England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llantwit Major St Illtyd

The Parish

The parish of Llantwit Major, its Welsh name being Llanilltud Faw, lies in southern Glamorgan forming part of the county's coatline with the outer Bristol Channel. Llantwit Major is located roughly 5 miles south of the market town of Cowbridge and sits on the coastal B4265 road which hugs the coastline from Bridgend through to Barry. Once consisting of two distinct settlements Llantwit Major has expanded in modern times to engulf the former subsidiary village of Boverton and now consists of a triangular area equivalent in size to that of a small market town. The western edges are constrained by the religious community that was established in the 12th century as a grange from Tewkesbury Abbey. There are numerous historical sites around the parish from Roman times, supporting the route between Caerleon and Neath, as well as those connected with Welsh rulers through the early medieval period. Llantwit Major parish covers a broad area of very fertile land underpinned by limestone and farming of the area is intense with almost an equal proportion of arable and pastoral methods reported by early gazetteers. Whilst today there is little evidence of a former port there is reputed to have once been a brisk trade with the North Devon & Somerset coast across the channel. Modern developments have come to Llantwit Major, Brunel's Great Western railway linking Cardiff with Swansea passes through the parish granting Llantwit Major a station. To its east the vast St Athan's air base has contributed to much of the town's recent growth as well as considerable noise from the modern jets. The new Wales Coastal Trail passes through the parish but it has yet to influence overnight providers significantly. Two small streams the Afon Col-huw and Afon Hoddnant combine southwest of Llantwit Major to drain the majority of the water to the nearby English Channel. Llantwit Major is sited at around 40 metres at the church but the wider parish rises from sea level to around 90 metres to the northwest of Llantwit Major. For the Vale of Glamorgan area Llantwit Major was quite a large parish covering roughly 4,500 acres and supporting a population of close to 1,000 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llantwit Major is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Illtyd's church sits on the western edges of Llantwit Major usually accessed along Burial Lane, the churchyard borders to its west the course of Afon Col-huw. St Illtyd is the largest parish church in Glamorgan and a complex and puzzling one for its history and evolution. It is clear that several generations of church are represented in its form which consists of 4 distinct sections (a chancel with southern chapel, a 4-bay aisled nave with tower rising from its western end, a long, aisleless section "The Western Church" and to its west a ruined structure). Pevsner believes the western church, together with the basal stage of the tower, to have formed the crux of an aisleless cruciform church from the 12th century, Norman Romanesque in style. The western church was remodelled in the 13th century, its transepts removed and its chancel replaced with today's nave and chancel further east. All of these moves date from the late 13th century in the Early English Gothic era. At a similar times the tower was reconstructed in the same style, evidenced by a trefoil-headed lancet in its southern wall. In the early 14th century the nave was modified for the insertion of a clerestory with Decorated styled windows and later still in the 15th century the southern chapel was added as a chantry chapel for the local Ragland family. Three phases of restoration are noted in Pevsner the first of 1888 was rather unaccepted and much was re-modified in a second phase of 1899 which also restored the Western Church, finally in 1905 both nave and chancel were sensitively repaired and strengthened for the future. For the fortunate a few spaces for on-street parking may be found in Burial Lane but it is better to find parking elsewhere and visit on foot. Whilst the churchyard is open and uncluttered it is the sheer length and complexity of the church that make for the biggest challenge for the photographer to adequately record this church.