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 The Ewenny River () is a river in South Wales. For most of its length, it forms the border between the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend. It is a major tributary of the River Ogmore, which it joins near its estuary. Course The river rises to the ...

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 A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

and

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. The

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

church of

St. Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

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 A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

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. Brides Major () is a village within the community also called St Brides Major in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. The village is located approximately 1.5 mi from the Glamorgan Heritage Coast. It is connected by bus to the nearby tow ...

, St. Michael at

Colwinston Colwinston (historically sometimes Colwinstone; ) is both a village and a community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately southeast of the centre of Bridgend and west of the centre of Cardiff. The village is located within of the A48 ...

and the manor at Lampha. The priory is widely regarded as one of the finest fortified religious buildings in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. 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 A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay into ...

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 Ewenny Pottery, founded in 1610 in the village of Ewenny, is the oldest working pottery in Wales. Background The village of Ewenny is sited above all of the natural resources to make the local red earthenware pottery: clay deposited from the ic ...

, 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 Emma Mary Paslieu (née Thomas, known by the pen-name Marie Trevelyan) (1853–1922) was a Welsh writer and folklorist. A popular writer of fiction and non-fiction, Trevelyan's work was informed by an extensive collection of oral and written ac ...

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 Ogmore Castle () is a Grade I listed castle ruin located near the village of Ogmore in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, east of Ogmore-by-Sea, and south of the town of Bridgend. It is situated on the south bank of the Ewenny River and the east ban ...

. 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 Merthyr Mawr is a village and Community (Wales), community in Bridgend (county borough), Bridgend, Wales. The village is about miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 censu ...

. A

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 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 ...

. It was transferred to the St Brides Major ward as a result of recommendations from the

Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru () is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for defining local government boundaries and Senedd constituency boundaries in Wales, also known as . The Commission was established originally as ...

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