Llanharry is an ever-expanding village in the northern
part of the Border Vale of Glamorgan four miles north of
Cowbridge. For much of its history the village has been
inextricably linked with iron mining in the Roman and Elizabethan
times and for a time in the 20th century, it boasted the
only iron mine in Wales.
However, a small plaque attached to a wall just below The Fox and Hounds public
house reminds us that the earliest known visitors were not miners, but a much
earlier semi-nomadic tribe of Bronze Age people known as Beaker Folk. The plaque
was erected in the 1960's by the Parish Council as a result of pupil pressure
from The Primary School and commemorates a chance find in 1929 of the skeleton
of a man, aged about 35 years, 5ft. 9ins. in height together with the customary
beaker pot that is 8 ins tall. Boldly designed and delicately made the urn is
often used today as an illustration in important books written about the period.
The Beaker Man himself was found lying on his right side, with his head facing
north and his knees up to his chin. The skeleton was scrubbed and cleaned by
the late Mrs. Eliza Johns on a table at her nearby cottage before being preserved
with the pot at The National Museum of Wales.
Above: Excavation of Beaker Burial site at Naboth's Vineyard,
1929. Site discovered during construction of road between
Llanharan and Llanharry
To the north of the village near the Trecastle Estate
there has been evidence of Roman or Romano-British exploitation
of iron ore. The rich deposits near the surface exposed in
rich red tints brought incomers from the Vale villas and
the Romanised settlement of Cowbridge. It seems that there
was mining of iron in shallow shafts over a wide area towards
Miskin and Mwyndy, but the best evidence at Llanharry came
to light in 1967 when a shard from the rim of a Roman cooking
pot of the late 3rd. century was found at "Redlands House".
A few years ago some Roman coins were also found nearby.
Left: Llanharry mine pictured here in the 1960's prior to its demise in 1975
Picture by kind permission of Paul Thomas
St. Illtud's Church
Saint Illtud's Church
Llanharry (The author of this web page David J Francis
is pictured RH foreground)
At the centre of the
village stands St. Illtud's Church. It was rebuilt in 1867-8,
but it is possible that the first Christian settlement
grew up around a wooden church in the Age of Saints. Whether
Saint Illtud, who lived in the second half of the 5th.
Century, or one of his followers founded the church or
whether it is of 12th. Century origin is uncertain. What
we do know is that the name of the church and the puzzling
names 'Llanhari' and 'Llanharry" began to appear in documents
after this latter date and right through The Middle Ages.
No one knows what Llanharry means, (there was no St. Harry,)
but 'Llanhari' may indeed by the correct Welsh form and
this version appears in the works of the Welsh bards of
the 16th.century. Both the Reformation and the Civil War
affected the church itself. During the reign of Edward
VI church goods were confiscated by the extreme Protestants,
whilst in the time of Oliver Cromwell Rector Edmond Gamage
was ejected forcibly from his living in 1649 and suffered
much financial hardship until the Restoration in 1660.
More information about the old church and the Victorian
building that replaced it can be obtained by accessing
the church web sitethat features architectural and historical
material.
Llanharry - old public houses
Like many old villages Llanharry has a public house adjacent
to the church. The Bear Inn has a lot of interesting history.
It was a school in the 19th. Century, when an 80-year-old
pedagogue taught his pupils with iron discipline. It also
boasted a Friendly Society dating from The Napoleonic Wars
and for a while a Victorian Night School for coal and ironworkers
flourished there.
Right: The Bear Inn, Llanharry 2004 and
(below) - the old part of the Bear that was once used as
a school
A couple of hundred yards down the
road towards Llanharan stands "The Fox and Hounds", a building said to be of Tudor
Age that has been much enlarged in recent times. The 19th
century saw three other public houses in the parish. They
were "The Colliers Arms", "The Gronow" and "The Boars Head" in
Tylagarw, the latter two deriving their names from the lords
of the manors of Llanharry and Trecastle. Since 1959 a Workingmen's
Club, situated in the middle of the large housing estate,
has also become a thriving social and recreational centre
for the growing village. As for the Victorian pubs, "The
Colliers Arms" and "The Gronow" sadly closed in the 1920's.
Left: The Fox and Hounds, Llanharry 2004
There have been various
venues for the schools of the village. The famous Griffith
Jones Circulating Schools of the 18th century were held
in the church and the old rectory. Not far along the road
to Cowbridge the first Sunday School and an important Non-conformist
Chapel were established in the 1820's partly as a result
of a group of lads playing football on the Sabbath. An
enterprising Minister, the Rev. Shadrach Davies of Maendy
not only persuaded the boys to give up their "ungodly" games
and attend the Sunday School, but apparently built the
Peniel Chapel with his own hands. After the Bear Inn School
closed in 1870 Llanharry children walked in all winds and
weather to Llansannor, where a National School was built.
It is still as popular as ever. By 1913 Llanharry obtained
a Council School that was built near the Peniel Chapel.
This shanty-type building, where the ink froze in winter,
survived until 1935 when a modern Primary School was built
on the same site. Finally, in 1959, Llanharry Secondary
Modern School was opened directly opposite the Primary
School and this later became Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari.
Llanharry underwent a mini industrial revolution in the
mid Victorian Age with coal mining and a Distillery on Llanharry
Meadow and iron mining where the Patch Housing site is today.
But it was after the Llanharry Haematite Iron Ore Mine opened
in the early 20th century near Llechau Farm that there was
an explosion of population, employment and housing. Council
Housing began at Addison and Tylacoch in the 1920's and,
after a break for the War, continued at Aelfryn, Gelli and
early in the 1950's on a large estate at Pantgwyn. Throughout
this period the Iron Mine had been the chief source of labour
and it was a serious setback when it closed in 1975.
Despite numerous public amenities such as new shops, surgeries, a community
centre, parks and play areas being provided before the mine closure, the 1980's
and 1990's brought some economic hardships. However, it cannot be denied that
the arrival of the M4, the growth of private housing development, the proximity
of the village to one of Wales' most prosperous regions centred at Cardiff and
the Vale and the likelihood of a prestigious Film Studio at Llanilid augurs
well for a village that no longer has iron in its soul.
