Tonna, Neath Explained

Country:Wales
Static Image:Grade II listed St Anne's Church, Tonna - geograph.org.uk - 4942356.jpg
Static Image Caption:St Anne's Church in Tonna.
Coordinates:51.676°N -3.772°W
Official Name:Tonna
Population:2,499
Population Ref:(2011 census)[1]
Unitary Wales:Neath Port Talbot
Lieutenancy Wales:West Glamorgan
Constituency Westminster:Neath
Constituency Welsh Assembly:Neath
Post Town:NEATH
Postcode District:SA11
Postcode Area:SA
Dial Code:01639
Os Grid Reference:SS774990
Councillor1:Leanne Jones
Party1:Labour

Tonna (Welsh: Tonnau) is the name of a village and community in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, located to the north-east of Neath.

Immediately between Tonna and the adjoining parish of Llanilltud ("Llantwit-juxta-Neath") is a cottage once occupied by the Welsh-born engineer and naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who had arrived at his theory of evolution independently of Charles Darwin, with whom he later corresponded. Eventually Wallace and Darwin jointly presented the first paper on Natural Selection to the Linnean Society.

The village's rugby union team is Tonna RFC.

Toponymy

Once mainly agricultural fields, the name derives from the archaic Welsh tonnau, meaning lea or grassland and not, as is sometimes assumed, the modern Welsh for "waves". Some areas of pasture remain.

Government and politics

The electoral ward of Tonna falls within the parliamentary constituency of Neath. The ward consists of a small built-up area of Tonna village to the northwest with rest of the ward consisting of woodland and pasture. Tonna is bounded by the wards of Aberdulais to the north; Resolven to the northeast; Pelenna to the southeast; Cimla and Neath North to the southwest; and Cadoxton to the west.

In the 2017 local council elections, the electorate turnout was 43.7%. The results were:

CandidatePartyVotesStatus
Leanne Jones Labour327Labour hold
Lee Bromham-Nichols Plaid Cymru305
Kathryn Minshull Conservative107
Nick Williams Independent83

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ward population 2011 . 12 April 2015.