Merthyr Mawr

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.

Celtic stones at St Teilo Churchyard

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:-

• Tythegston Long Barrow (51.5008°N 3.6371°W / 51.5008; -3.6371 (Tythegston Long Barrow), SS864792). A Neolithic chambered tomb toward the east end of a long mound.[4]
• Mynydd Herbert Round Barrow (51.5057°N 3.6564°W / 51.5057; -3.6564 (Mynydd Herbert Round Barrow), SS851798) A Bronze Age burial cairn 2m high covered in stones, possibly cleared from nearby fields, in the corner of a field 1 km north of Tythegston.[5]
• Chapel Hill Camp (51.4906°N 3.6018°W / 51.4906; -3.6018 (Chapel Hill Camp), SS889780) A small Iron Age hillfort on a low hilltop. The ruins of St Roques chapel, lying within the enclosure, gives its name to the hill.[6]

Candleston Castle

The Ogmore River and New Inn Bridge

• Merthyr Mawr Warren (51.4813°N 3.6386°W / 51.4813; -3.6386 (Merthyr Mawr Warren), SS863770) An area of dunes within which numerous prehistoric burial sites and other findspots have been uncovered, especially during sand and gravel extraction.[7]
• Cae Summerhouse Camp (51.4894°N 3.6375°W / 51.4894; -3.6375 (Cae Summerhouse Camp), SS864779). A settlement site with intensive 1st to 4th century occupation in a defended enclosure, covering the Iron Age & Roman periods.[8]
• Merthyr Mawr pre-Norman Stones (51.4856°N 3.6105°W / 51.4856; -3.6105 (Pre-Norman Stones in Churchyard), SS882775) A series of locally found early medieval stone pillars, slabs and crosses, now housed in a shelter within Merthyr Mawr St Teilo churchyard.[9]
• Vervil Dyke (51.4848°N 3.6014°W / 51.4848; -3.6014 (Vervil Dyke), SS889774) A bank and ditch runs between the rivers Ogmore and Eweny. Traces of a parallel bank imply a settlement enclosure of early medieval date.[10]
• Cross in Tythegston Churchyard (51.4967°N 3.6471°W / 51.4967; -3.6471 (Cross in Tythegston Churchyard), SS857788) An 11th-century sandstone slab set in a modern socket, in St Tudwg's churchyard, Tythegsto.[11]
• St Roque's Chapel (51.4908°N 3.6021°W / 51.4908; -3.6021 (St Rogue's Chapel), SS888780) A ruined medieval chapel, sited inside Chapel Hill Camp, within the park of Merthyr Mawr House.[12]
• Conbelani Stone in St Roque's Chapel (51.4908°N 3.6021°W / 51.4908; -3.6021 (Merthyr Mawr Inscribed Stones (now in St Rogue's Chapel)),SS888780) An inscribed pillar cross, originally on the river bank at Merthyr Mawr. Another cross pillar, the Goblin Stone, is also in the ruined chapel.[13]
• Candleston Castle (51.4829°N 3.6269°W / 51.4829; -3.6269 (Candleston Castle), SS871772) A lightly fortified 14th century manor house overlooking Merthyr Mawr Warren, which continued in occupation until the 19th century.[14]
• Merthyr Mawr Churchyard Cross (51.4853°N 3.6103°W / 51.4853; -3.6103 (Merthyr Mawr Churchyard Cross), SS882774) An octagonal 14th century cross pillar with part of its original finial, set in three steps of sandstone.[15]
• New Inn Bridge (51.4936°N 3.5989°W / 51.4936; -3.5989 (New Inn Bridge), SS891783) A Stone bridge in the parish, but near Bridgend. It has 4 arches, and is dated to the 16th century or older. Two openings allow sheep washing, giving an alternate name of 'Dipping Bridge'.[16]

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]

• Bryntirion, Laleston and Merthyr Mawr
• List of Scheduled Monuments in Bridgend

• Map sources for Merthyr Mawr

51°29′08″N 03°36′37″W