Bryncoch

The area is not regarded as hugely affluent, but is one of the generally better off areas in the deprived county borough of Neath Port Talbot Historically the village of Bryncoch was centred on Main Road and a few adjacent streets, but the village expanded considerably in the 1960s with the building of the Furzeland Drive and Elias Drive developments.

The council ward of Bryncoch South includes the distinct areas of the Rhyddings, Gilfach, Penywern, Leiros Parc, and the large social housing estate of Caewern.

This was the scene of a major disaster on 6 April 1859, when 26 men and boys were drowned by an inflow of water, as reported in The Cambrian newspaper.

The philanthropist Howel Gwyn MP lived, from 1854, at the now demolished Dyffryn mansion on the outskirts of the village and built the parish church of St Matthew on his estate in 1871.

[2] The renowned scientist Alfred Russel Wallace lived at Bryncoch Farm and studied Red Admiral butterflies while working as a surveyor for the Great Western Railway company around 1843.