75 AD the Romans had reached the flat plain where, within a mile or so of each other, the three rivers, Rhymney, Taff and Ely reach the sea, and had built there a wooden fort. Later this was rebuilt in stone and its remains can still be seen in patches at the base of the walls of Cardiff Castle. This was the principal centre of occupation of what was the old county of Glamorgan. Leaving at Cardiff a permanent garrison, the Romans pushed west and north. A Roman road was made to Gelligaer as a connecting link between the forts of Cardiff and Brecon. In addition to a fort at Gelligaer another was eventually built at Penydarren. Thence the road ran through Pontsarn and Vaynor to Y Gaer, near Brecon. On an Ordnance Survey map one can trace the line of the Roman road on Gelligaer common, where it is known as Heol Adam. The Roman road from the fort at Gelligaer lies just west of Fochriw and Pant-y-Waun. It is said that the Romans marched 11 Roman miles a day and there was a rest post at Twyn-y-Waun which was 11 miles from the fort at Gelligaer. A Roman fort also exists at Pen-y-Darren which is located underneath the current site of Merthyr Town F.C. Industrial era Fochriw existed to provide accommodation for miners at the Fochriw Colliery, later for the Ogilvie Colliery to the South. By the end of the 19th century there were a few houses on Brook Road, still the main road through the village, and three terraced streets to the west of Railway Terrace. The streets are still marked on maps and traces of the roads remain, although all buildings have been cleared and they are now a bare field. At this time there were two chapels: baptist and Carmel, a school and a station. By 1919 the village had grown and the terraces to the south around Aelbryn and Glyn Terrace had been built. A church and two larger schools had also appeared. Fochriw Colliery Fochriw Colliery was sunk by the Dowlais Iron Co. to provide coal for their blast furnaces at Dowlais. Sinking began in 1857 and by 1866 two shafts were producing coal. In 1910 the No. 1 pit was producing 1,900 tons weekly from the Upper Two Feet Nine and the Upper Four Feet seams, with the No. 2 pit producing