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Peterston-super-Ely ( cy, Llanbedr-y-fro) is a village and
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
situated on the
River Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail, ri ...
( cy, Afon Elái) in the county borough of the
Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...
,
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. The community population at the 2011 census was 874. The community includes the hamlet of Gwern-y-Steeple.


History

As its name suggests, the local
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...
, now in heavily restored simple
Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...
style, is dedicated to
Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...
and situated close to the
River Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail, ri ...
( cy, Afon Elái). In the conservation area, the oldest structure is what remains of Peterston Castle built by the Norman lords of the manor, Le Sor family, probably in the mid-13th century and replacing an earlier structure which had been destroyed by the Welsh and again by Owain Glyndŵr in 1403. Despite being a scheduled monument, the castle remains have been progressively destroyed by housing development. The earliest feature of St. Peter's Church is the 14th-century chancel arch but the church is more notable for its Perpendicular style tower. The west tower with its corbelled battlements and gargoyles is 15th century. The chancel was mostly rebuilt in 1890-91 by Kempson & Fowler. From the medieval period until the 19th century, the settlement was a small rural community with the majority of its inhabitants deriving an income from agriculture. Major change arrived with the construction of the railway (opened 1850) and the opening of a railway station west of the village in the second half of the 19th century. A comparison of the pre-railway Tithe Map of c. 1840 with the First Edition Ordnance Survey of c.1880 shows that the railway required a slight re-alignment of the through road giving rise to the unusual alignment of properties south of the railway bridge. The train station closed in 1971 and demolished. During the immediate post-railway period a school was built south of the church. The Old Rectory was built in 1857 and the chancel of St. Peter's Church was largely reconstructed. It has been suggested that the higher roots of the older yews in the churchyard indicate that the churchyard was cleared in the 19th century. In the early 20th century John and Reginald Cory, coal magnates, began Glyn Cory Garden Village to the south of, and quite separate from, the historic village, now known as Wyndham Park. It was the first
garden suburb The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...
in Wales. Main Avenue was, and remains, a wide and straight spine road uphill from a bridge over the river. The road originally crossed the river on the site of today's footbridge but is now re-directed westwards along Wyndham Park Way. The former mill is now a private residence. The church's lynch gate is dedicated to those who fell in the Great War. The cost of the playing fields was deferred by grateful parishioners following the 1939-1945 War. Further housing development took place in the late 20th century adding to the settlement's population and thereby helping the village to continue to support a village shop and school. The Peterston
Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) 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 p ...
Primary School has about 180 pupils.


Amenities

Entering the village from the east, the village primary school is on the right; the ''Three Horse Shoes''
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
is on the left. Past the pub, is the village shop and post office, the local BT telephone exchange, the church and the railway bridge over the
South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...
from to and . ''The Sportsmans Rest'', a freehold pub, is on the right. In 2009, the church was an outdoor and indoor filming location for the third series of ''
Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers ...
''. Local residents were used as extras. The memorial park is opposite the church. The playing fields are used by the Peterston Juniors Football Club and the local tennis club. The tennis club contains three modern all-weather courts and youth community coaching is available. A community playground was erected in 1975 and upgraded to modern standards in 2013 by local residents through fundraising. In 2019, the tennis courts at the south-western end of the playing fields were converted to a multi-use-games area, created for the use by local sports clubs and for residents alike. This is managed by the Peterston Sports and Social Club. Peterston-super-Ely is an outdoor filming location for the
Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, ''
Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...
''.


Governance

The Peterston-super-Ely Community Council is elected by the community. As of 2017, the council comprises eight
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
councillors with no political affiliation. Four of these have been co-opted onto the council. Peterston-Super-Ely is included in a Peterson-super-Ely electoral ward with a representative on the
Vale of Glamorgan Council The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It was run by the Conservative Party after the 2008 United Kingdom local elections, taking over the council from no overall contr ...
. The local county councillor is Michael Morgan. The
Member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) is
Alun Cairns Alun Hugh Cairns (born 30 July 1970) is a Welsh Conservative Party politician serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Vale of Glamorgan since 2010. He served as Secretary of State for Wales from 2016 to 2019. He was previously a membe ...
, the
Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...
since 19 March 2016.


Notable residents

* Dafydd William (1720–94), the Welsh hymn-write
Morgannwg transactions of the Glamorgan Local History Society. , Vol. 47 , 2003 , Cylchgronau Cymru - Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
*
Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...
, former resident, former Labour Party leader and later European Commissioner *
Craig Bellamy Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...
, Cardiff City FC and
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
international footballer * Dave Jones, former Cardiff City FC manager * Angharad Mair, television presenter * Gwyn Thomas, resident 1965–1981, short-story writer, novelist and dramatist


See also

* Gwern-y-Steeple


References


External links


Photographs of Peterston-super-Ely and its surrounding area on www.geograph.co.uk
*
Peterston-super-Ely Church & Community Hall
{{authority control Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan Communities in the Vale of Glamorgan