St Hilary ( cy, Saint Hilari ) is a village in 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. It is located just south of the A48, about a mile southeast of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exist ...

. The village has a population of about 260, in approximately 80 houses. Notable landmarks in the vicinity include The Bush Inn, the Church of St Hilary, the

Old Beaupre Castle Old Beaupre Castle ( cy, Hen Gastell y Bewpyr; also known as Beaupre Castle, Old Beaupre Manor, or simply Beaupre) is a ruined medieval fortified manor house located in the community of Llanfair, outside Cowbridge in Wales. It is known in hist ...

, New Beaupre, Coed Hills and St. Hilary mast.

Name

The dedication of a church to the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

and

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

Hilary of Poitiers Hilary of Poitiers ( la, Hilarius Pictaviensis; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the "Athanasius of the West". His name comes from the Latin word for happy or ...

is unusual for

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and probably initially reflected a foundation credited to either the Breton

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

IlarRees, Rice
''An Essay on the Welsh Saints or the Primitive Christians Usually Considered to Have Been the Founders of Churches in Wales'', p. 224
Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman (London), 1836.Stanton, Richard. ''A Menology of England and Wales: Or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries'', p. 703. Burns & Oates, 1892. or the

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

and

Elian.History of Wallasey.
History of Wallasey Churches
. 2014. The relative obscurity of these saints, however, has led the

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 pos ...

to consider this church a dedication to Saint Hilary instead, at least as early as the beginning of the 20th century.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. III, pp. 299 f
Chas. Clark (London), 1908. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 25 Nov 2014. Saint Hilary's own connection with Wales arose from confused accounts that he

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

Saint Cybi as a bishop, although the two were separated by two centuries. Baring-Gould suggests this may have arisen from a confusion with Saint Elian, who was a relative of Cybi's.

Geography

Entrance to the Coed Hills - Vale of Glamorgan - geograph

The village lies just south of the A48, a few miles west of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and about a mile southeast of

. In 1845, it had a population of 164 people and had an area of . The parish is bounded on the north by that of Llanblethian; on the south by

Llancarfan Llancarfan is a rural village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The village, located west of Barry and near Cowbridge, has a well-known parish church, the site of Saint Cadoc's 6th-century clas, famed for its learning. Cainnech ...

, St Mary Church and

The Herberts The Herberts is a hamlet in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is located immediately to the north of the village of St. Mary Church and southwest of Llandough, 2.2 miles by road southwest of the market town centre of Cowbridge along St Athan Roa ...

; on the east by

Llantrithyd Llantrithyd (also Llantriddyd) is a rural village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The Aubrey Baronets were lords of the manor of Llantrithyd for centuries: the family died out in the 1850s. St Illtyd's Church The church of St Il ...

; and on the west by Llandough and Llanblethian. The hamlets of The Garn and Ty-draw lie on the road to Llantrithyd to the east. The

River Thaw The River Thaw ( cy, Afon Ddawan) (also Ddaw) is a river in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. At 20 kilometres/12.4 miles, it is the longest river entirely in the Vale of Glamorgan. Course Its source is in the hills just south of th ...

runs between St Hilary and St. Mary Church. The St Hilary Conservation Area was designated a special architectural and historic interest site in October 1971.

Landmarks

The village dates from

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times with a

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, ...

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

, and a pub, the thatched roofed Grade II listed The Bush Inn. The whole village, which was built surrounding the

, lies in the

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

heartland of the

. To the northwest near the A48 is the St Hilary Down and a monument commemorating the dead of the Glamorgan Yeomanry. To the southeast of the village is the Coed Hills Rural Landscape, an alternative artspace established in 1997, designed following principles of low impact development. In 2002, the site featured

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia ...

s. The village also contains an Iron Age roundhouse and formerly contained the St Hilary school, the smallest in the county with just 10 pupils recorded in 1678. The village school closed in 1910; children in the village now generally go to the school in St. Mary Church.

Listed buildings

The following are the listed buildings in St Hilary and Old Beaupre. The listings are graded: * Church of St Hilary, St Hilary (Vale of Glamorgan)Church of St Hilary (II*) *Churchyard cross, Church of St. Hilary (II) *Bassett Family Tomb Enclosure, Church of St. Hilary (II) * The Bush Inn (II) *Pigsty in garden of Church Cottage (II) *No 1 Manor Cottages (Prev. Nos. 1 and 2, Manor Cottages) (II) *No. 2 Manor Cottages (II) *The Manor (II) *Village Farm (II) *Telephone Call-Box opposite Village Farm (II) *The Cottage (II) *New Beaupre (II) *Old Beaupre Farmhouse (II*) *Former Hall Range to South of Old Beaupre Castle (II) (SAM) *Old Beaupre Barn (II)

Country houses

There are two notable

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

s. Among the most conspicuous is the now ruined

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 I ...

, which stands to the south on the site of one of the palaces of the royal house of Sitsyllt, the progenitors of the family of the Cecils, Marquesses of Salisbury and Exeter; it is supposed to have been one of the most ancient in the vale. It is situated in a meadow about from the village. Originally called Beau Pre (pronounced 'Bewper'), on which spot the present mansion, now in a ruinous condition, was built about the year 1600. A notable feature is the ornamental porch attached to the principal front of the building, which is considered one of the earliest specimens of the Grecian style of architecture introduced into this country, and was erected at the expense of Richard Bassett, Esq. It consists of three stages of columns of which the lowest is of the

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

, the middle of the Tuscan, and the upper of the Corinthian order. Te capitals, intaglios, and other sculptures are well made. Immediately over the entrance are the family arms, sculptured in alto-relievo, with a commemorative inscription in Roman capitals. Captain Richard Bassett was lord of the manor of Beau Pre, under the will of his distant relation, the late Daniel Jones, Esq., who died in 1841, and who had bought the estate in 1797 of the late C. Traherne, Esq., and Miss Edmondes. The Grade II listed New Beaupre is situated about to the north of Old Beaupre Castle. It was built by the late Daniel Jones, Esq. St. Hilary Cottage, or St Hilary, was the residence of the late Llewelyn Traherne, a portion of which was the abode of the Bassets before they possessed Beau Pre. In the 1840s, Rev. John Montgomery Traherne was lord of the manor of St Hilary, which his family purchased in the year 1758.

Church

The 14th century, red-tiled Grade II* listed Church of St Hilary is a substantial structure in the later English style, consisting of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

, south aisle, and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

, with an

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

tower at the west end. The nave is long and broad including the aisle. The chancel long and wide. The eastern window of the south aisle is elegantly design, and that of the chancel is ornamented with stained glass, representing the arms of the Traherne family.

Mast

On the high ground to the north of the village (and just north of the A48) stands the St. Hilary mast, built in 1957 for transmitting the now-defunct

405-line The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It was ...

/Channel 7 TV system to

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and the West of England.

Notable people

*Richard Bassett, (fl. 15th century), lord of the manor of Old Beau Pre * John Montgomery Traherne (fl. 1840s), reverend, lord of the manor of St Hilary * Llewelyn Traherne (1766–1842),

High Sheriff of Glamorgan This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires wh ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Hilary, Vale Of Glamorgan Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan