Llanmaes - Gazetteers

A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis 1833

"LLANMAES, or LLANVAES (LLAN-MAES), a parish in the hundred of COWBRIDGE, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 3 1/2 miles (S.) from Cowbridge, containing 234 inhabitants.
This parish is situated in a most fertile and salubrious part of the Vale of Glamorgan, and within two miles of the Bristol channel : it is watered by a small rivulet, which, passing by the churchyard, falls into the Bristol channel about three miles below it. The lands, which are almost entirely enclosed and in a high state of cultivation, are fertile and productive ; and the environs abound with varied and pleasing scenery.
The salubrity of the air is attested by several entries in the parish register of the burial of persons whose lives had been extended to an almost incredibly protracted period : among these, the most remarkable are the following, which have been extracted verbatim;-" Ivan Yorath buried a Saterdaye the XVII day of July anno doni 1621 et anno regni regis vicessimo primo annoque aetatis circa 180. He was a Sowdiar in the fights of Boswoorthe, and lived at Lantwit Major, and he lived much by fishing. John Sherry was buried 8th of December 1624, aged 104 years. Thomas Watkin sepultus fuit octavo die Martii 1628, aetatis circa 100. Elizabeth Yorath wife of Edmund Thomas was buried the 13th of February 1668, aged 177."

The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaf, rated in the king's hooks at £ 10. 2. 3 1/2., and in the patronage of the Marquis of Bute : attached to it are seventy-two acres of glebe land. The church is dedicated to St. Cadocus. A Sunday school is supported by the rector.

Mrs. Susannah Thomas, in 1747, bequeathed a rent-charge of £ 1, and Mrs. Jane Thomas, in 1761, bequeathed a rent-charge of one bushel of wheat, Cowbridge measure, both which are annually distributed among the poor of the parish. Near the church are the remains, now inconsiderable, of the ancient castellated mansion of the Maliphants, which is noticed by Leland, in his Itinerary, as belonging to the crown, and at that time in a state of great dilapidation. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £ 124. 12."

 A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales by Nicholas Carlisle, London, 1811.

"LLAN MAES, in the Cwmwd of Pen y Bont, Cantref of Cron Nedd (now called the Hundred of Cowbridge), County of GLAMORGAN, South Wales: a Rectory, valued in the King's Books at £10..2..3 1/2: Patron, The Marquis of Bute: Church dedicated to St. Cadog. The Resident Population of this Parish, in 1801, (comprising the small Hamlet of Picketstown, in which are only two houses) was 148. The Money raised by the Parish Rates, in 1803, was £84..19..9, at 1s. 6d. per acre. It is 4 1/2 m. S. from Cowbridge. This Parish contains 1004 acres of inclosed and cultivated Land: The Church Glebe being 66 acres. The Rectory is now (in 1808) let for £305..12..0: The present Incumbent is, The Rev. RICHARD HARVEY. It is situate in the most fertile part of the Vale of Glamorgan, with a Rivulet passing by the Church-yard, which discharges itself into the Bristol Channel at Colhugh, three miles from hence. There are the Ruins of an old Castle, which belonged to the Malifants: and the Manor, which now belongs to the Marquis of Bute, is termed in the ancient Court Rolls, The Manor of Bedford and Malifant. The Rev. ROBERT NICHOLL most obligingly adds, "This place was formerly remarkable for the Longevity of its inhabitants, and, in the ancient Register of the Parish, there are several entries of persons being buried, upwards of 100 years of age: but the following is remarkable; it is copied verbatim, "Ivan Yorath buried a Saterdaye the xii day of July anno doni 1621 et anno regni regis vicessimo primo annoque aetatis circa 180. He was a Sowdiar in the fights of Boswoorthe and lived at Lantwit Major, and he lived muche by fishing."- "There is a Castelle almost stonding on an even Grounde half a mile from Laniltute by Est North Est caullid Llaniiais. It is almost al doun. It longgith now to the King. It was in hominum memoria the Male-infauntes, there communely caullid the Malifauntes. There cummith a litle Bekke within a stone Caste of the Castelle, and rennith on the West side of it. It risith by gesse halfe a mile by North West above the Castelle of Laniiays; and passing by this Castelle it goith into Colhow Water by likelihood."-Leland's Itin. vol. 4. p. 47.  Near this Village are the vestiges of a Roman Camp."

[Last Updated : 16 Jan 2005 - Gareth Hicks]