Ewenny, Glamorgan

Description
Ewenny, a parish in Glamorgan, on the river Ewenny, and on the Julian way, 2 miles SSE of Bridgend. It includes the villages of Corntown and Wallace, and part of the hamlet of Lampha, and has a post office under Bridgend; money order and telegraph office, Bridgend. Acreage, 2451; population of the civil parish, 288 ; of the ecclesiastical, 264. Part of the land is an extensive marsh, bounded by the river E wenny. A Benedictine priory, afterwards a cell to Gloucester Abbey, was founded near the edge of the marsh, in 1140, by Maurice de Londres; and given, at the dissolution, to the Carnes. The buildings and the precincts were surrounded by lofty walls and other strong defences, which were designed for protection against the military raids of the period, and which, to a considerable extent, still exist; and the chief gateway was defended by a portcullis, and is in good preservation. The church had originally the form of a Greek cross, but has lost the north transept, and also the north nave aisle; is a massive structure of Early Norman character; has a low but very massive tower, which has been restored, and contains tombs of Maurice de Londres and of members of the Carne and the Turberville families. The nave is now used as the parish church. A modem mansion, the peat of the Turbervilles, who acquired the manor by marriage with the Cames, adjoins the church and occupies the site of the ancient £ priory. A very fine Norman arch stands in the grounds. An ancient square camp is on a hill. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Llandaff; net value, £45. There are Bapti&t and Calvinistic chapels.