Sarn is a village (and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

) in

Bridgend County Borough Bridgend County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. The county borough has a total population of 139,200 people, and contains the town of Bridgend, after which it is named. It ...

, Wales, about north of

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 ...

and which lies just east of the confluence of the Ogmore and Llynfi rivers. It is located to the east of

Aberkenfig Aberkenfig ( cy, Abercynffig, meaning "mouth of the Kenfig" (stream)) is a village located in the Bridgend (county borough), County Borough of Bridgend, Wales to the north of Bridgend town. It is in the Community (Wales), community of Newcastle H ...

, south of

Brynmenyn Brynmenyn is a small village located at the confluence of the Garw and Ogmore rivers in south Wales, around 4 miles north of Bridgend, and it also in the Bridgend County Borough council area. The village has its own primary school. Transport T ...

, and south-east of

Tondu Tondu ( en, Black Meadow) is a village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales, located about north of the town of Bridgend, in the community of Ynysawdre. Tondu lies on the A4063 from Bridgend to Maesteg, and was established in the late 18th centur ...

. It is around 15 minutes' walk from the M4 and the

McArthurGlen Group McArthurGlen Group is a public company, which develops and manages designer outlet malls. Background McArthurGlen originated as a private company in North America, part of the Vancouver based McLean Group. It opened and ran factory outlet sh ...

Bridgend Designer Outlet The Bridgend Designer Outlet, also known as ''McArthurGlen Designer Outlet'' (and known locally as "The Pines") is a commercial retail park and outlet store development in Bridgend, Wales, United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by McArthurGlen G ...

Description

Sarn is part of the

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, tow ...

St Bride's Minor St Bride's Minor is a community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. Located north of Bridgend town it is made up of Sarn, a large housing estate, and the villages of Bryncethin and Abergarw. The southern border of the community is defined b ...

, being the main shopping centre for the area, including a post office, supermarket and number of independent shops. Although the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

classes Sarn as the urban area north of

which encompasses

Bryncethin Bryncethin (which means dark hill or dun hill) is a small village and electoral ward in the County Borough of Bridgend, South Wales, located just north of Junction 36 of the M4 Motorway and approximately 3 miles north of the county town of Bridgen ...

, Sarn,

and

Ynysawdre Ynysawdre is a small community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. It is located to the east of Aberkenfig in Wales, and comprises the two villages of Tondu and Brynmenyn. The name Ynysawdre is also usually used for a small section of Tondu. ...

and has a total population of approximately 10,000, Sarn itself only has a population of 2500.

Bridgend County Borough Council Bridgend County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History Bridgend County Borough and Bridgend County Borough Council came ...

refers to the area North of Bridgend as the Valleys Gateway.

Education

The nearest

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s are Bryncethin primary school, Brynmenyn Primary school, Tondu Primary school and the nearest

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

is Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen, located in neighbouring village of Ynysawdre. The closest Welsh-medium school is Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd in

Maesteg Maesteg is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translation of Mae ...

Transport

Sarn is served by

Sarn railway station Sarn railway station is a railway station serving the village of Sarn, South Wales. It is located on the Maesteg Line from Cardiff via Bridgend. The station was opened by British Rail on 28 September 1992. Passenger services are operated by ...

which was opened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

on 28 September 1992. Passenger services were operated by

Arriva Trains Wales Arriva Trains Wales (ATW; cy, Trenau Arriva Cymru) was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, ...

and subsequently are operated by

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

as part of the

Valley Lines Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes ( cy, Llwybrau Lleol y Cymoedd a Chaerdydd) (formerly Valley Lines) is the network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glam ...

network for local services on the

Maesteg Line The Maesteg Line is a commuter rail line in South Wales from Bridgend to Maesteg. Services usually operate from Maesteg to via the South Wales Main Line and Gloucester to Newport Line. Electrification by 2019 was announced in the Departme ...

. Bus Routes are served by

First Cymru First Cymru is an operator of bus services in South West Wales. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup with its headquarters in Swansea. History In 1987, South Wales Transport was sold during the privatisation of the National Bus Company in a m ...

which has lines stopping by Sarn to travel too and from

Nantymoel Nant-y-moel or Nantymoel (meaning "stream from the bare mountain") is a village and includes the formerly separate village of Pricetown in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales on the River Ogmore, and is one of the constituent villages of the ...

Blaengarw Blaengarw is the uppermost village in the river valley (Cwm Garw) of the River Garw, in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. In the English language Blaengarw means the rugged 'front' or 'head' of the valley. The population of Blaengarw ward ...

and

. The

has more routes which can take you up

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

and

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 So ...

Governance

At the local level Sarn is a community ward to St Bride's Minor Community Council, electing up to six of the thirteen community councillors. Sarn is also a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

electing a county councillor to

. Since 1999 the ward was represented by the Labour Party's

Mel Nott Melvyn Ernest John NottThe United Kingdom: OBE (born 1942) is a Welsh politician who was a county councillor in Bridgend County Borough. He was leader of Bridgend County Borough Council between 2008 and 2016. Background Following a split in the ...

. Councillor Nott, who became leader of the county council, retired before the May 2017 county elections. In January 2019 a consultation period began, to review the wards and representation in the county. The proposals included merging the Sarn and neighbouring

ward. The new ward, effective from the 2022 local elections, was named "St Bride's and Ynysawdre", electing three county borough councillors.

Notable residents

* Gareth Thomas, rugby player

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Sarn and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Bridgend County Borough Wards of Bridgend County Borough