St Lythans ( cy, Llwyneliddon) is an affluent hamlet and former parish 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 ...

, southeast

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, just outside western

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. It lies southwest of

Culverhouse Cross Culverhouse Cross ( cy, Croes Cwrlwys) is a district straddling the boundary between Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the community of Wenvoe. The district is centred on a major traffic roundabout that links West Cardiff to the M4 mo ...

, west of

Wenvoe Wenvoe ( cy, Gwenfô) is a village, community and electoral ward between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby are the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the site of the former HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse ...

and southwest of Twyn-yr-Odyn and is also connected by road from Dyffryn and the Five Mile Lane in the west. It is one of the wealthiest communities in the Vale of Glamorgan, containing some notable mansions and cottages, valued on average at over £500,000 as of 2011. The megalithic

St Lythans burial chamber , alternate_name = , image = St Lythans burial chamber (4794) (cropped).jpg , caption = , alt = a grassy field in which three large upright stones support a stone slab roof , location = near St Lythans and Barry () , region = Vale ...

, over 6000 years old, lies 1 km to the west of the village and the hamlet also contains the St.Lythans Parish Church or Church of St Bleddian, 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 Ir ...

History

In the 16th century, the manor in the area was acquired by the Button family, who built the first house about north west of the

tumulus 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 bu ...

. The Manor's name was changed to Dyffryn St Nicholas and the house rebuilt in the 18th century, when the estate was purchased by Thomas Pryce. Worlton Manor was also prominent in this area for some time. Commenting on St Lythans in his 'A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales', London, 1811,

Nicholas Carlisle Sir Nicholas Carlisle, KH, FRS, MRIA, (1771 in York, England – 27 August 1847 in Margate, England) was an English antiquary and librarian. In 1806, he became a candidate for the office of Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, which he o ...

, says "The Resident Population of this Parish, in 1801, was 72. It is 6m. W. S.W. from Caerdiff (sic)." and notes that "Here is a Druidical Altar." (Note the spelling of Cardiff, which corresponds closely to the current local Cardiff pronunciation.) By 1831, the population had grown by over 50% ("Lythan's, St. (St. Lythian), a parish in the hundred of Dinas-Powis, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Cardiff, containing 103 inhabitants.") and Dyffryn House was being used as "a school for all the poor children of this parish". By now, the dolmen had been correctly identified: "There is a cromlech on St. Lythan's common." (From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' by Samuel Lewis, 1833). Census records show that St Lythans' population fluctuated between 81 (1881) and 136 (1861) over the rest of the 19th century. In 1939, the Dyffryn Estate was leased to the

Glamorgan County Council Glamorgan County Council was established in 1889 together with the administrative county of Glamorganshire under the Local Government Act 1888. The first elections to the council were held in January 1889. The council was abolished under the Local ...

for 999 years. The area is little changed from the mid 19th century, when Llowe's 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849) said: "There is a cromlech on a farm belonging to the Dyfryn (sic) estate; it is near the road-side, about half a mile west of the church, on the approach to Dyfryn (sic) village".

Geography

St Lythans is a small rural settlement in the

, midway between the villages of

and St Nicholas, about four miles (6.4 km) west-south-west of

. The burial chamber stands in a field, Maesyfelin (), often shared by a herd of cows, to the south of St Lythans Road. Roadside parking is available, for 2—3 cars, about from the site, which is maintained by Cadw (), the Welsh Historic Environment Agency. Access to the field, which slopes gently downwards towards the north west, is permitted, and is free, via a

kissing gate A kissing gate is a gate that allows people, but not livestock, to pass through. The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezoidal or V-shaped part-enclosure with the free end of a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When the ...

. There is no wheelchair access, although there is an uninterrupted view of the site from the gate, about away. To the south of the hamlet is

Goldsland Goldsland ( cy, Tregold) is a small hamlet and farm in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. It is located near the boundary of the Wenvoe Castle Golf Club in the parish of Wenvoe. It lies to the east of Dyffryn and south of St Lythans and the ...

and wood, where a notable archaeological excavation has been conducted by the University of Central Lancashire since 2005.

References

External links

Tinkinswood and St Lythan’s Community Archaeology Project
{{authority control Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan