Baglan, Neath Port Talbot

infobox UK place
country = Wales
welsh_name=
constituency_welsh_assembly=
official_name= Baglan
unitary_wales= Neath Port Talbot
lieutenancy_wales= West Glamorgan
constituency_westminster= Aberavon
post_town= PORT TALBOT
postcode_district = SA12
postcode_area= SA
dial_code= 01639
os_grid_reference= SS7555089549
map_type=

Baglan is a village in Wales. The village is named after Saint Baglan (earliest reference is to 'Bagelan' and dates from 1199) [The Oxford Names Companion (2002), Oxford University Press, p925. ISBN 0-19-860561-7] . Baglan is also the name of a community which is coterminous with the village and an electoral ward, in the administrative region of Neath Port Talbot county borough. In 2001, the population of the Baglan electoral ward was 6,654. [ [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=5939661&c=Baglan&d=14&e=16&g=417723&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1205597933731&enc=1 Lead Key Figures ] ]

Baglan is located on the side of a steep hill and is surrounded by two main hills, Mynydd-y-Gaer (to the north) and Mynydd Dinas (to the east). The moors and Baglan Bay are to the SW. The village contains a number of historical buildings such as Baglan House, St. Catharine's Church, and St. Baglan's Church. The first St. Baglan's Church is now a shell after a fire in 1954. St. Catherine's Church was designed by Welsh architect John Prichard, an exponent of the neo-Gothic style and dedicated in 1882. Baglan House was one of the seats of the Villiers family, earls of Jersey. [The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008]

To the south east of the village lie industrial areas called Baglan Moors and Baglan Bay.

The village has a railway station, Baglan railway station on the South Wales Main Line with trains to Cardiff Central railway station & Swansea railway station, served by Arriva Trains Wales, with through services (ie non stop) served by First Great Western.

Early History

The earliest evidence of settlement here dates back to the Bronze Age with there being a tumulus called Twyn Disgwylfa on Mynydd Dinas and a round barrow within the hillfort of Buarth-y-Gaer [Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1976), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume I Part I, HMSO, p81. ISBN 0-11-700588-6] . There are also Iron Age hillforts on the surrounding hill called Mynydd-y-Gaer [Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1976), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume I Part II, HMSO, pp 26, 46 & 55. ISBN 0-11-700589-4] . The Roman road (Via Julia) very possibly passed through the village, although the statement that there was once a Roman milestone at the junction of Old Road and Albion Road Approach is erroneous (the milestone in question is actually from Pyle) [A L Evans ((1970), The Story of Baglan, published by the author, p18] . Later, a Dark Age (Early Christian period) church was founded here, as can be seen from a few local Early Christian stones, especially the Cross of Brancu (dated 9th - 10th century) which is in the vestry of St Catherine's church. The inscription on the Cross of Brancu(f) could be a dedication to Brancuf [V. E. Nash-Williams (1950), the Early Christian Monuments of Wales, University of Wales Press, p130.] , or reads as Brancu f(ecit) [Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1976), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume I Part III, HMSO, p43. ISBN 0-11-7005-90-8] . i.e. was made by Brancu or may be Brancu followed by a chi-rho monogram [A L Evans ((1970), The Story of Baglan, published by the author, p21] . (the name Brancu is preceded by a simple Latin cross in any case). According to tradition the church was founded by the aforementioned St Baglan.

In the medieval period, the church (dedicated to St Baglan) was rebuilt seemingly on the same site [P R Davies & S Lloyd-Ferne (1990), Lost Churches of Wales & the Marches, Sutton, p30, ISBN 0-86299-564-7] . The church sadly burnt down in 1954 although ruins still exist at the top of the churchyard of St Catharine's church. There were two medieval castles within the parish boundary [Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1991), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume III Part 1b, HMSO, p135] . The first is a motte castle on Mynydd Dinas called 'Castell Bolan'. The motte is now covered in trees (and not readily accessible) and is much closer to the village of Cwmafan than to the village of Baglan. The other is closer to Baglan and is known by the name 'Plas Baglan'. This is sited above the Baglan Brook and is heavily overgrown (and not readily accessible). Although more usually thought of as a manor house than a castle, it is a "strongly fortified site, a castle rather than a moated site ... a masonry castle that existed by the 13th century" [Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1991), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume III Part 1b, HMSO, p149] . It did, however, become a manor house and had literary associations in the 15th & 16th centuries. Several house platforms from the medieval period also exist on the hills behind the village [Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales (1982), An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Volume III Part II, HMSO, p32, ISBN 0-11-701141-X] .

port

Baglan is home to two sporting associations; Baglan Rugby Football Club and Baglan football Club.

ee also

*Baglan Bay
*Baglan Bay power station
*Saint Baglan

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2742384 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Baglan and surrounding area]

Notes