England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Penllyn St John the Evangelist

The Parish

The parish of Penllyn lies in southern Glamorgan roughly 3 miles northwest of the market town of Cowbridge. Penllyn sits about a mile north of the A48 road which links Cardiff with Bridgend. Penllyn is a linear village with most properties lining a north-to-south running lane to the west of the parish's main feature, Penllyn Castle.  The castle, now closed to the public consists of a 12th century Norman keep together with a 16th century castellated mansion, the whole sits above a steep wooded drop into the valley of the Thaw giving splendid views. Penllyn has an interesting ecclesiastical history beginning as a chapel of ease to the now defunct parish of Llanfrynach, it is now a full parish, the ancient Llanfrynach parish church sits south of the A48 and almost within Cowbridge. Built in the 12th century, St Brynach's Church was established as the primary place of worship and the final burial ground for the entire parish of Penllyn. Local tradition holds that the original medieval village surrounding the church at Llanfrynach was wiped out by the Black Death in the 14th century. This left the church completely isolated in the fields, about a mile south of the main population hub. Penllyn is a farming parish, early gazetteers estimate that pastoral methods dominate with 3/4s of the parish acreage as set to pasture, today the ratio has moved closer to 50:50. The Thaw drains the parish southeastwards, passing through Cowbridge and onwards to the outer Bristol Channel at Aberthaw. Penllyn is sited at around 90 metres above the sea on the highest ground for some distance in gently rolling countryside. Penllyn parish was typically sized for this area, covering just under 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. Like most of Wales Penllyn is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St John's church stands at the gates for the driveway to the now private Penllyn Castle. The first church here was consecrated in c1700 as a chapel of ease to Llanfrynach with masonry dating back into the 17th century. This church had a simple rectangular layout with three southern windows, a small southern porch, and a western bell turret. This would have been the church in which these marriages were celebrated. Today's St John was commissioned by John Homfray of Penllyn Court & Castle and completed in c1850, the new church keeps the same low-profile rectangular footprint but with neo-Gothic fenestration and in a faux-Decorated style. For many years the church had no known dedication being confirmed to St John only in 1995. Sadly a fire in the early 2020s required extensive internal and structural refurbishments during 2023 & 2024 to bring the church back to good order. There is parking for a single vehicle outside the gates where the entrance drive is chamfered. The churchyard has thick tree cover immediately east of the church but all other angles are readily available for the photographer.