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-Brownstbridesmajor.co.uk general accessed 4 November 2013 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, (one, Ogmore Castle, still extant), 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.
Geology and Landscape of south-west facing coastline forms one side of the community. This is an SSSI and part of the Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coast, with rocky limestone cliffs, broad sandy beaches and deeply fissured wave-cut platforms. Along the northern boundary are the steep-sided valleys of the Rivers Ogmore and Ewenny. The high ground above these valleys includes large areas of common grazing land, on thin limestone soils, including Old Castle Down SSSI. The southern part of the community includes the village of St Brides Major, the Dunraven estate and Clemenstone Meadow SSSI.
Southerndown Coast SSSI Much of the coastline of the community is designated as the Southerndown Coast SSSI, both for its geology and botanic value.www.ccgc.gov.uk sssi sites: southerndown coast accessed 5 November 2013 The stretch of shore, cliff, cliff-top, and several short, steep valleys, reveal the local geological strata. Carboniferous Limestone from upwards of 300 million years ago lies at the present sea level. By the Triassic period, 200 million years ago, these rocks were already tilted and eroded. A new deposition phase created more sedimentary rocks, including a red Triassic conglomerate, and a creamy white Jurassic limestone known as Sutton Stone, a freestone much sought after for carved stonework, and so widely quarried where it occurs.
Rivers and pools
Four rivers feature in the eastern, northern and western boundaries of the community, tributaries one into another. In the east the modest Clemenstone Brook, and other small channels drain from wetlands at the eastern extremity of the community, including the Clemenstone Meadow SSSI.Clemenstone Meadows, Wick SSSI, accessed 10 November 2013 These join the Afon Alun near Castle-upon-Alun. The River Alun forms the northern boundary for as it flows north-west through the Alun Gorge, a deeply incised meandering valley, cut by glacial meltwater after the last ice age. It joins the River Ewenny south of Ewenny. The River Ewenny then flows due west, and is the boundary of both the community and the county borough. Flowing through Ogmore Moor, and between Ogmore village and Ogmore Castle, it joins the River Ogmore, which in turn is the county boundary, flowing south-west for between the steep rough limestone grassland of Ogmore Down and the vast sand dunes of Merthyr Mawr Common, to join the Bristol Channel through the broad sands of 'The Flats'.
The largest area of standing water is Pwll y Mêr. This is a village pond within the St Brides Major Conservation Area.St Brides Major Conservation Area Summary.pdf accessed 21 November 2013 The outflow from the pool enters a crevice in the limestone to join the Afon Dawel (Silent River), an underground stream.St. Brides Major, Southerndown and Ogmore-by-Sea Community Website: History accessed 21 November 2013
Limestone Downs
Ogmore Down occupies the northern part of the community, and is a large area of common grazing land. Irregular boundaries to the unenclosed land show where medieval encroachments occurred,GGAT Historic Landscape: HLCA016 Ogmore Down, accessed 10 November 2013 and the northeastern part of the common, near Ogmore Village, is now the Southerndown Golf Club, a championship standard golf course, laid out in 1904.Southerndown Golf Club website accessed 10 November 2013. The steep valley sides above the River Ewenny are wooded, but most of the unenclosed common is limestone heath grassland, notable for high brown fritillary butterflies.Valeways Walk 29 & 29a, Ogmore-by-Sea: Cliffs, Dunes and Common accessed 10 November 2013 South of Ogmore Down are two hills just over above sea level. To the west is Beacons Down (), and to the east, separated by the St Brides Gorge, is Old Castle Down (). Old Castle Down is a SSSI, designated for both its Carboniferous limestone geology and the range of grassland habitats that support rare wildflowers and invertebrates. Duchy Quarry, a disused quarry on the eastern slopes of the hill, above the Alun Gorge, reveals the particular geological feature of the SSSI. The Carboniferous limestone acquired deep cracks and fissures, which then filled up with Jurassic sediments in which are found fossilised remains of reptiles and primitive mammals.Old Castle Down SSSI, accessed 10 November 2013 Most notable was the 1949 discovery of teeth of the Morganucodon.
Ewenny and Pant Quarries SSSI Jurassic clay infill accumulated in the Carboniferous limestone fissures. The limestone is quarried at these two sites (Pant Quarry near Castle-upon-Alun, Ewenny Quarry close by in Ewenny community) the clay infill is recorded, stored, and then examined by geologists. The infill has identified the most complete fossilised remains of species of primitive mammals anywhere on earth.CCGC SSSI sites Ewenny and Pant Quarries accessed 25 November 2013
Coed y Bwl SSSI The slopes west of the River Alun include the Coed y Bwl Nature Reserve, a SSSI known locally as Wild Daffodil Wood after its most distinctive feature, a large area of wild daffodils planted in the 19th century, although wood anemone and bluebells are also abundant, with a tree cover of ash woodland. The reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, and covers . It is open to public, with a main entrance near Castle-upon-Alun at (, OS grid Ref. SS90847493).welshwildlife.org Coed y Bwl Accessed 24 November 2013
Settlement and land use
Prehistoric settlement
A stone axe from the early Neolithic period was found near Ogmore-by-Sea, suggesting human activity some 6,000 years ago. However the earliest direct evidence of habitation within the community is of two burial mounds from the Bronze Age, on the limestone hills of Beacons Down (, SS884751). The best preserved, a scheduled monument, is a low bracken-covered mound on common land near the road at Heol y Mynydd.RCAHMW records at www.coflein.gov.uk NPRN: 93140Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) PRN: 00231m. Scheduled by Cadw SAM No: GM242: Heol y Mynydd Round Barrow A group of 5 ploughed-out barrows is also tentatively identified in a field south of St Brides Major village.GGAT PRN: 03817s
There are two scheduled monuments from the Iron Age, both hillforts: Dunraven Castle Hillfort (, OS grid Ref. SS887727) This is a promontory fort, above the sea on the Trwyn y Witch headland. The northern half of the enclosed area has eroded away, and later castles and then a mansion were built over part of the ramparts. Within the surviving enclosed land there is evidence of 21 roundhouses.coflein NPRN: 300161GGAT PRN: 00329m. Cadw SAM: GM350: Dunraven Castle Hillfort Promontory Fort on Fleming's Down (, OS grid ref. SS889768) This inland promontory fort, is on a natural promontory overlooking the Ewenny valley, at its confluence with the River Ogmore. It has a substantial defensive earthwork enclosing , and it may be that some of the scarp slopes have been steepened for better defence.coflein NPRN: 94716GGAT PRN: 00467m. Cadw SAM: GM466: Promontory Fort on Fleming's Down Inhumations In 1818 workmen cam across three burials with a substantial collection of items from the very end of the Iron Age: knives, spear heads, ornate enamelled helmets, and thick copper skull-caps. The items were recorded at the time, but lost afterwards. There is no scheduled site as the location within the parish was not recorded, although in 2001, Old Castle Down was tentatively identified. Writing in 1925, Mortimer Wheeler described the finds as "the richest and most remarkable of their kind known to have been discovered in Britain".GGAT PRN: 00425m Enclosures Three Iron Age enclosures are known from cropmarks, in fields inland from the Trwyn y Witch headland.coflein NPRN:302497 and 409853, accessed 18 November 2013
Roman period
There is very little indication as to Roman period habitation in St Brides Major community. A field system on Beacons Down (, OS grid ref. SS887755) may indicate a farmstead from this period,coflein NPRN: 401652 cropmarks at Pitcot Farm (, OS grid ref. SS887755) have been suggested as being a Roman villa,GGAT PRN: 02005s and Roman pottery has been found at Castle-upon-Alun (, OS grid ref. SS912744).GGAT PRN: 04229m
Medieval period
From the pre-Norman period, two parts of two stone crosses are known. At Ogmore Castle, an 11th-century stone cross fragment was found in 1929.GGAT PRN: 00289m Now in the National Museum of Wales, this is a wide 'stem' which would once have included a circular cross-head. (See the Cross of Grutne for a comparable example). It has a tenon at the bottom, for slotting into a base, and has inscriptions on both wide sides. Both are highly abbreviated and abraded, so the transcriptions are speculative in places, but one side may read, [--] EST[--] QUOD DED[IT] ARTHMAIL AGRUM DO ET GLIGUIS ET NERTAT ET FILIE SU[A], which would translate as "Be it [known to all men] that Arthmail gave (this) field to God and Glywys and Nertat and his daughter". The other, even more damaged, may have, [IN NOMINE]/ DI SUM(M)I CRO/S(?) IH(ES)U(?) GENTI/ BRANCUT/ BRANCIE(?)/ [FILI ], "In the Name of the Most High God, the Cross of Jesus for the family of Brancu, (son of) Brancia".Celtic Inscribed Stones Project - OGMOR/1 1999. Accessed 18 November 2013
Croes Antoni (, OS grid ref. SS893751) This scheduled monument is a heavily weathered socket-stone for a stone cross. It is probably pre-Norman, and is set in the ground beside the road north of St Brides Major village, with an accompanying name plaque.coflein NPRN: 93213GGAT PRN: 00323m. Cadw SAM: GM333: Croes Antoni
The paucity of early medieval settlement evidence is most probably due to continuity of use. The Iron Age sites may have continued in use well beyond the Roman period, and the later medieval sites are probably built on earlier settlements.CCW Historic Landscape: Merthyr Mawr, Kenfig and Margam Burrows: Historical Processes, Themes and Background accessed 21 November 2013 Norman features are found in St Bridget's Church and Ogmore Castle. The following are medieval Scheduled Monuments:-
Ogmore Castle (, SS881769). The first building was in place by 1117, and included a tidal moat. The stone keep claims to be "one of the oldest Norman stone buildings in South East Wales". Built by the Londres family, the castle passed by marriage to Henry of Lancaster, and became crown property in 1399. As well as a scheduled monument it is a grade I listed building, and substantial ruined walls remain, in a picturesque location beside the River Ewennycoflein NPRN: 93019. GGAT PRN: 00234m. Cadw SAM: GM037: Ogmore Castle
Ogmore Stepping Stones (, SS881769). This is a rare survival of a complete medieval stepping stone river crossing. The 33 square blocks provide pedestrian access across the River Ewenny near Ogmore Castlecoflein NPRN: 32814. GGAT PRN:00273m. Cadw SAM: GM184: Ogmore Stepping Stones
Stepsau Duon (, SS908756) Stepping stones also called 'Stepson Downs' and 'Pant y Brown', these are 15 stone steps across the Afon Alun, alongside a ford near Castle-upon-Alun.coflein NPRN: 23628GGAT PRN:00962m. Cadw SAM: GM185: Stepsau Duon