two other properties from the vanished village have also survived as cherished homes: the former post office on the main road and a cottage tucked behind vegetation on Chapel Street. The sold auction property is now heading for a new chapter, but it remains unknown whether it will be renovated or succumb to the bulldozer like its neighbours.
