 In the mid @-@ 16th century the Rhondda , at that time known as the Vale of <unk> , belonged to the large but sparsely inhabited parish of Ystradyfodwg , ' St. Tyfodwg 's Vale ' . For administrative purposes the parish was divided into three hamlets : the Upper or Rhigos Hamlet to the north , the Middle or Penrhys Hamlet and the lower or Clydach Hamlet . Throughout the post @-@ Medieval period the Rhondda was a heavily wooded area and its main economic staple was the rearing of sheep , horses and cattle . The historian Rice Merrick , in describing the upland area of the Vale of Glamorgan , stated that there " was always great breeding of cattle , horses and sheep ; but in elder time <unk> grew but small store of corn , for in most places there the ground was not thereunto apt ... " While English cartographer John Speed described that the rearing of cattle was the " best means unto wealth that the Shire doth afford " . As there was no fair held in the Rhondda the animals would be taken to neighbouring fairs and markets at Neath , Merthyr , Llantrisant , <unk> and Llandaff . However , to be self @-@ supporting , the farmers of the area grew crops such as oats , corn and barley in small quantities . Crops were grown in the lower part of the Rhondda on narrow meadows adjoining the <unk> , though during the Napoleonic Wars scarce supplies forced the cultivation of the upland areas such as Carn @-@ y @-@ <unk> and Penrhys . Merrick would describe the diet of the upland inhabitants as consisting of " bread made of wheat ... and ale and bear " and over two hundred years later Benjamin Malkin showed how little the diet had changed when he wrote that the people still ate " Oatmeal bread , with a relish of miserable cheese ; and the beer , where they have any , is worse than none " . 
