Llanblethian
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Llanblethian ( cy, Llanfleiddian) is a
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in the
Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...
in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
which sits upon the
River Thaw The River Thaw ( cy, Afon Ddawan) (also Ddaw) is a river in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. At 20 kilometres/12.4 miles, it is the longest river entirely in the Vale of Glamorgan. Course Its source is in the hills just south of th ...
. It makes up part of the
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
of
Cowbridge with Llanblethian Cowbridge with Llanblethian is a community (civil parish) in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, which incorporates Llanblethian and the town of Cowbridge. It also covers the village of Aberthin to the northeast of Cowbridge. The population was 4,063 i ...
, which consists of the village itself, the larger
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
of
Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...
and
Aberthin Aberthin is a small village, just outside Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, on the north side of a shallow valley, less than a mile northeast of Cowbridge across the A48 road. Cowbridge Comprehensive School lies just to the southw ...
. Llanblethian first came to prominence as one of the manor lordships created by the Norman lords following the Norman invasion of Wales. It was first ruled by the St. Quentins before being taken over by the Siwards. Under the Norman lordship power in the region shifted from the village to nearby Cowbridge, where manorial affairs were conducted. Llanblethian has several fine large buildings including an early 18th century great house, a 12th-century church dedicated to St John the Baptist and its own castle, a largely ruinous structure but with a fine gatehouse known locally as
St Quintins Castle } St Quintins Castle (also known as St Quentins Castle and Llanblethian Castle, cy, Castell Llanfleiddan) is a castle located in the village of Llanblethian, Cowbridge, Wales. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade II* listed building and is un ...
.


Etymology

Llanblethian takes its name from Saint Bleiddian, a contemporary of
Germanus of Auxerre Germanus of Auxerre ( la, Germanus Antissiodorensis; cy, Garmon Sant; french: Saint Germain l'Auxerrois; 378 – c. 442–448 AD) was a western Roman clergyman who was bishop of Autissiodorum in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a h ...
(Welsh: Garmon Sant). ''Llan'' is Welsh for church, so the village is the 'church of St Bleddian'. The root of ''blaidd'' is a translation of ''lupus'', the wolf.


History

Evidence of early settlements in the area now known as Llanblethian have been discovered in various locations around the village. To the west of Llanblethian, between ''Breach'' and ''Marlborough'' farms,
tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...
- ancient burial mounds - dating from the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
have been found. On Llanblethian Hill is the site of ''Caer Dynnaf'', a large
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
fort, whose walls and ditches can still be seen. Although no reliable accounts exist of life in Glamorgan in the first 150 years of
Norman rule Norman Rule (born 28 January 1928) is an Australian former sports shooter. He competed at the 1956, 1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that ...
it is known the manor of Llanblethian existed as one of the twelve "member lordships", large areas of land that
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
was divided up into by the Norman Lord
Robert Fitzhamon Robert Fitzhamon (died March 1107), or Robert FitzHamon (literally, 'Robert, son of Hamon'), Seigneur de Creully in the Calvados region and Torigny in the Manche region of Normandy, was the first Norman feudal baron of Gloucester and the Norma ...
. Most of these manors, specifically the hilly valley regions were held by subservient local Welsh rulers, but Llanblethian and its neighbor Talyfan were held by Norman
feudatories A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. ...
, including Robert de Wintona, who built the Llanquian Castle. The first lord of Llanblethian manor was Robert St. Quentin, a powerful Norman knight who held lands in Wiltshire, Dorset, Essex and Yorkshire. The St. Quentin family established a fortification within the village. but in 1233 the family was disposed by Richard Siward the lord of Talyfan. With the lordship passing to the de Clare family, an early keep built by the St Quentin family was fortified further with the addition of a gatehouse and curtain wall. During the medieval period it is recorded that a
fulling mill Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...
existed in the area, as well as wind or water powered grain mills. An extensive manor stretching far beyond the village boundaries, the local economy was based heavily on agriculture. It was during this period that administrative affairs of the manor began moving towards the nearby settlement of Cowbridge. By the 18th century, Llanblethian contained a few large houses, but was essentially a collection of farms with the economy supported by craftsmen with some emphasis on the weaving trade. A hundred years later the village had begun attracting wealthy residents, including retired military and naval officers. This still left the majority of the population made up of poorly paid labourers, servants and farm-workers. Up until the mid 20th century the majority of employment was local, though with changes in employment patterns in Britain the majority of residents now commute to work outside the village.


Buildings of note

* The Church of St John the Baptist is a
Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. Its earliest evidence is in the chancel which is established as 12th century, though much of the church is of a later date. The west tower is in the Somerset style and is reputedly gifted by
Anne Neville Anne Neville (11 June 1456 – 16 March 1485) was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"). Before her marriage to Ric ...
, the wife of
King Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Batt ...
. Whether or not this is true, the tower still stands as an exotic with its features similar to those found in Cornwall and Devon, but rarely in Glamorgan. The tower contains a ring of six bells which were restored and rehung in 1994. The interiors are heavily restored by C. B. Fowler of Cardiff in 1896–97. Of note within the church is a stone effigy of a man with a greyhound at his feet and a simple but handsome tablet dedicated to the parents of local benefactor Sir
Leoline Jenkins Sir Leoline Jenkins (1625 – 1 September 1685) was a Welsh academic, diplomat involved in the negotiation of international treaties (e.g. Nimègue), jurist and politician. He was a clerical lawyer who served as Judge of the High Court of Admi ...
, dated 1763. *
St Quintins Castle } St Quintins Castle (also known as St Quentins Castle and Llanblethian Castle, cy, Castell Llanfleiddan) is a castle located in the village of Llanblethian, Cowbridge, Wales. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade II* listed building and is un ...
is a ruined fortification located on a spur across the valley from St John the Baptist Church. Although known locally as St Quintin's Castle the only part of it which can be attributed to the St Quentin family is a mound of stones on a raised mound which has been identified as the remains of a 12th-century
keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
. The castle begun by the St Quentins fell into the hands of
Richard de Clare Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
in 1245 after the outlawry of Richard Siward. It was de Clare's grandson
Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, 7th Earl of Hertford (c. 10 May 1291 – 24 June 1314) was an English nobleman and military commander in the Scottish Wars. In contrast to most English earls at the time, his main focus lay in ...
who commenced building of the outer walls and gatehouse in 1312, but remained unfinished after his untimely death at the
Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was ...
two years later. The gatehouse, which still stands, is integrally built into the curtain wall. The curtain wall is an irregular quadrilateral roughly 50 metres by 52 metres at its widest parts, though little remains above the foundations. *On the main road through the village lies the Great House, a
Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. A two-storey building with five bays with two-bayed recessed ends, the 18th century front is rendered and colour washed. In the central gable is located a
sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
bearing the initials T.W. (Thomas Wilkins) dated 1703. Although this date is too early for the façade, the hall fireplace is also initialed T.W. and dated 1710. There are handsome early 18th century paneling in one of the lower rooms.


Footnotes

;Notes ;References ;Primary sources * * * *


External links


www.geograph.co.uk ; photos of Cowbridge and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan