Welsh St Donats ( cy, Llanddunwyd) is a village and a
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, ...
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
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 ...
. Consisting of 1207 hectares of mainly rural land, it is located north east of
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 exists for ...
. The population of the community was 534 in the 2011 census. Welsh St Donats includes the villages of Maendy, Prisk and Tair Onen. A mile to the east from the village lies the Hensol Forest, while the remains of Talyfan Castle are to the north.
History
The village of St Donats takes its name from the late medieval church dedicated to St Dunwyd, which was first mentioned in 1173. Set in mainly agricultural lands the compact village contains the 18th century Great House and a fine farm group.
Benjamin Heath Malkin
Benjamin Heath Malkin ( – G. Martin Murphy, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) was a British scholar and writer notable for his connection to the artist and poet William Blake.
Career and education
Malkin was born in London, and wa ...
mentions Welsh St Donats in his 1803 work ''The Scenery, Antiquities and Biography of South Wales'', while passing along the 'great road' that ran north of the village, which linked England to the port of Milford Haven. He mentioned the varying style of genuine Welsh pigstye in the area and the fact that Welsh St Donats "... is perhaps scarcely a village in the principality, where less English is spoken." As of 2019, spoken Welsh in the Vale is one of the lowest levels in Wales, with less than ten percent of adults identifying themselves as Welsh speakers.
Buildings of note
St Donat's Church, Welsh St Donats, is a Grade I listed building. It was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "a simple late mediaeval church" despite being mentioned in 1173. However there are no architectural remains in the present structure from that period. The 16th century arched brace truss roof timbers and other features, such as the 13th century font to the south door, are of interest and note and therefore contribute to it being a Grade I listed building.
The church sits to the north end of a knot of houses, mostly recent, and within the middle of these lies the Great House. The Great House, is a two-storey 18th-century building of modest features consisting of three, three-bay units, the centre of which is higher than the sides. Prisk Farm, which is situated about a mile to the west, once boasted an elaborate modelled plaster ceiling, of 17th- or 18th-century design. Unique amongst the farm houses of the area, the ceiling was lost when it collapsed c. 1989.
To the north of Welsh St Donats lies the remains of Talyfan Castle (Welsh: ''Castell Tal-y-fan''). Once serving as a
caput
Latin words and phrases
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