Rhigos () is a small village on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley. It was part of the old Neath Rural district Council under Glamorgan until 1974. The village then came under the jurisdiction of The Cynon Valley Borough which subsequently became Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales in 1996. It lies just off the old Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glynneath, before the A465 road was extended in the 1960s. The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos and Cwm-Hwnt lie to the west of the main village.
The population of the community in the 2011 census was noted as 894. For postal purposes it comes under the town of Aberdare, although it is some from Aberdare town centre, and from Glynneath. It was noted as a township in the parish of Ystradyfodwg in several historical references and people moved to this rural area to work in local industries. Today, the village is a quiet place to live with views of the Brecon Beacons National Park to the north and is within walking distance of Waterfall Country.
Etymology
The name Rhigos is an erroneous standardisation of the local dialect form of Rucos or Ricos (same pronunciation).
A rule of thumb for writing Welsh place names is that they should be spelled according to the standard language and not the local dialect form (though there are many instances of names showing local traits) rather than a standard version - Machynlleth for Machynllaith, Caerdydd for Caerdyf etc. An initial 'c' in a final syllable in the Gwentian - Gwenhwyseg dialect is often a devoiced form of 'g', and such is the case here. An initial 'r' is generally a deaspirated 'rh' in the dialect, but this is not the case here. Since in South Wales 'u' and 'i' no longer represent different vowel sounds (though in North Wales these spellings DO show different vowels) in spelling 'i' might be used instead of the historically correct spelling with 'u'.
In this way 'Rhigos' has come about, though in fact it is, from its earlier spellings, quite evidently from 'grugos' (small clumps of heather - 'grug' is heather and '-os' is a diminutive suffix found in place names after words denoting vegetation, and in the modern language it is to seen in 'plantos' = little children). The 'correct' form of the name is 'Y Rugos', a name found in other parts of Wales (also as Y Grugos).
Geography and natural history
"The south Wales Valleys support a treasure trove of biodiversity. Like all good treasure troves it had been lost and long forgotten and has only now been re-found, and like some giant archaeological dig, one discovery has led to another; one find has spurred on the finding of the next."
Rhigos lies at the apex of the Cynon Valley and the Vale of Neath. Craig y Llyn, the mountain summit above it, is the highest peak in the traditional county of Glamorgan. A glacial cirque excavated into the Pennant Sandstone scarp of Craig y Llyn holds the glacial lake of Llyn Fawr. The glaciers sculpted and over-deepened the valleys into characteristic U-shaped profiles. All the deposits of the Welsh ice were locally derived.
Certain parts of the local landscape surrounding Rhigos have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest including the wooded gorges of Waterfall Country, Cwm Cadlan and nearby Blaencynon SAC. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee which advises the government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation, states that the damp grassland and heath of the Blaencynon site has been noted as an area that supports the marsh fritillary butterfly. This butterfly is threatened not only in the UK, but across Europe. which makes this area of importance in an international conservation effort.
The Rhigos Mountain since Mid-August 2022 has been closed until further notice, due to a significant mountain fire, which caused the metal wiring that secures the boulders down, to melt away, posing a significant threat to the A4061 Rhigos Road, which plays a big part in connecting communities such as Treherbert & Hirwaun. Specialist access rope contractors are currently on site investigating the mountainside, and a date for reopening the road has not, and will not be announced for some time as of yet.