The last remaining house in a former Welsh mining village wiped from the map after fears of a catastrophic landslip has sold for £49,050 following a remarkable online auction.
The fire-damaged property at 2 Lawrence Terrace, Troedrhiwfuwch, near New Tredegar in the Rhymney Valley (main picture), attracted huge public interest ahead of the sale, with coverage across UK and international media.
Despite carrying a guide price of just £1, the two-bedroom property attracted 13 individual bidders who submitted 230 bids before the hammer finally fell at £49,050 during the latest Paul Fosh Auctions sale.
The house is one of only two surviving buildings in the former mining community, known locally as Troedy, where more than 600 residents once lived before the village was abandoned and eventually demolished following fears that an unstable mountainside could trigger a devastating landslip.
GEOLOGICAL INSTABILITY
Troedrhiwfuwch was once home to more than 100 terraced houses, alongside shops, pubs, chapels, a school and a post office, serving the surrounding coal mining community.
However, concerns over geological instability led to residents being relocated during the 1970s and early 1980s before the village was demolished in 1985. Today, only the former post office and 2 Lawrence Terrace remain, standing as rare reminders of a community that has otherwise disappeared from the landscape.
Sean Roper, of Paul Fosh Auctions, says: “The sale of this house really grabbed the imagination and following of a large number of people ahead of the sale, attracting huge media interest both at home and abroad.
“And this enthusiasm was then reflected in the enormous number of bids lodged during the online sale.
“The fire-damaged lot, which had a reduced guide price of just £1, attracted no less than 13 individual bidders who collectively lodged a phenomenal 230 bids until the property eventually sold for £49,050, a great result.”
UNIQUE SALE
Roper says that the property represented far more than a redevelopment opportunity.
He adds: “It’s a vastly overused word but this was a truly unique sale for all manner of reasons, the main one being that the house offers a real-life connection to a now vanished community where a population of more than 600 men, women and children once thrived.
“The lone house, at number 2 Lawrence Terrace, in the now vanished mining village of Troedrhiwfuwch, is a curious link to another long-gone age.
“Why this otherwise ordinary house survived remains a bit of a mystery.”
“Why this otherwise ordinary house survived in some form while all the others didn’t remains a bit of a mystery, but it may be a story a new owner of the property can unravel.”
And he says: “Whatever the circumstances, this sale offered an unrepeatable opportunity for someone to acquire a property with an amazing history.
“It was once at the centre of a bustling mining village before the council feared a landslide could engulf the community without warning. The residents were moved out and, by 1985, Troedrhiwfuwch had been demolished.”
Paul Fosh Auctions’ next online sale begins at midday on 28 July and concludes from 5pm on 30 July, with around 100 lots due to go under the hammer.
Main picture: The survivor: The last house in a vanished south Wales valleys community which once numbered more than 600 souls, sold at Paul Fosh Auctions.
