Dinas Powys (; also spelt "Dinas Powis" in English) is a town and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Its name means "fort of the provincial place" and refers to the Iron Age hillfort which overlooks the village. Dinas Powys is south-west of the centre of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and is situated on the A4055 road from Cardiff to Barry, making it a popular dormitory village for city commuters. It neighbours the larger town of

Penarth Penarth ( , ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a Seaside resort#Brit ...

. Although several housing developments have been added since the late 20th century, the old centre of Dinas Powys maintains a traditional, almost rural character. It has a village common and small independent shops, pubs, restaurants and community facilities. Garages, small supermarkets, a pharmacy and a veterinary practice can be found in other parts of the town. According to recent

electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, voters list, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is ...

s, the population is in the region of 8,800, making Dinas Powys the fifth largest settlement in the Vale of Glamorgan.

History

The Neolithic and the Middle Ages

The Dinas Powys area has been populated since prehistoric times. The most ancient artifact found in the area is a

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

axe-head, discovered by P. W. Brooks in 1949 and now displayed in the National Museum Cardiff. The

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

was, in its time, considered to have great status and wealth. In the age of

Celtic Christianity Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common, or held to be common, across the Celtic languages, Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unifi ...

, residents of Dinas Powys had use of day-to-day objects from Bordeaux, Athens and Alexandria. Entrance Arch 2

The village features substantial remains of an early medieval castle and the adjacent Cwm George was the site of the Celtic hillfort from which the village takes its name. The hillfort site was excavated by Leslie Alcock of University College, Cardiff between 1953 and 1958 and was found to contain evidence of major wooden structures and a large quantity of high-status metalwork and jewellery. There were also glass items and imported pottery dating from the sub-Roman period of between the 5th and 7th centuries. Alcock dated the defence structures at Dinas Powys as from the Norman period, but later archeologists and scholars have dated them to the early medieval period. The castle was originally the seat of a Norman noble called Baron de Sumeri or , but the structure went into decline around 1322 when the de Sumeri male family line came to an end. Downtown Dinas Powys - geograph

In the 11th century, Dinas Powys was under the control of Sir Reginald de Sully, one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan. In 1591, Sir Edward Mansel of Margam wrote his historical document ''The Winning of Glamorgan'' and said: : To Sir Reginald de Sully he (Sir Robert Fitz Haymon) gave the castle and town to be called Sully with the Manor of it, and the Manors of St Andrews and Dinas Powys for his Granary and provisions. This Sir Reginald bestowed much land in fee frankliege to his men and came to be a man of wealth and fame. He had at Sully besides his Castle a fair Manor house built after a new manner, where he did live the most of his time, which house as well as the Castle was broke down by Owain Glendowr Mansel also records: : The Lordship of Llantwit is described as so fertile that as Glamorgan was called the Garden of Wales was this Lordship called the Garden of Glamorgan ... and it is the flower of all the Country ... and it was very full of goodly villages and Courtly houses, most of them still in remaining. The Lord had in this Lordship a noble Castle at Dinas Powys and one at Barry, with his Court house of Llantwit and Grange house of

Boverton Boverton () is a village located to the east of Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. History Boverton was founded during the reign of William the Conqueror in England. It is thought that he himself founded Boverton as a farmi ...

, so that in the whole it is a most Goodly Country. Dinas Powys was included in the original medieval Welsh political sub-division called the

Cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divid ...

Brenhinol (the Royal Hundred); this later became the

commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

known as the Hundred of Dinas Powis, which also encompassed St Andrews Major, Michaelston-le-Pit, Westra,

, Cogan, Sully, Lavernock and Llandough.

Rapid expansion in 19th century

By 1833, Dinas Powys barely existed. The nearby St Andrews Major was at the time substantially larger, but together their population was still only 474 in total. The village population remained almost static at about 300-400 people until the second half of the 19th century, when there was an influx into the community, including a large contingent from the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

. The growth of the coal industry saw the first passenger train arrive in Dinas Powys on 20 December 1898, and thereafter the population increased rapidly. The new rail link was laid at the bottom end of the Dinas Powys valley and provided a rapid connection to new docks built in

, Barry and Penarth to handle the expanding coal trade from the South Wales Valleys. At that time the only features below St Andrews Major were the small hamlet of Dinas Powys, the rail line, Cadoxton Brook and a number of small farms. The new rail link provided far better communication and transport to the area, making it a more attractive residential prospect, and many workers from Barry and Cardiff moved in. By 1891, the village population had more than doubled to 1,149; ten years later, it was over 2,000. Dinas Powys expanded in two ways: from the railway link towards St. Andrew's Major many imposing houses were built, such as that of Garnhill House; while along the railway, near the current area of Eastbrook, was new housing of more modest proportions. A few years after the railway was constructed, the main Cardiff Road was developed over the previous unmetalled trackway that followed the route of the railway line. This provided a further burst of population growth and house building.

20th century

A corner of the village

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

was sold to the Barry Docks and Railway Company for £160. The then

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

and ex-military survivor of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Major General Henry Lee, donated an additional sum of £30 and in 1935 the combined fund was used to upgrade the small green in the centre of the village, known locally as the Twyn, with a war memorial.

Geography

Dinas Powys is spread across the full width of a wooded valley, with the Cadoxton River running in the valley. The surrounding soils are mostly a strong, brown, dry earth, useful for arable farming; the growing of various grains contributed to the area being a mostly farming community until the modern era. The substratum under the whole area is a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

that was likely laid down under a warm ocean in the distant past. Dinas Powys village centre

The village has not been able to spread northwards, because of golf courses and protected woodlands between Dinas Powys and Michaelston-le-Pit. The freeholders of Cwrt-yr-Ala Estate prevented the two from merging. More recent housing development has taken place in a linear fashion either side of the main Cardiff road and in the direction of Cadoxton and Barry. Cwm George and Cwrt-yr-Ala are woodlands in the area. Maps over the last hundred years show that Penarth and Dinas Powys have spread and grown closer together. In many places the two communities are only separated by a few hundred yards and a couple of fields; however, no direct road connections have been added, entailing a car journey of several miles via Llandough. The only existing direct road is the medieval, winding single-track Cross Common Road. Another traditional lane crossing, which existed between the current site of the Tesco Express mini-supermarket and the Erw Delyn school at Redlands Heights, Penarth, was closed to through traffic following extensions to the Murch estate in the 1970s. According to the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

, in the floods of October 1998 six properties at Dinas Powys were affected. Flooding was caused by the floodwater overtopping the banks of the Cadoxton River among others, restrictions to flow in channels, and surcharging of drains.

Governance

The

of Dinas Powys (which includes St Andrews Major and Westra) elects a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

. Uniquely for this part of Wales, the council was dominated by the

Welsh nationalist Welsh nationalism () emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Culture of Wales, Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self-determination, which includes Welsh de ...

party

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

for over two decades. More recently, this dominance has reduced slightly. In May 2008, the Conservative Party won four additional seats on the community council, all at the expense of Plaid Cymru, including the defeat of Chris Franks. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of the same name exists, for elections to

Vale of Glamorgan Council The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Subdivisions of Wales, Principal Areas of Wales. History The new Vale of Glamorgan Council unitary authority came into effect on 1 April 1996, following th ...

. This ward mainly covers Dinas Powys but also stretches north to Michaelston. The total population of the ward at the 2011 census was 7,799. Until May 2017, the ward was represented by three Plaid Cymru councillors and an independent. In the 2017 elections, all four seats were won by the Conservatives (Vince Driscoll, Andy Robertson, Rob Crowley and Steve Griffiths). The Conservatives also gained seats at Plaid Cymru's expense on the community council. Dinas Powys falls within the Cardiff South and Penarth parliamentary constituency and is currently represented in the UK Parliament by the Labour MP

Stephen Doughty Stephen John Doughty (born 15 April 1980) is a Welsh Labour Co-op politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2012. He has served as Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Ter ...

. The

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

constituency of

is represented by Jane Hutt of

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...

Demography

The 2001 UK Census recorded the population of Dinas Powys as 8,512. In the 2011 Census, the number had fallen to 7,490. However,

information in 2012 indicated that the population was 8,790. There are few major employers in the village. The majority of the working population commutes to Cardiff, Penarth and Barry.

Landmarks

Local landmarks include Dinas Powys Castle, the village common, and the war memorial on the village green. Garnhill House (and Estate) is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

with terraced gardens exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1904, and has been occupied by the Green family for well over 100 years. The Mount, a late Georgian villa, is another Grade II listed building. It was originally a farmhouse called Mount Pleasant and was occupied by the Hurst family, who held the manor of Dinas Powys.

Religious sites

St. Peter's Church on Mill Road is the village's main

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, while the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

congregation worships at St. Mary's on Edith Road. St Peter's was built in 1929–1930 to replace the old "Iron Church" in the village square, which had served as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

for St. Andrew's since 1881, but could only hold 180 worshippers. The new church's foundation stone was laid on St. Peter's Day on 29 June 1929; it was consecrated on 15 October 1930. The church was designed by the Glamorgan architect J. Coates Carter, and was built after his death. The stained-glass window above the main altar was donated by Ralph Henry Green (of Garnhill House). Much of the masonry was reused from the recently demolished

Cyfarthfa Ironworks The Cyfarthfa Ironworks were major 18th- and 19th-century ironworks in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South West Wales. The beginning The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon (by then a merchant in ...

. St Peter's is currently a Grade II listed building. Dinas Powys is also noted for its 14th-century Norman parish church, dedicated to St Andrew. This is located in the hamlet of St Andrews Major, just under a mile away from the village centre. There is also the nearby church of St Michael and All Angels in Michaelston-le-Pit. There are two

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

chapels in the village. One is a small " tin tabernacle" in the Eastbrook area; the larger Methodist Church backs onto Station Road. Dinas Powys

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church meets in the Parish Hall on Britway Road, and Bethesda Chapel is on Fairoaks. Ebenezer

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Church is located in the Highwalls Road area.

Education

Dinas Powys has two

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, Dinas Powys Primary School (formed in 2015 by the amalgamation of Dinas Powys Infants' School and Murch Junior School) and St Andrews Major Church in Wales Primary School. The village has no

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

of its own. It was previously home to one half of Penarth’s St Cyres School. The site was the smaller of the school's two campuses and was for pupils aged 11 to 14; the site for the older children was in Penarth. However, the Dinas Powys site closed in 2012, and was replaced by a single, larger redeveloped site in Penarth.

Sports and recreation

The recreation area at the village common, administered by Dinas Powys Community Council, is home to several sports teams. Rugby was played on the common in 1882, when a group of young farm workers challenged players at the new Gwalia Brickworks. Dinas Powys Rugby Club is located on the common and plays in the WRU League 1 East Central. The club has won the East District cup on two occasions, and the 2nd XV (known as the Dingos) won the Mallett cup in 2016. Organised sports are also played on Parc Bryn-a-don and the Murch Playing Fields. Dinas Powys golf club - geograph

Dinas Powys Football Club was the first in the Vale of Glamorgan to achieve the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

' Club Accreditation Scheme Bronze Award. Dinas Powys Golf Club was founded in 1914 and has views over the city of Cardiff and

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

. Dinas Powys Cricket Club was established in 1882. The club fields three sides in the Welsh Club Cricket Conference, playing their home league matches at Parc Bryn y Don. There is also a Midweek League side and a Sunday friendly side, playing home matches on the village common. The club also has a junior section. There has been an active branch of the

Pony Club Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to educating youth about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over thirty countries worldwide. Overview Pony clubs began in England in 1929 by Harry Faudel-Phillips to ...

in the village since 1975. There are also many voluntary organisations, including a large

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

group.

Filming

The 2021 ITV television drama series '' Hollington Drive'' was filmed in Dinas Powys, in the luxury housing estate on Ardwyn Walk. In the TV sitcom ''

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom created, written by and starring James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one from Billericay in Essex, and the other from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. Mathew Horne and ...

'', the house of Mick and Pam, which is supposed to be in Essex, is actually in Dinas Powys.

Transport

The village has two railway stations, one at either end of the village: Eastbrook station is at the Cardiff end and Dinas Powys station at the Barry end. Both stations are on Network Rail's Barry branch line, with passenger trains operated by

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; ; ) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Trans ...

Notable people

The following people live, or have previously lived, in Dinas Powys: * John Smith (born 1951), former Labour Member of Parliament * Ray Smith (1936–1991), actor * Huw Justin Smith (1965–2007), son of Ray Smith and better known as Pepsi Tate, bass guitarist of the Welsh glam metal band

Tigertailz Tigertailz are a Welsh glam metal band from Cardiff. Their 1990 album '' Bezerk'' made the Top 40 on the UK Albums Chart and contained the hit singles "Love Bomb Baby" and "Heaven". The band reformed in 2005. History Formation and early year ...

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock and New wave music, new wave, having many hit record, h ...

(born 1944), recording artist and record producer *

Donna Edwards Donna Fern Edwards (born June 28, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2017. The district included most of Prince George's County, as well as part of Anne Arundel County. She is a member of the ...

(born 1963), actress * Noel Johnson (1916–1999), radio actor * Jeremy Colman (born 1948), former Auditor General for Wales * Charlotte Church (born 1986), singer and TV personality

References

External links

Dinas Powys websiteDinas Powys FC website
{{authority control Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan Communities in the Vale of Glamorgan