Index
The Origins of the Village
The Origins Of The Village
The history of a settlement in the vicinity of St. Nicholas can be traced back to Neolithic times with the survival of a chambered tomb at Tinkinswood, one kilometre south of the present village. Excavations have also revealed finds dating from the Early Bronze Age and the Roman era, the latter taking the form of pottery and iron tools. A more substantial legacy left by the Romans was the road constructed between Gloucester and Neath, establishing a route which would, centuries later, form the basis for the turnpike road and the modern A48.
Further archaeological sites surrounding the village include a group of earthworks occupied during the 12th century, namely Cottrell’s Castle, Coed-y-Cwm, and the well-preserved circular camp of Y Gaer. By this time, however, a settlement had been founded beside the old Roman road on the site of St. Nicholas proper. St. Nicholas was called Llaneinydd, and it appears to have acquired its present title in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of Glamorgan, when it was renamed in honour of a saint favoured by the Normans. The church, probably established prior to the invasion, seems likewise to have gained its dedication to St. Nicholas during this period. Perhaps affected by the burning of the village carried out by the Welsh in 1226 and 1229, a fate likewise suffered by St. Hilary and Bonvilston, nothing remains of the early Saxon or Norman building. Instead, the oldest sections of the church - and consequently the oldest sections of masonry extant within the village - can be dated to a rebuilding of around the 14th century.
During the redistribution of land that followed the Conquest, in 1092 the settlement had been amongst those parts of Glamorgan which were given to Sir John Fleming. The Norman manor was later divided during the 12th century, and by 1578 the land was principally owned by three separate estates belonging to the Earl of Pembroke, Miles Button of Dyffryn, and Rice Meyrick of Cottrell. The split is still apparent in the layout of the village, and can be seen in the arrangement of the states in terms of property.
Change had come also to the religious foundations serving the community, beginning with the erection of a Calvanistic Methodist Chapel in 1739-40 on the western outskirts of the village. This was rebuilt in 1870 and is now the Presbyterian Church. The parish church of St. Nicholas was restored (including new windows) between 1859 and 1860, the work being supervised by the Cardiff architects Prichard & Seddon. Trehill has strong links with Howell Harris, the charismatic leader of the 18th century Welsh Methodist Revival and founder of the Presbyterian church of Wales.
St. Nicholas continued to prosper as a small rural community, with farm buildings such as Village Farmhouse, situated to the east of the church, operating from the centre of the settlement. Trehill Cottage was originally occupied by labourers attached to Trehill Farm. The village also benefitted from passing trade, and a number of public houses - The Crown Inn, The Prince’s Arms (today Trehill House), The Travellers’ Rest, and the thatched Three Tuns Inn (formerly a magistrates’ meeting house) - were established to serve those travelling along the turnpike road.
Further archaeological sites surrounding the village include a group of earthworks occupied during the 12th century, namely Cottrell’s Castle, Coed-y-Cwm, and the well-preserved circular camp of Y Gaer. By this time, however, a settlement had been founded beside the old Roman road on the site of St. Nicholas proper. St. Nicholas was called Llaneinydd, and it appears to have acquired its present title in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of Glamorgan, when it was renamed in honour of a saint favoured by the Normans. The church, probably established prior to the invasion, seems likewise to have gained its dedication to St. Nicholas during this period. Perhaps affected by the burning of the village carried out by the Welsh in 1226 and 1229, a fate likewise suffered by St. Hilary and Bonvilston, nothing remains of the early Saxon or Norman building. Instead, the oldest sections of the church - and consequently the oldest sections of masonry extant within the village - can be dated to a rebuilding of around the 14th century.
During the redistribution of land that followed the Conquest, in 1092 the settlement had been amongst those parts of Glamorgan which were given to Sir John Fleming. The Norman manor was later divided during the 12th century, and by 1578 the land was principally owned by three separate estates belonging to the Earl of Pembroke, Miles Button of Dyffryn, and Rice Meyrick of Cottrell. The split is still apparent in the layout of the village, and can be seen in the arrangement of the states in terms of property.
Change had come also to the religious foundations serving the community, beginning with the erection of a Calvanistic Methodist Chapel in 1739-40 on the western outskirts of the village. This was rebuilt in 1870 and is now the Presbyterian Church. The parish church of St. Nicholas was restored (including new windows) between 1859 and 1860, the work being supervised by the Cardiff architects Prichard & Seddon. Trehill has strong links with Howell Harris, the charismatic leader of the 18th century Welsh Methodist Revival and founder of the Presbyterian church of Wales.
St. Nicholas continued to prosper as a small rural community, with farm buildings such as Village Farmhouse, situated to the east of the church, operating from the centre of the settlement. Trehill Cottage was originally occupied by labourers attached to Trehill Farm. The village also benefitted from passing trade, and a number of public houses - The Crown Inn, The Prince’s Arms (today Trehill House), The Travellers’ Rest, and the thatched Three Tuns Inn (formerly a magistrates’ meeting house) - were established to serve those travelling along the turnpike road.
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described St Nicholas:
NICHOLAS (St.), a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Cardiff district, Glamorgan. The village stands1½ mile S S E of Peterston r. station, and 6 W by S of Cardiff; is a seat of petty sessions; and has a post-office under Cardiff, and fairs on 19 May, 21 Aug., and 17 Dec. The parish comprises 2, 104 acres. Real property, £2, 374. Pop., 354. Houses, 76. The property is divided among three. Dyffryn House is the seat of J. B. Pryce, Esq., and Cottrell, a name probably corrupted from Coed-yr-Haul, is the seat of Lady Tyler, widow of Admiral Sir George Tyler. ...
A very large cromlech, with a copestone 24 feet by 17, and a chamber about 14 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 6 feet high, is near the village; another, not so interesting, is close to Dyffryn House; and there are traces of other Druidical remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Llandaff. Value, £275.* Patron, J. B. Pryce, Esq. The church is ancient.—The sub-district contains also fifteen other parishes, and two extra-parochial tracts. Acres, 30, 865. Pop., 4, 705. Houses, 941.
NICHOLAS (St.), a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Cardiff district, Glamorgan. The village stands1½ mile S S E of Peterston r. station, and 6 W by S of Cardiff; is a seat of petty sessions; and has a post-office under Cardiff, and fairs on 19 May, 21 Aug., and 17 Dec. The parish comprises 2, 104 acres. Real property, £2, 374. Pop., 354. Houses, 76. The property is divided among three. Dyffryn House is the seat of J. B. Pryce, Esq., and Cottrell, a name probably corrupted from Coed-yr-Haul, is the seat of Lady Tyler, widow of Admiral Sir George Tyler. ...
A very large cromlech, with a copestone 24 feet by 17, and a chamber about 14 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 6 feet high, is near the village; another, not so interesting, is close to Dyffryn House; and there are traces of other Druidical remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Llandaff. Value, £275.* Patron, J. B. Pryce, Esq. The church is ancient.—The sub-district contains also fifteen other parishes, and two extra-parochial tracts. Acres, 30, 865. Pop., 4, 705. Houses, 941.
Source: VisionofBritain.org.uk
From Slaters Commercial Directory, 1880.
Transcribed by Phil Mustoe
Transcribed by Phil Mustoe
ST NICHOLAS is a parish and village 6 miles from Cardiff, situated on an eminence on the road from Cardiff to Cowbridge, distant 6 miles from the latter place, and about 5 miles distant from the Bristol Channel. In the parish are some Druidical remains, and it is said that Oliver Cromwell slept in the manor house. A. C. Bruce Prye, Esq. J.P. of Duffryn House, is lord of the manor. Petty sessions are held in the police station on the first Wednesday of every month, at which time the Highway Board also meet. The church of St. Nicholas is a neat edifice. The living is a rectory in the patronage of the above-named gentleman. There are also chapels for Calvinists and Baptists, and a National Schoool. Population in 1861, 354, and in 1871, 419.
POST OFFICE - St. Nicholas, Thomas Branch, Post Master. - Letters from all parts (from Cardiff) arrive at half-past eight morning, and are despatched thereto at forty minutes past four afternoon
POST OFFICE - St. Nicholas, Thomas Branch, Post Master. - Letters from all parts (from Cardiff) arrive at half-past eight morning, and are despatched thereto at forty minutes past four afternoon
Services: Money Order Office and Savings Bank
(St Nicholas was the nearest Money Order Office for Bonvilston and Peterston-Super-Ely)
Gentry and Clergy
Bruce Lewis K. Esq. J.P., Manor House, St. Nicholas
Bruce Rev. Wm. M.A. & J.P., Duffryn House, St. Nicholas
Bruce Rev. William C., St. Nicholas' Rectory
Pryce Allan C. Bruce, Esq. J.P., Duffryn House, St. Nicholas
Richards Miss -, Cottrell House, St. Nicholas
Tyler Colonel Hubert, J.P., Cottrell House, St. Nicholas
School
St. Nicholas - William Cole, master
Blacksmiths
Harry Abraham, St. Nicholas
Boot & Shoe Makers
Ellis James, St. Nicholas
Thomas Morgan, St. Nicholas
Butchers
Earl William, St. Nicholas
Hopkins Thomas, St. Nicholas
Watts Thomas, St. Nicholas
Carpenters
Jones Edward, St. Nicholas
Farmers
In. St. Nicholas Parish
Davies John, Pwll-y-min
Earl William, Trehill
Evans William, Broadway
Harbottle Thomas, Homry
Harry Philip, Jenkins' Wood
Hopkin David, Grwyddin
John Thomas, Brook
Jones Evan, Trehill
Meyrick Robert J., Caia
Thomas Catherine, Lanlai
Thomas Peter, St. Nicholas
Thomas Rees, Doghill
Watts Thomas, St. Nicholas
Williams Morgan, Vians Hill
Inns & Public Houses
Three Tuns, Elizabeth Banner, St. Nicholas
Grocers and Dealers in Sundries
Moore William, St Nicholas
Millers
none - flour had to be carried from Peterstone Mill via Chapel Lane
Tailors
Jenkins John, St. Nicholas
King Francis, St. Nicholas
Wheelwrights
Davies Edward, St. Nicholas
Miscellaneous
Moore William, saddler, St. Nicholas
Morgan John, stonemason, St. Nicholas
Wright William T., agricultural implement maker, St. Nicholas
Places of Worship
AND THEIR MINISTERS
Churche of the Establishment
St. Nicholas's, St. Nicholas - Rev. William C. Bruce, rector
Baptist (Welsh), St. Nicholas - Croes-y-Parc, Chapel Lane
Methodist (Calvinistic), St. Nicholas & Pendoylan - Chapel Lane, Trehill
Magistrates
For the Hundred of Dinas Powis, usually acting for the Petty Sessional Division of St. Nicholas
Petty Sessions held at the Police Station, St Nicholas, on the first Wednesday of every month
Rev. William Bruce, Duffryn
Lewis Kenight Bruce, Esq., St. Nicholas
A. C. Bruce Pryce Esq., Duffryn
Col. H. Tyler, Cottrell
Police Station, St. Nicholas - Philip Williams, sergeant in charge
Conveyance by Railway
On the South Wales Section of the Great Western Line
Station, Peterstone, about 2 miles N. from St. Nicholas - William Chapman, station master - accessed by Chapel Lane
Slaters Commercial Directory, St. Nicholas, Glamorgan, 1880
(St Nicholas was the nearest Money Order Office for Bonvilston and Peterston-Super-Ely)
Gentry and Clergy
Bruce Lewis K. Esq. J.P., Manor House, St. Nicholas
Bruce Rev. Wm. M.A. & J.P., Duffryn House, St. Nicholas
Bruce Rev. William C., St. Nicholas' Rectory
Pryce Allan C. Bruce, Esq. J.P., Duffryn House, St. Nicholas
Richards Miss -, Cottrell House, St. Nicholas
Tyler Colonel Hubert, J.P., Cottrell House, St. Nicholas
School
St. Nicholas - William Cole, master
Blacksmiths
Harry Abraham, St. Nicholas
Boot & Shoe Makers
Ellis James, St. Nicholas
Thomas Morgan, St. Nicholas
Butchers
Earl William, St. Nicholas
Hopkins Thomas, St. Nicholas
Watts Thomas, St. Nicholas
Carpenters
Jones Edward, St. Nicholas
Farmers
In. St. Nicholas Parish
Davies John, Pwll-y-min
Earl William, Trehill
Evans William, Broadway
Harbottle Thomas, Homry
Harry Philip, Jenkins' Wood
Hopkin David, Grwyddin
John Thomas, Brook
Jones Evan, Trehill
Meyrick Robert J., Caia
Thomas Catherine, Lanlai
Thomas Peter, St. Nicholas
Thomas Rees, Doghill
Watts Thomas, St. Nicholas
Williams Morgan, Vians Hill
Inns & Public Houses
Three Tuns, Elizabeth Banner, St. Nicholas
Grocers and Dealers in Sundries
Moore William, St Nicholas
Millers
none - flour had to be carried from Peterstone Mill via Chapel Lane
Tailors
Jenkins John, St. Nicholas
King Francis, St. Nicholas
Wheelwrights
Davies Edward, St. Nicholas
Miscellaneous
Moore William, saddler, St. Nicholas
Morgan John, stonemason, St. Nicholas
Wright William T., agricultural implement maker, St. Nicholas
Places of Worship
AND THEIR MINISTERS
Churche of the Establishment
St. Nicholas's, St. Nicholas - Rev. William C. Bruce, rector
Baptist (Welsh), St. Nicholas - Croes-y-Parc, Chapel Lane
Methodist (Calvinistic), St. Nicholas & Pendoylan - Chapel Lane, Trehill
Magistrates
For the Hundred of Dinas Powis, usually acting for the Petty Sessional Division of St. Nicholas
Petty Sessions held at the Police Station, St Nicholas, on the first Wednesday of every month
Rev. William Bruce, Duffryn
Lewis Kenight Bruce, Esq., St. Nicholas
A. C. Bruce Pryce Esq., Duffryn
Col. H. Tyler, Cottrell
Police Station, St. Nicholas - Philip Williams, sergeant in charge
Conveyance by Railway
On the South Wales Section of the Great Western Line
Station, Peterstone, about 2 miles N. from St. Nicholas - William Chapman, station master - accessed by Chapel Lane
Slaters Commercial Directory, St. Nicholas, Glamorgan, 1880
The village prospered as a farming community during this time, with the passing trade sustaining a number of inns. The Crown Inn, Prince's Arms, The Travellers Rest, and the Three Tuns were all clustered within the area of the church and manor. None exist now, though The Three Tuns is converted to residential use and the Prince's Arms is Trehill House.
By the 19th century, the village had come to sustain a number of small industries, offering carpenters, millers, saddlers, wheelwrights and masons. A smithy operated from the centre of the settlement and an agricultural implement factory, owned by W. T. Wright, was established on the site today occupied by the Laurels. By the 1870s a purpose-built boys’ and girls’ school had been founded; lessons seem formerly to have been conducted in the adjacent cottage. Further public buildings erected during the 19th century include the police station at the eastern end of the village. This was originally provided with a court room, one of the first to be founded in Glamorgan.
The establishment of the Mission Room and Police Station, and the expansion of the school during this period marked the cultural and social development of the rural community. The Cory family were particularly influential in this respect: closing the Three Tuns and opening the Coffee Tavern on the site of the former Travellers Rest. The building is now known as Westways. The Cory family of Dyffryn owned much of the land in the area in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Between 1891 and 1893 a prestigious new home based on an earlier building, Dyffryn House, was built near to the village for John Cory, a well known local industrialist and philanthropist – the architect was E. A. Lansdowne of Newport. There had been an Elizabethan house on the site, which lies to the south of St. Nicholas along Duffryn Lane, and this had been successively owned by the Button and Pryce families.
Dyffryn is now principally known for its gardens, laid out for Reginald Cory (John Cory’s son) by Thomas Mawson, the internationally known and prolific garden designer. Work began in 1904 and was completed a year later. After Reginald Cory’s death in 1937 the house was sold to Sir Cenydd Traherne who leased the property to the County Council. It is currently vacant and the gardens are designated grade I on the ICOMOS/Cadw Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Interest in Wales. Reminders of the links between the Cory family and St. Nicholas are still provided by their family tomb in the churchyard, by West House, built as a coffee house on the site of the Travellers’ Rest Inn, and by the church hall and accompanying church hall house on the main road, all of which were promoted by the Cory family.
On the whole, however, the changes brought to the village by the 19th century were relatively few: a comparison between the Tithe Map of 1838 and 1878
Ordnance Survey reveals that the basic footprint of the settlement underwent little alteration. The infilling and expansion carried out from the mid-20th century was to be more extensive, beginning with the construction of 24 new homes at the newly created Dyffryn Close and Button Ride. Situated opposite the old quarry and reached via Duffryn Lane, the houses were erected by Cardiff Rural District Council during the late 1940s to provide the community with further rented accommodation.
The development of state housing by the Cardiff Rural Districat Council during the fifties and sixties, sought to consolidate the large community that had developed. The housing is set principally to the south along Duffryn Lane.
St. Nicholas won the first "Best Kept Village" competition in the Vale in 1954, and again in 1960.
The last period of the villagers growth has been the most profound and is the result of the villages popularity as a commuter settlement. Large detached houses have developed within garden and orchard areas to the north of the church and along the A48. This has expanded the village and changed its character on the outer fringes.
In the 1980s the village still had a working Blacksmith, a Post Office and shop and a Lollipop Man to safely cross children over the A48 on their way to and from the primary school.
The main road remains as the dominant influence on the character of the village with both the Three Tuns and Coach House disappearing from view behind the shelter of high walls. "Improvement" of Dyffryn Lane and the installation of traffic lights at the heart of the village ae other recent changes.
The Button family figure a lot in village history, most famously Admiral Thomas Button who discovered Mansel Island in Hudson's Bay, Canada.
By the 19th century, the village had come to sustain a number of small industries, offering carpenters, millers, saddlers, wheelwrights and masons. A smithy operated from the centre of the settlement and an agricultural implement factory, owned by W. T. Wright, was established on the site today occupied by the Laurels. By the 1870s a purpose-built boys’ and girls’ school had been founded; lessons seem formerly to have been conducted in the adjacent cottage. Further public buildings erected during the 19th century include the police station at the eastern end of the village. This was originally provided with a court room, one of the first to be founded in Glamorgan.
The establishment of the Mission Room and Police Station, and the expansion of the school during this period marked the cultural and social development of the rural community. The Cory family were particularly influential in this respect: closing the Three Tuns and opening the Coffee Tavern on the site of the former Travellers Rest. The building is now known as Westways. The Cory family of Dyffryn owned much of the land in the area in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Between 1891 and 1893 a prestigious new home based on an earlier building, Dyffryn House, was built near to the village for John Cory, a well known local industrialist and philanthropist – the architect was E. A. Lansdowne of Newport. There had been an Elizabethan house on the site, which lies to the south of St. Nicholas along Duffryn Lane, and this had been successively owned by the Button and Pryce families.
Dyffryn is now principally known for its gardens, laid out for Reginald Cory (John Cory’s son) by Thomas Mawson, the internationally known and prolific garden designer. Work began in 1904 and was completed a year later. After Reginald Cory’s death in 1937 the house was sold to Sir Cenydd Traherne who leased the property to the County Council. It is currently vacant and the gardens are designated grade I on the ICOMOS/Cadw Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Interest in Wales. Reminders of the links between the Cory family and St. Nicholas are still provided by their family tomb in the churchyard, by West House, built as a coffee house on the site of the Travellers’ Rest Inn, and by the church hall and accompanying church hall house on the main road, all of which were promoted by the Cory family.
On the whole, however, the changes brought to the village by the 19th century were relatively few: a comparison between the Tithe Map of 1838 and 1878
Ordnance Survey reveals that the basic footprint of the settlement underwent little alteration. The infilling and expansion carried out from the mid-20th century was to be more extensive, beginning with the construction of 24 new homes at the newly created Dyffryn Close and Button Ride. Situated opposite the old quarry and reached via Duffryn Lane, the houses were erected by Cardiff Rural District Council during the late 1940s to provide the community with further rented accommodation.
The development of state housing by the Cardiff Rural Districat Council during the fifties and sixties, sought to consolidate the large community that had developed. The housing is set principally to the south along Duffryn Lane.
St. Nicholas won the first "Best Kept Village" competition in the Vale in 1954, and again in 1960.
The last period of the villagers growth has been the most profound and is the result of the villages popularity as a commuter settlement. Large detached houses have developed within garden and orchard areas to the north of the church and along the A48. This has expanded the village and changed its character on the outer fringes.
In the 1980s the village still had a working Blacksmith, a Post Office and shop and a Lollipop Man to safely cross children over the A48 on their way to and from the primary school.
The main road remains as the dominant influence on the character of the village with both the Three Tuns and Coach House disappearing from view behind the shelter of high walls. "Improvement" of Dyffryn Lane and the installation of traffic lights at the heart of the village ae other recent changes.
The Button family figure a lot in village history, most famously Admiral Thomas Button who discovered Mansel Island in Hudson's Bay, Canada.
The last period of the villagers growth has been the most profound and is the result of the villages popularity as a commuter settlement. Large detached houses have developed within garden and orchard areas to the north of the church and along the A48. This has expanded the village and changed its character on the outer fringes.
In the 1980s the village still had a working Blacksmith, a Post Office and shop and a Lollipop Man to safely cross children over the A48 on their way to and from the primary school.
The main road remains as the dominant influence on the character of the village with both the Three Tuns and Coach House disappearing from view behind the shelter of high walls. "Improvement" of Dyffryn Lane and the installation of traffic lights at the heart of the village ae other recent changes.
The Button family figure a lot in village history, most famously Admiral Thomas Button who discovered Mansel Island in Hudson's Bay, Canada.
In the 1980s the village still had a working Blacksmith, a Post Office and shop and a Lollipop Man to safely cross children over the A48 on their way to and from the primary school.
The main road remains as the dominant influence on the character of the village with both the Three Tuns and Coach House disappearing from view behind the shelter of high walls. "Improvement" of Dyffryn Lane and the installation of traffic lights at the heart of the village ae other recent changes.
The Button family figure a lot in village history, most famously Admiral Thomas Button who discovered Mansel Island in Hudson's Bay, Canada.
The Battle of St Fagans
Royalists forces gathered at St. Nicholas prior to their defeat at the Battle of St Fagans in 1648 - one of the last battles of the civil war.
Miles Button of Worlton (Duffryn) was captured and fined £5000 for his support of the King - his annual income was £400. His brother was tried and executed for treason after the battle.
more
Miles Button of Worlton (Duffryn) was captured and fined £5000 for his support of the King - his annual income was £400. His brother was tried and executed for treason after the battle.
more
High Sheriff of Glamorgan
St. Nicholas has been home to a number of High Sheriff's.
- 1557 James Button of Worlton, St.Nicholas
- 1565 Miles Button of Worlton, St.Nicholas
- 1571 Miles Button of Worlton, St.Nicholas
- 1589 Miles Button of Worlton, St.Nicholas
- 1610 Morgan Meirick of Cottrell, St.Nicholas
- 1641 Robert Button of Worlton, St.Nicholas
- 1666 Martin Button of Dyffryn, St.Nicholas
- 1669 Thomas Button of Cottrell. St. Nicholas
- 1709 Thomas Button of Cottrell, St.Nicholas
- 1727 Francis Popham replaced by Martin Button of Dyffryn, St.Nicholas
- 1759 Thomas Pryce of Dyffryn, St.Nicholas
- 1808 Hon. William Booth Grey of Dyffryn, St.Nicholas [10] replaced by John Nathaniel Miers of Cadoxton-juxta-Neath
- 2001 Lieutenant Colonel Rhodri Llewellyn Traherne of Coedarhydyglyn (South Glamorgan)
Landscape and trees
Field boundaries, walls and hedges lined the road (now the A48) and define the former farm estate boundaries. Since 1952, important trees have been protected by a Tree Preservation Order including historic groups within the Manor, Llaneinydd, The Court and along Duffryn Lane.
Of significance too, are trees within the churchyard and around the school. An ancient yew stands to the rear of Blacksmith's Row, it is very early however a group of chestnut trees at the entrance to Ger-Y-Llan that framed the village green and war memorial no longer exist.
Of significance too, are trees within the churchyard and around the school. An ancient yew stands to the rear of Blacksmith's Row, it is very early however a group of chestnut trees at the entrance to Ger-Y-Llan that framed the village green and war memorial no longer exist.
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales
Architecture
Listed buildings are clustered around the Parish Church of St Nicholas and along the A48. These early buildings at the centre of the village are enclosed by high boundary walls which define the network of lanes running North into the farming land of the Cottrell and Coedarhydyglyn estates.
The use of local materials such as limestone, slate and thatch for the buildings is important although many of the buildings have been built from rough rubble limestone and have been rendered and painted white.
Some of the 20th century houses in the Conservation Area follow this example and are also rendered and painted white which does provide some cohesiveness despite their modern details. The 1948 houses in Dyffryn Close and Button Ride are notable for their white rendered elevations and ‘Tudorbethan’ details including timber framing and decorative quoins to the openings. Some of them retain their original Crittall steel windows, but most have been replaced using modern materials. The Church Hall and adjoining house are notable for their clay tiled roofs, attractive original joinery, limestone walls, and the white painted turret which provides an important focal point in views along the main road.
Pitched roofs, which suit the Welsh slate covering, are usually seen on the older buildings although where they are thatched they are much steeper to provide the fall needed to prevent water ingress. The only thatched properties are Trehill Cottage, nos. 3, 4 and 5 Smith Row and the Three Tuns. A substantial barn facing School Lane is the only visible unaltered reminder of the many agricultural buildings which could once be found in the village.
Roadside walls are built from the same grey limestone rubble blocks of varying sizes as many of the older buildings and are a prominent feature of the Conservation Area and help to maintain a historic character to the village centre.
The use of local materials such as limestone, slate and thatch for the buildings is important although many of the buildings have been built from rough rubble limestone and have been rendered and painted white.
Some of the 20th century houses in the Conservation Area follow this example and are also rendered and painted white which does provide some cohesiveness despite their modern details. The 1948 houses in Dyffryn Close and Button Ride are notable for their white rendered elevations and ‘Tudorbethan’ details including timber framing and decorative quoins to the openings. Some of them retain their original Crittall steel windows, but most have been replaced using modern materials. The Church Hall and adjoining house are notable for their clay tiled roofs, attractive original joinery, limestone walls, and the white painted turret which provides an important focal point in views along the main road.
Pitched roofs, which suit the Welsh slate covering, are usually seen on the older buildings although where they are thatched they are much steeper to provide the fall needed to prevent water ingress. The only thatched properties are Trehill Cottage, nos. 3, 4 and 5 Smith Row and the Three Tuns. A substantial barn facing School Lane is the only visible unaltered reminder of the many agricultural buildings which could once be found in the village.
Roadside walls are built from the same grey limestone rubble blocks of varying sizes as many of the older buildings and are a prominent feature of the Conservation Area and help to maintain a historic character to the village centre.