St Athan
St Athan
| |
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The Four Bells, St Athan | |
Location within the Vale of Glamorgan | |
Population | 4,495 (community and ward 2011)[1] |
OS grid reference | ST017680 |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Barry |
Postcode district | CF62 |
Dialling code | 01446 |
Police | South Wales |
Fire | South Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
St Athan (
Geography
Located in the Vale of Glamorgan, St Athan lies off the B4265 road, roughly 8 miles (13 km) by road northwest of downtown Barry. A 1632 survey defined the boundaries of the manor of St Athan by Eglwys Brewis and Castleton to the north; South Orchard, West Orchard and Llantwit Major to the west, Gileston and the Bristol Channel to the south; and East Orchard and the River Thaw to the east.[3]
Climate
Climate data for St Athan (49m elevation) 1981–2010 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) |
7.9 (46.2) |
10.0 (50.0) |
12.4 (54.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
18.3 (64.9) |
20.1 (68.2) |
19.9 (67.8) |
17.9 (64.2) |
14.3 (57.7) |
10.9 (51.6) |
8.3 (46.9) |
13.7 (56.7) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.8 (37.0) |
2.4 (36.3) |
4.0 (39.2) |
5.4 (41.7) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.2 (52.2) |
13.3 (55.9) |
13.3 (55.9) |
11.5 (52.7) |
8.7 (47.7) |
5.6 (42.1) |
3.1 (37.6) |
7.5 (45.5) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 91.9 (3.62) |
71.8 (2.83) |
68.2 (2.69) |
61.5 (2.42) |
64.2 (2.53) |
60.9 (2.40) |
76.4 (3.01) |
83.5 (3.29) |
82.1 (3.23) |
122.4 (4.82) |
100.7 (3.96) |
115.4 (4.54) |
998.9 (39.33) |
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 14.0 | 10.9 | 13.1 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.5 | 10.4 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 14.7 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 145.1 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 55.5 | 79.4 | 119.9 | 178.9 | 221.7 | 217.0 | 223.9 | 192.0 | 161.1 | 105.2 | 67.6 | 50.7 | 1,673 |
Source: metoffice.gov.uk[4] |
History
Origins
Legend holds that Tathan was an Irish monk who was in a boat which ran aground at
Early history
Historical records indicate that in the
Modern history
In 1811, A Topographical Dictionary of the Dominion of Wales by Nicholas Carlisle included the following entry on St Athan:
ATHAN, ST., in the Cwmwd of Maenor Glynn Ogwr, Cantref of Cron Nedd (now called the Hundred of Ogmore), County of GLAMORGAN, South Wales: a Rectory, valued in the King's Books at £15..9..7: Patron, Robert Jones, Esq.: Church dedicated to St. Athanasius. The Resident Population of this Parish, in 1801, was 264. The Money raised by the Parish Rates, in 1803, was £125..17..1, at 1s..8d. in the pound. It is 6 1/2 m. S. from Cowbridge. This Parish contains 1300 Acres of cultivated Land. In this Parish are the ruins of East Orchard, one of the twelve Norman Castles, and the Site of West Orchard, another Castle of later date: As well as the Port of West Aber Ddaw, so much noted for the superiority of its Lime.[11]
In 1847, the village had a population of about 379 people.
The village was served by St Athan Road railway station between 1892 and 1930. There is no longer any local rail connection.
Although a settlement has existed at St Athan for over a thousand years, St Athan and its dormitory village of Eglwys Brewis significantly enlarged around the nearby
On 11 February 2009 two
On 23 February 2016 Aston Martin announced that their new factory to build its DBX crossover model would be located on the airfield at St Athan. Construction of the 90-acre site would commence in 2017, with a total investment of $280 million and the creation of 750 jobs. The factory would be located in the existing buildings on the site. The U.S. state of Alabama, along with two UK sites and a Middle Eastern location, had been on Aston's shortlist for the factory. Aston unveiled the DBX at the 2015 Geneva Auto Show; DBX production will start in 2020 with an output of up to 5,000 units a year envisaged.[14][15][16]
Politics and administration
St Athan Community Council
St Athan Community Council | ||
---|---|---|
All of council elected every five years | ||
Type | ||
Type | Independent 10 / 13 | |
3 / 13 | ||
Meeting place | ||
The Old School Hall | ||
Website | ||
http://www.stathancommunitycouncil.org.uk/ |
St Athan has a community council of 13 seats, including a chairperson, and separately one clerk. The council represents the three community wards of St Athan, Gileston and Flemingston.[17] The chairperson sits at the top of the table, with deputy to chair's right and clerk to chair's left.[18]
Political make-up
Year | Independent
|
Labour | Pirate | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | 10 | 3 | 0 | |||
2016 | 12 | 0 | 1 |
Community ward remit
The community ward of St Athan includes the Village of St Athan and the Castleton Residential Park.
The community ward of Flemingston includes the village of Flemingston, half the village of Eglwys Brewis (which is split between the Ex MOD housing estate West Camp, the Northern "Bird's Estate"), the East Camp Ex-MOD housing estate which does not make up any village, the hamlet of New Barn and the area known as Beggars Pound.
The community ward of Gileston covers the village of Gileston, the soon-to-be housing estate of the Old Boys Village, the houses collected within West Aberthaw and Limpert Bay.
County council
- See also St Athan (electoral ward)
St Athan is the name of the
The current county councillor, Cllr John Thomas, has been the incumbent since the 1999 election when he beat the sitting Labour councillor by only 17 votes.[19] He became leader of the council in May 2017.
Notable buildings and monuments
The following landmarks are listed buildings of St Athan and its sub-manors:[20][21]
St Athan |
|
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Castleton |
|
East Orchard |
|
Eglwys Brewis |
|
- Parish Church of St Athan
The main entrance to the Grade I listed
- Bethesda'r Fro Chapel
The Bethesda'r Fro Chapel, a
- Old Rectory
The Old Rectory is dated to the early to mid-19th century. Built of stone, the porch included fluted pilasters. The Old Rectory was converted to a school in around 1960 but now contains flats.[21]
Dwellings
A number of dwellings in the village hold
East Orchard, a castle within the village, was built in 1691 by Roger Berkerolles; curiously, in 1843, a wild fig tree grew out of the cement of the chapel walls.[28] West Farm is a Grade II listed building, dated to the early 16th century with 19th-century alterations. Formerly thatched roofed, it has "dressed stone tudor-arched doorways, straight-cut with fillet ceiling timbers and gable-entry stone stairs" and "castellated stone bay windows".[27] West Orchard Farm is also a Grade II listed building, c. 17th century. Its unusual architectural features include its five inline chimneys, a "Tudor arched doorway, broad chamfered beams and gabled porch".[27]
Monuments
The war memorial is located on the grass along the B4265 road at
Former holiday camp
See St Athan's Boys Village.
Education
St Athan Primary School was first mentioned in 1847 and was located in what is now the Old Community Centre, built by the Rayers in about 1860.[29] A new school was built in the mid-1960s and was inaugurated in September 1966.[29] In November 1995 the nursery was established.[29]
St Athan Library[30] is located on Old Church Lane. The library is currently moving from County Council[31] control to a Community Charity[32] after a consultation took place between October and December 2014.
There is also the local newspaper The Llantwit Major GEM.[33] and the MOD St Athan magazine Tathan.[34]
Economy
The village has a post office,
Also see:
- Defence Aviation Repair Agency
- Army Base Repair Organisation
- Aberthaw Power Station
- MOD St Athan
- Enterprise Zone[41]
Transport
St Athan has had three train stations in the past but are now closed, the Gileston railway station, the St Athan Railway Station aka St Athan Halt and St Athan Road Railway Station.
Taxi services also run to St Athan[42] as a part of the Vale of Glamorgan.
Bus services include the 303, 905 and the X91[43]
Culture
Current
There are two
St Athan is the poorest rural area in the Vale of Glamorgan.[47]
Mythology
Y Ladi Wen is said to be connected with the village of St Athan.[citation needed]}
References
- ^ "Community and web population 2011". Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ "Home". www.rafstathangc.co.uk.
- ^ a b "Castles". www.stathanvillage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ "Climate Normals 1981–2010". Met Office. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d "History". www.stathanvillage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d e "Church". www.stathanvillage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Green, Charles Alfred Howell (1906). Notes on churches in the Diocese of Llandaff (Public domain ed.). T.E. Smith. pp. 134–. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ Carlisle, Nicholas (1811). A topographical dictionary of ... Wales, a continuation of the topography of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-871184-22-8. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ a b "About". www.stathanvillage.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ "St. Athan". GENUKI. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ "£14bn St Athan defence academy plan axed". BBC. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ "Four die in mid-air plane crash". 11 February 2009 – via bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Aston Martin picks UK over U.S. for new plant to build DBX crossover". Automotive News Europe. 23 February 2016.
- ^ "Aston Martin picks St. Athan site in Wales for new crossover car". Reuters. 24 February 2016.
- ^ "Aston Martin creates 750 jobs in St Athan". BBC News. 24 February 2016.
- ^ "Community Council". St Athan Community Council. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Councillors - St Athan Community Council". 17 October 2016.
- ^ "These are the people who want to lead the Vale of Glamorgan council after May's local elections". Wales Online. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Listed Buildings" (PDF). Vale of Glamorgan Council. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "Vale of Glamorgan County Treasures" (PDF). Vale of Glamorgan Council. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ "Church of St Brise, St Athan". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ a b Cassell's Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland: Being a Complete Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom; with Numerous Illustrations and Sixty Maps (Public domain ed.). Cassell and Co. ltd. 1900. pp. 317–. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ MacNamara, Francis Nottidge (1895). Memorials of the Danvers Family (of Dauntsey and Culworth): Their Ancestors and Descendants from the Conquest Till the Termination of the Eighteenth Century; with Some Account of the Alliances of the Family and of the Places, where They Were Seated (Public domain ed.). Hardy & Page. pp. 246–. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85409-938-2. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ "Welsh roads in haunted list". BBC. 17 November 2001. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Places". www.stathanvillage.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ Dugdale, Thomas (1854). Curiosities of Great Britain: England & Wales delineated, historical, entertaining & commercial, alphabetically arranged (public domain ed.). L. Tallis. p. 60. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ a b c "School". www.stathanvillage.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ "St_Athan_Library".
- ^ "St Athan Library".
- ^ "Library Strategy Consultation".
- ^ "Arts Council offers advice - Home - The Llantwit Major GEM".
- ^ "Tathan Online - Tathan Magazine".
- ^ "Branch Finder - Post Office".
- ^ "Your LONDIS convenience store and off licence in ST ATHAN - fresh food, groceries".
- ^ "Vale Laser Clinic - Tattoo & Hair Removal in The Vale of Glamorgan".
- ^ "St Athan Pharmacy St Athan, Barry Shop opening times and reviews".
- ^ "Esso Petrol Station in Barry, Wales".
- ^ Kapoor, Rahul (12 June 2019). "Aston Martin St Athan plant now operational: Full production by H1 2020". The Financial Express. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
- ^ Barry, Sion (25 June 2014). "Two enterprise zones in South Wales boosted after being included in new EU assisted area status map".
- ^ "Taxis".
- ^ "Bus Timetables".
- ^ "Three Horseshoes, St Athan".
- ^ "St Athan FC - Home of St Athan Football Club".
- ^ "RAF St Athan Golf Club". RAF St Athan Golf Club. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ Griffiths, Siân; Powell, Eryl (11 July 2013). "Health inequalities and child poverty Vale of Glamorgan Anti Poverty event" (PDF). www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk.