The people
of Llantwit Major, or Llanilltud Fawr, live in a place which has been
occupied for over 3000 years. Bronze Age and Iron Age people, and the
Romans lived here before the Celtic Church made this a place of national
importance, but the oldest buildings now seen in the town were built
by the Normans.
For
the visitor, the best place to start a tour of the town is at the Tourist
Office underneath the steps of the Town Hall, which interestingly was
never a town hall. Until parish councils were created towards the end
of the 19th century, Llantwit Major had no control over its own affairs.When
the Normans, led by Robert Fitzhamon, conquered Glamorgan, most of the
Vale was partitioned among the Norman knights, but Fitzhamon, who became
Earl of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan, kept Llantwit Major himself,
and set up a feudal manor to provide his garrison in Cardiff Castle
with grain. Thus Llantwit Major was ruled by the Lord of Glamorgan,
but it never had a charter or a castle. The Town Hall, said to have
been built by Gilbert de Clare, was a manorial court, where the affairs
of the manor were decided. The present Town Hall was rebuilt in the
late 16th century.
The
Town Square
The
town square has at its centre an old preaching cross, which is now the
war memorial. Around it is a group of Tudor buildings, erected when
the town had to be rebuilt following a visit with fire and sword by
Owain Glyndwr soon after 1400.
About
1440, a new family came to Llantwit Major, the Raglans or Raglands.
Robert Raglan built a house which is now the Old White Hart public house,
making it the oldest continually inhabited house in the town. Then about
1465, Raglan built a new house, which in time was used by the church
as a presbytery, and which in 1874 was extended and became the village
school, now the "Old School" used by community groups.
The Old
Swan Inn on the other side of the square is another Raglan house. There
is a tradition that this pub was at one time a mint. This dates from
the Civil War when the owner, Edward Maddocks, struck brass tokens for
his workers. The Old Swan was was also a popular inn for American visitors
before the 1939-45 war when St. Donats Castle was owned by William Randolph
Hearst.
In College
Street near the church is an attractive 16th century building known
as Plymouth House. This was the town house of the Stradlings of St.
Donats, and it then passed to the family of the Earl of Plymouth.
In West
Street is the remains of a house that was only occupied for a hundred
years. Llantwit Place or the Old Place (often called Llantwit Major
Castle) was built in 1596 for Edmund Vann, but before the end of the
17th century the family had died out and the house was abandoned. It
is now a dangerous ruin.
Great
House or Ty Mawr
At the
northern end of the town is Great House or Ty Mawr, which has hardly
changed since it was built around 1600 as a home for the Nicholl family,
the richest people in the town. Before the 1939-45 war, the house was
abandoned and was in a ruinous state, but it has since been rebuilt
in its original style.
The
Roman Villa, Caer Mead
Just north
of one of the narrow roads known as Morfa Lane, is the site of a Roman
villa, which was occupied from about 150-350. It was a large farm, with
dwellings, stables and workshops, with fine mosaics and a suite of baths.
Unfortunately, for preservation and security reasons, the remains are
covered over. There
has recently been more Roman finds in a field in Llanmaes.
Churches
St. Illtud's
Church, which was described by described by John Wesley in 1777 as "the
most beautiful as well as the most spacious church in Wales", has
a very long history. Christ has been worshipped here for about 1500
years, since Illtud came here and, by the side of the Ogney Brook, established
a church, monastery and school. It became the burial place of local
kings and an important mission centre. It contains one of the most significant
collections of Celtic stones in Wales.
The church
is too rich to be described in detail here, but guides can be obtained
in the East church. The wall paintings, stone rerdos, medieval altar
(in the Lady Chapel), Jesse niche and unusual memorial stones should
not be missed.
The
Normans gave the church, with some land, to Tewkesbury Abbey, and overlooking
the church are the remains of the abbey grange (or farm) - a 13th century
Gatehouse and, in the field opposite, a Dove Cote. A Tithe Barn stood
here until the end of the 19th century.
The Catholic
Church of Our Lady and St. Illtud is a modern building in Ham Lane East.
After the Reformation there was no place for Catholics to worship in
Llantwit Major until 1921 when the chapel in Ham (now destroyed) was
opened for public use. The first Catholic church was opened in 1951
replaced by the present building in 1965.
Tabernacle
Calvinistic Methodist Church was opened in 1822 in Methodist Lane, while
the Ebeneezer United Reformed Church stands in Colhugh Street. Baptists
worship in Bethel, opened for "Particular Baptists" in 1830.
Boverton
In
Norman times, Boverton was the centre of the manor. The demesne, the
land belonging to the Lord of Glamorgan, still exists as Boverton Farm.
The ruin overlooking the village is Boverton Place, built towards the
end of the 16th century by Roger Seys, Attorney General for Wales.
Boverton
House is an attractive Tudor country house, hardly changed since it
was built. This was also occupied by the Seys family.
Copyright
© 2001 Vivian Kelly.
