Baglan is on the side of a steep hill and surrounded by two hills, Mynydd-y-Gaer to the north and Mynydd Dinas to the east. The moors and Baglan Bay are to the southwest. The village contains a number of historical buildings such as Baglan House, St. Catharine's Church, and St. Baglan's Church. The first St. Baglan's Church is now a shell after a fire in 1954. St. Catharine's Church was designed by Welsh architect John Prichard, an exponent of the neo-Gothic style and dedicated in 1882. Baglan House was one of the seats of the Villiers family, earls of Jersey.[4]
The earliest evidence of settlement here dates back to the Bronze Age with there being a tumulus called Twyn Disgwylfa on Mynydd Dinas and a round barrow within the hillfort of Buarth-y-Gaer just outside the boundary of Baglan.[5] There is also an Iron Agehillfort called Craig Ty-Isaf on the surrounding hill Mynydd-y-Gaer.[6] The Roman road (Via Julia) very possibly passed through the village, although the statement that there was once a Roman milestone at the junction of Old Road and Albion Road Approach is erroneous (the milestone in question is actually from Pyle).[7] Later, a Dark Age (Early Christian period) church was founded here, as can be seen from a few local Early Christian stones, especially the Cross of Brancu (dated 9th - 10th century) which is in the vestry of St Catharine's church. The inscription on the Cross of Brancu(f) could be a dedication to Brancuf,[8] or reads as Brancu f(ecit).[9] i.e. was made by Brancu or may be Brancu followed by a chi-rho monogram.[10] (the name Brancu is preceded by a simple Latin cross in any case). According to tradition the church was founded by the aforementioned St Baglan.
In the medieval period, the church (dedicated to St Baglan) was rebuilt seemingly on the same site.[11] The church burnt down in 1954 although ruins still exist at the top of the churchyard of St Catharine's church. There was a medievalcastle within the parish boundary which is known by the name 'Plas Baglan'. This is sited above the Baglan Brook and is heavily overgrown (and not readily accessible). Although more usually thought of as a manor house than a castle, it is a "strongly fortified site, a castle rather than a moated site ... a masonry castle that existed by the 13th century".[12] It did, however, become a manor house and had literary associations in the 15th and 16th centuries. Several house platforms from the medieval period also exist on the hills behind the village.[13]
Baglan is home to four sporting associations; Baglan Rugby Football Club, Baglan Football Club, Baglan Cricket Club. Also home to Tyn-Y-Twr Bowling Club, Captain Phillip Reese David.
↑ The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008
↑ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1976), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume I Part I, HMSO, p81. ISBN0-11-700588-6
↑ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1976), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume I Part II, HMSO, pp 26, 46 & 55. ISBN0-11-700589-4
↑ A L Evans (1970), The Story of Baglan, published by the author, p18
↑ V. E. Nash-Williams (1950), the Early Christian Monuments of Wales, University of Wales Press, p130.
↑ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1976), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume I Part III, HMSO, p43. ISBN0-11-700590-8
↑ A L Evans (1970), The Story of Baglan, published by the author, p21
↑ P R Davies & S Lloyd-Ferne (1990), Lost Churches of Wales & the Marches, Sutton, p30, ISBN0-86299-564-7
↑ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1991), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume III Part 1b, HMSO, p149
↑ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1982), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume III Part II, HMSO, p32, ISBN0-11-701141-X
Until 1974, Glamorgan, or sometimes Glamorganshire, was an administrative county in the south of Wales, and later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying boundaries known in Welsh as Morgannwg, which was then invaded and taken over by the Normans as the Lordship of Glamorgan. The area that became known as Glamorgan was both a rural, pastoral area, and a conflict point between the Norman lords and the Welsh princes. It was defined by a large concentration of castles.
Port Talbot is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately eight miles from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south east of the town. It is one of the biggest steelworks in the world, but has been under threat of closure since the 1980s. The population was 31,550 in 2021, comprising about a fifth of the 141,931 population of Neath Port Talbot.
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Aberavon is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Port Talbot, covering the central and south western part of the town. Aberavon is also the name of the nearby Blue Flag beach and the parish covering the same area.
Gaer is a community and electoral district ("ward") of the city of Newport, South Wales.
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Neath Castle is a Norman castle located in the town centre of Neath, Wales. Its construction was begun by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the nominal Lord of Glamorgan, at a date estimated between 1114 and 1130. It is also referred to as "Granville's Castle", after Richard I de Grenville, Lord of Neath, who has also been credited with its construction. The town of Neath takes its Welsh name, "Castell-nedd", from the castle.
A bibliography of books related to the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales.
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 Act 1990 rests with Cadw.
Mynydd-y-Gaer is a hill that sits on the boundaries between the South Wales communities of Baglan, Cwmavon and Briton Ferry,, all within Neath Port Talbot county borough. The summit, at 314 m (1,030 ft), has grassland fields subdivided by dry stone walls. Foel Fynyddau lies 2 km to east. To the south is the coastal plain of the Bristol Channel. To the West is the Vale of Neath. To the north is the Crythan Brook and the town of Neath. It has numerous prehistoric monuments, and evidence of occupation in medieval times, as well as 19th and 20th century coalmining.
Craig Ty-Isaf is a small hillfort in Baglan community, Neath Port Talbot, in South Wales. It is one of three hillforts on the area of hillside known as Mynydd y Gaer, and is within Briton Ferry Woods. The hillfort is on the SW side of the hill, overlooking Baglan, an oval enclosing some 0.2ha. A broad rubble bank forms the oval enclosure, and on the east two further banks mean that the area of banks and ditches encompasses a much larger area for the site as a whole, which is a Scheduled Monument. There are various internal features thought to be the result of more recent test cuts for mineral extraction.
Buarth-y-Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort or enclosure on the summit of Mynydd-y-Gaer, 300 m (980 ft) above sea level. It is in Briton Ferry community, near Neath, in Neath Port Talbot, South Wales. A large hilltop enclosure is bounded by a single bank and ditch. Within the enclosed area is a Bronze Age burial mound.
St Catharine's Church is the mother church of the parish of Baglan in Port Talbot, South Wales.
Nant Ffrwdwyllt is a stream that runs through Cwm Dyffryn, within the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, from the village of Bryn, through the village of Goytre and the district of Taibach in Port Talbot, to the sea. The stream was originally a tributary of the River Afan but was diverted in the 18th century into the ironworks at what was to become Port Talbot to provide a source of water. It now flows into Port Talbot Docks. Several streets are or have been named after it, notably the present-day Ffrwdwyllt Street in Taibach, where the stream runs close to St Theodore's Church and the Talbot Memorial Park.
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