Hillhead

This row of houses was built in the early years of the nineteenth century as housing for the poor of the parish. When the workhouse in Bridgend was opened they became surplus to requirements and were sold as private residences. Originally each unit was divided into two with separate upper and lower accommodation.

According to legend Hillhead was a block of cells for the monks at Illtyd’s monastery. In fact the block was built as houses for the poor on land donated to the parish in 1809. With the Poor Law Reform Act, a workhouse was established in Bridgend and Hillhead was sold. A number of the poorer families lived there and the row came in for criticism in the 1890s when the local doctor called for them to be demolished. However they have been well restored and are now much sought after.

 

Hillhead


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Boverton Place

Boverton Place

Queen’s Attorney to the Council of Wales and the Marches in the 1590’s. It remained in the hands of the family until the last heiress Jane Seys married Robert Jones of Fonmon at which time its fixtures and fittings...

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Bethesda’r Fro

Bethesda’r Fro

This simple whitewashed building on the road to Eglwys nestles between the hangars and the housing. It was established in 1807 when Thomas William brought his congregation here from Burton, Aberthaw. The land had...

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Bethel Baptist Church

Bethel Baptist Church

In 1830 Bethel was “ erected for the use of the Particular Baptists”. Its first minister Jabez Lawrence was a shopkeeper in the town. It is said that the opening services were conducted by Christmas Evans, the famous...

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The Old School

The Old School

One of the oldest surviving secular buildings in the town, belonging to the Raglan family. It then became the rectory for the parish before being converted in the early 1870’s into the Board School.   View Larger Map

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The Old White Hart Inn

The Old White Hart Inn

This is described as an end-entry house built in the late sixteenth century. As with The Old Swan it is unclear when exactly it became an inn, though again tokens were issued under its name in the eighteenth...

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The Old Swan

The Old Swan

This was probably a substantial local dwelling built in the sixteenth century. When it became an inn however is open to speculation. In the mid seventeenth century it belonged to Edward Maddock, who was permitted...

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The Court House

The Court House

The house was built in the early eighteenth century and substantially altered a century or so later. There is evidence that it was leased to a member of the Throckmorton family from Coughton Court, Warwickshire whose...

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The Great House

The Great House

Sometimes called Ty Mawr or Upper House, its association with the Nicholl family goes back to their first arrival in the parish in the Elizabethan period. The building originally consisted of a square central section to which a southern wing was added providing...

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Old Place

Old Place

This building has mistakenly been called Llantwit Castle. It is in fact the ruin of an Elizabethan manor house with two wings enclosing a paved courtyard. It was built in 1596 by Griffith Williams for his daughter and her husband Edmund Vann. They represented the...

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Plymouth House

Plymouth House

It used to be claimed that Plymouth House was one of the surviving halls of residence from Illtud’s monastery. Its history does not go that far back but there is evidence that it may incorporate the remnants of a...

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The Old Police Station

The Old Police Station

When the Glamorgan Constabulary was established in 1841, a constable was allocated to Llantwit Major, reporting to the sergeant in  Cowbridge. The police station was built a few years later and originally comprised a single storey with a living room and kitchen in the...

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The Gatehouse and Columbarium (dovecot)

The Gatehouse and Columbarium (dovecot)

These are the only surviving buildings from the Grange belonging to Tewkesbury Abbey. The abbey had been given the land, shortly before he died, by Robert Fitzhamon, Earl of Gloucester and first Norman Lord of...

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The Town Hall

The Town Hall

This building is similar in many ways to those of the ancient boroughs of Cowbridge and Cardiff. Its construction is usually attributed to Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Glamorgan, who died in 1295, but manorial records...

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See below for a map of Llantwit Major’s notable historic buildings

Location of Notable Buildings: