Llantwit Major or Llanilltyd Fawr, Glamorgan

Description
Llantwit Major or Llanilltyd Fawr, a decayed old town and a parish in Glamorgan, with a station on the Vale of Glamorgan railway. The town stands 1 mile from the sea-coast, in a deep vale, 5 miles SSW of Cowbridge, dates probably from the Roman or even the ancient British times, acquired sudden and great importance from the founding of a large college in the 5th century, was known to the ancient Britons as Caer Wrgan; took from its college, which was founded or fostered by St Illtyd, the name of Llanilltyd Fawr, which came to be altered into Llantwit Major; appears to have expanded, soon after the founding of the college, into a town of considerable size; became a borough and a seat of much trade, suffered damage from incursions of the Saxons and the Danes, sustained very severe injury at the time of the Norman Conquest, struggled to re-acquire its old importance till the Reformation or later, diminished thence onward till it became only a considerable village; and exhibits now, in numerous wide roads diverging from it, in numerous substructions and vestiges over a large space of ground, in various extant intersecting streets and lanes, in the uncommon size of its church and churchyard, and in the numbers of relics and human remains exhumed from adjoining fields, unmistakable evidence of its former magnitude. The college was founded, some say in 408, others say in 430, others in 508; is alleged by some to have been founded by St Germanus, under St Illtyd, by others to have been founded by St Illtyd himself, a contemporary of St Patrick and the inventor of the Welsh plough; appears to have been a clerical school of somewhat similar character to the Culdee schools of Lindis-farne, Jarrow, lona, and Ireland; is said to have had, even before St Illtyd's death, seven halls, 400 houses, and upwards of 2000 pupils, among whomwere seven sons of British princes; was restored in 1111 by Robert Fitzhamon and made then a cell to Tewkesbury Abbey; numbered among its pupils Gildas the historian, David of Caerleon, Bishop Paulinus of Leon, Archbishop Samson of Dol, Talhaiarn the bard, and Taliesin the chief of bards, and was given at the Reformation to the see of Gloucester. The church is a remarkable assemblage of distinct buildings, and both it and the churchyard teem with relics of antiquity. The church in use was erected by the Nevilles in the time of Henry I., measures 98 feet by 53, comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower, and contains a rood screen, a Norman font, and several ancient monuments. A short distance W of the church was the old monastery, but nothing remains of it save the porter's lodge, which still stands complete and is a curious old" building. A disused church, commonly called the old one, probably dates from the 14th century; it is supposed that this was originally the parochial church, but was deserted at the dissolution for the larger monastic church, which then became the new church to the parishioners. It measures 64 feet in length, and contains several very old and curious monuments. The Lady chapel stands at the W end of this church, is now much dilapidated, measures 40 1/2 feet in length, and is decorated with statues of saints. The churchyard contains a stone which is probably Runic, the shaft of a cross of the 5th century in memory of St Iltutus, and two Norman monuments. Adjoining the churchyard is the old chantry. The town-hall was built by Gilbert de Clare, has a gable bell, is approached by a flight of steps, and presents a picturesque appearance. In the centre of the town stands the base of the old market cross. An ancient castellated Norman house, called the Old Place, now an ivy-clad ruin, stands on the outskirts on the way to Bridgend. A Roman villa and other Roman relics have been found near the town. The town has a post, money order, and telegraph office, under Cowbridge, and a fair on 22 June.

The parish contains the hamlet of Boverton. Acreage, 5118, of which 4 are water and 324 foreshore; population of the civil parish, 1111; of the ecclesiastical, 1266. The living is a vicarage, united with the rectory of Llysworney, in the diocese of Llandaff; net value, £300 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, Baptist, and Calvinistic Methodist chapels.