Ewenny () is a village 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 ...

on the River Ewenny 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 ...

, Wales. Over the years the village has grown into the neighbouring village of Corntown to such an extent that there is no longer a clear boundary between the two. The nearest town of significant size is

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, away. Corntown is within the community. In 1987, scenes from the

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

episode Delta and the Bannermen were filmed in the village.

History

Ewenny Priory

The village grew around the Priory and Church. The Norman church of St. Michael was built in the 12th century by one of the Norman

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

s of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, William de Londres. His son Maurice founded the adjacent

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

priory in 1141 when he granted the church to the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

of St. Peter at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, together with the churches of St Brides Major, St. Michael at Colwinston and the manor at Lampha. The priory is widely regarded as one of the finest fortified religious buildings in Britain. Over the centuries the priory has sustained some damage, but nonetheless it is still inhabited by its current owners, the Turbervill family. The priory is not open to the public but the attached Church is still in use today.

Potteries

Records show that the pottery industry has existed in the area since 1427. This is probably because the materials required for the production of pottery are readily available in this area, including a local red earthenware, glaze materials, stone to build the kilns and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

to fire the pots in the kilns. There have been fifteen potteries in the Ewenny area at one time or another, all small family concerns. The village is home to the Ewenny Pottery, founded in 1610 and the oldest working pottery in Wales. The business is run by the descendants of the pottery's original founders, the Jenkins family.

Y Ladi Wen

Ewenny is associated with apparition of

Welsh folklore Welsh folklore is the collective term for the folklore of the Welsh people. It encompasses topics related to Welsh mythology, Folklore, folk tales, customs, and oral tradition. Welsh folklore is related to Irish folklore, Irish and Scottish folkl ...

. In 1909, Marie Trevelyan recorded a number of local accounts claiming that a woman in white could be seen around the village. The figure was said to appear either wringing her hands in despair or more commonly, pointing or guiding people to the same, unvarying location. One popular legend recounts that when ''Y Ladi Wen'' appeared to a certain man, he was not scared or frightened, but spoke to her calmly, offering her his assistance. The lady is relieved by the offer and replies that if the man could just hold her tightly in his arms then all of her problems would be solved. The story ends unhappily, as the man began to carry out her wish, he was startled into letting her go when a dog loudly barked upon seeing the two figures. At this Y Ladi Wen unleashed a scream and states "I shall be bound for another seven years!" In another version of the story, the man again offers his help but ''Y Ladi Wen'' simply ask him to take her hand. The two then walk a short distance before Y Ladi Wen disappears. Sightings of another version of Y Ladi Wen are recorded at the nearby Ogmore Castle. However, the Ewenny version is invariably linked with the vicinity of Ewenny Priory, with the figure appearing to people on "White Lady's Lane" and guiding or pointing them to a place on "White Lady's meadow".

Other Points of Interest

The nearby Coed-y-Bwl nature reserve has around a quarter of a million ‘wild’ daffodils. The reserve was established in 1971 and in 1975 received a

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

trust award. The daffodils were planted in the early 19th century by Mrs Nicholl of Merthyr Mawr. A Roman

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

is situated near the reserve.

Governance

Ewenny has 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. ...

which elects or co-opts eight community councillors. Until 2022 the community was part of the county ward of Llandow/Ewenny for elections to the Vale of Glamorgan Council. It was transferred to the St Brides Major ward as a result of recommendations from the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.

References

Description of the Priory provided by Bridgend County CouncilHistory of the villageEwenny PotteryThe Village website

Images

Priory ExteriorSt. Michael's ChurchThe Village ShopEwenny River

External links

Geograph.co.uk
photos of Ewenny and surrounding area * {{authority control Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan Communities in the Vale of Glamorgan