Merthyr Mawr is a village and community in Bridgend, Wales. The village is about 2+1⁄2 miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 267. [1] The community occupies the area west of the Ewenny River, between Bridgend and Porthcawl. It takes in the settlement of Tythegston and a stretch of coastal sand dunes known as Merthyr Mawr Warren. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan.
Merthyr Mawr House is an early 19th-century mansion built by Sir John Nicholl and set in an extensive park. The park is designated at Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. [2] Within the park is the Iron Age hillfort known as Chapel Hill Camp, and within the embankments is the now roofless 15th century chapel of St Roque (or Roch), which houses two early medieval inscribed stones. [3]
Merthyr Mawr is largely an estate village for the House. It now contains several cottages retaining thatched roofs and well maintained gardens. At the south end of the village is the parish church of St Teilo, which was built in 1849–51 to a design by Benjamin Ferrey and John Pritchard, on an ancient medieval site. A collection of stones from the former churchyard and the surrounding area are displayed in a shelter in the churchyard. [3]
Nearby are the Merthyr Mawr Sand Dunes. Candleston Castle is on the edge of the area of dunes. Mike Young Productions children's cartoon studio is located in Merthyr Mawr.
The River Ogmore flows through the village and a famous sheep dipping bridge crosses it on the outskirts of the village. The former POW Camp Island Farm is less than a mile away. The Ewenny River forms the southern boundary of both the community and the borough. The villages of Ewenny and Ogmore-by-Sea are both on the southern bank of the Ewenny, along with Ogmore Castle.
There are large number of archaeological sites in the Community area, showing habitation from Neolithic times, and intensive occupation since Roman times. Thirteen sites are Scheduled Monuments, which gives them legal protection from disturbance:-
The sand dune system known as Merthyr Mawr warren is a scheduled National Nature Reserve. It contains the highest sand-dunes in Wales and is notable for its floristic and animal communities including rare plants. It has also been the site of many archaeological finds. [17]
Kenfig Castle is a ruined castle in Bridgend County Borough in Wales that came to prominence after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Wales in the late 11th century.
St Brides Major is a community on the western edge of the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Its largest settlement is the village of St Brides Major, and also includes the villages of Ogmore-by-Sea and Southerndown, and the hamlets of Ogmore Village, Castle-upon-Alun, Heol-y-Mynydd, Norton and Pont-yr-Brown It is notable for coastal geology and scenery, limestone downlands and fossilised primitive mammals, sea cliffs and beaches, two Iron Age hillforts, three medieval castle sites,, two stepping stone river crossings and a clapper bridge. Three long distance paths cross the community. It is the western limit of the Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coast, and has a visitor centre and tourist facilities.
