PONTYPRIDD, sometimes also called Newbridge, a market town of Glamorganshire, Wales, situated on the Taff at its junction with the Rhondda, and on the Glamorganshire Canal, 12 miles north-north-west from Cardiff and 12 south from Merthyr-Tydfil. It receives its name from a remarkable bridge of one arch spanning the Taff, erected by William Edwards, a self-taught mason. The bridge is a perfect segment of a circle, the chord being 140 feet, and the height at low water 36 feet. A three-arched bridge was erected close to it in 1857. The principal buildings are the court-house, St Catherine’s church, the masonic hall, and the town-halL Near the town is a far-famed rocking stone 9 ⅜ tons in weight, surrounded by so-called Druidical remains. In the beginning of the century Pontypridd was an insignificant village, and it owes its progress chiefly to the coal and iron in the neighbourhood. It possesses anchor, chain, and cable works, chemical works, and iron and brass foundries. The population in 1881 was 12,317.