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Sker House
Sker House is a historic building in Wales. Originally built as a monastic grange of the Cistercian order over 900 years ago, it is situated just outside the town of Porthcawl, near Bridgend. Little remains of the original structure and it was completely rebuilt in the late sixteenth century. Its residential form appears to have been determined by the preceding monastic grange. The house was made famous as the basis of R. D. Blackmore's book '' The Maid of Sker''. History Sker House was constructed about 900 years ago as the grange of Neath Abbey. There would have been a farm with outbuildings and barns, accommodation for the Cistercian monks who worked there and a chapel. Not much of the medieval house remains but one of the buildings may be preserved as part of the nearby large barn, Tŷ yr Ychen, which is also medieval. In 1543, after the dissolution of the monasteries, the property was purchased by Richard Williams, and soon afterwards repurchased by Christopher Turberville. ...
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Porthcawl
Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the South Wales coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel, Porthcawl developed as a coal port during the 19th century, but its trade was soon taken over by more rapidly developing ports such as Barry. Northwest of the town, in the dunes known as Kenfig Burrows, are hidden the last remnants of the town and Kenfig Castle, which were overwhelmed by sand about 1400. Toponymy is a common Welsh element meaning "harbour" and the ' here refers to "sea kale", which must have grown in profusion or even been collected here. Local folk etymology holds the ''cawl'' to be a corruption of ''Gaul'', and that the area was an ancient landing point for Gaulish and Breton, or later Frankish and Norman knights. Holiday resort Porthcawl is a holiday resort in South W ...
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Kenfig Burrows
Kenfig ( cy, Cynffig) is a village and former borough in Bridgend, Wales. It is situated inland on the north bank of the Bristol Channel, and just south-west of the M4 motorway. To the east is the town of Bridgend, at approximately , and the capital city of Cardiff, at . To the west lies Port Talbot, at approximately 7 miles, and Swansea at approximately 18 miles. Geography The area of sand dunes and the pool at Kenfig are managed by Bridgend County Borough Council as Kenfig Pool National Nature Reserve, the area designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The reserve has a visitor and interpretation centre, and a car park. The dunes are home to a variety of rare and endangered species of plants and animals, including a high concentration of fen orchid (or ''Liparis loeselii''). It makes up part of the largest active sand dune system in Europe. The current village, built further inland, is a continuation of the mediaeval one. Landmarks include ruins of Kenfig Castle, ...
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Grade I Listed Buildings In Bridgend County Borough
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 rests with Cadw. Buildings Notes See also * List of Scheduled Monuments in Bridgend * Grade II* listed buildings in Bridgend County Borough In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade II* structures are those considered to be "particularly ... References External l ...
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Houses In Bridgend County Borough
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as c ...
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Ronald Welch
Ronald Welch (14 December 1909 – 5 February 1982) was the pseudonym of Welsh writer Ronald Oliver Felton TD, who wrote in English. He is best known for children's historical fiction. He won the 1956 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for the year's best children's book by a British author, for '' Knight Crusader'', the first in his so-called Carey Family series of novels. Life He was born in Aberavon, West Glamorgan."Welch, Ronald, 1909–"
Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCCN). Retrieved 24 May 2013.
He was teaching at when the

Sker House (novel)
''Sker House'' is a thriller novel, written by Carnegie Medal winning author Ronald Welch, and published in 1955. It is the only one of his books published under his real name – Ronald Felton. It is chiefly set in London, but the showdown takes place in South Wales. Plot The story begins with Anthony Fitzgerald's waking up to discover he is chained to a sink in a factory bathroom somewhere in London, with no memory of how he ended up here. The other prisoner is David Blackwell, who is equally confused. Both men are criminals – Anthony represents a Welsh burglary gang and David a London gang of fences – and had arranged to meet in order to exchange an extremely valuable diamond necklace stolen in Cardiff for money. Both the money and the necklace are now missing, and both men, after initially accusing the other of robbing them, realise that they must work together in order to discover who set them both up. Both men call their respective bosses (Anthony's is his own brother ...
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Cadw
(, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, to make them available for the public to visit, enjoy, and understand their significance. manages 127 state-owned properties and sites. It arranges events at its managed properties, provides lectures and teaching sessions, offers heritage walks, and hosts an online shop. Members of the public can become members of to gain membership privileges. Aims and objectives As the Welsh Government's historic environment service, is charged with protecting the historic environment of Wales, and making it accessible to members of the public. To this end, in 2010–11 it identified four aspects of its work: it would take measures to conserve the heritage of Wales, its ancient buildings, and monuments; it would aim to sustain the dist ...
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Grade I Listed
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 Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland. The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000. The statutory term in Ireland is " protected structure". A listed building may not be demolished, extended, or altered without special permission from the local planning authority, which typically consults the relevant central government agency, particularly for significant alterations to the more notable listed buildings. In England and Wales, a national amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Exemption from secular listed building control is provided for some buildings in current use for worship, ...
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Niall Ferguson
Niall Campbell Ferguson FRSE (; born 18 April 1964)Biography
Niall Ferguson
is a Scottish-American historian based in the who is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the at and a senior fellow at the

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Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Ogmore. The River Ewenny also flows through the town. The population was 49,597 in 2021. Historic counties of Wales, Historically a part of Glamorgan, Bridgend has greatly expanded in size since the early 1980s – the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census recorded a population of 39,429 for the town and the 2011 census reported that the Bridgend Local Authority had a population of 139,200 – up from 128,700 in 2001. This 8.2% increase was the largest increase in Wales except for Cardiff. The town is undergoing a redevelopment project, with the town centre mainly pedestrianised and ongoing works including Brackla Street Centre redevelopment to Bridgend Shopping Centre, Rhiw Car Park redevelopment, ongoing public realm im ...
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Neath Abbey
Neath Abbey ( cy, Abaty Nedd) was a Cistercian monastery, located near the present-day town of Neath in South Wales, UK. It was once the largest abbey in Wales. Substantial ruins can still be seen, and are in the care of Cadw. Tudor historian John Leland called Neath Abbey "the fairest abbey of all Wales." Neath Abbey is also the name of an area of Neath near to the abbey ruins. History Neath Abbey was established in 1129 AD when Richard I de Grenville (d.post 1142), one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan, gave of his estate in Glamorgan, Wales, to Savigniac monks from western Normandy. The first monks arrived in 1130. Following the assumption of the Savigniac order into the Cistercian order in 1147, Neath Abbey also became a Cistercian house. The abbey was ravaged by the Welsh uprisings of the 13th century. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII of England the last abbot, Lleision ap Thomas, managed to buy time through payment of a large fine in ...
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Monastic Grange
Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely agricultural providing food for the monastic community. A grange might be established adjacent to the monastery but others were established wherever it held lands, some at a considerable distance. Some granges were worked by lay-brothers belonging to the order, others by paid labourers. Granges could be of six known types: agrarian, sheep or cattle farms, horse studs, fisheries and industrial complexes. Industrial granges were significant in the development of medieval industries, particularly iron working. Description Granges were landed estates used for food production, centred on a farm and out-buildings and possibly a mill or a tithe barn. The word grange comes through French from Latin meaning a granary. The granges might be locate ...
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