Llanharan - Gazetteers

Extract from A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis.

"LLAN-HARAN, a parish in the hundred of COWBRIDGE, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES 5 1/2 miles (N. by E.) from Cowbridge, containing 313 inhabitants,

This parish is situated under the southern declivity of a ridge of hills, and abounds with mineral wealth. The neighbourhood presents much pleasing scenery, and from the high grounds are obtained extensive and interesting views of the Bristol channel, and of the adjacent country, intersected by the river Ogmore.

Llanharan House, the seat of R. H. Jenkins, Esq., is a handsome mansion, pleasantly situated under the shelter of a lofty ridge of hills, with a south-eastern aspect : the grounds are richly wooded, and present an agreeable irregularity of surface, embracing also much pleasing scenery ; and the upper part of the house commands extensive and interesting prospects. Llanelay, the seat of the late Mr. Vaughan, and now the property of John Edwards Vaughan, Esq., of Rheola Cwm Neath, is also in this parish.

Several of the inhabitants are employed in the collieries, which are chiefly worked for the supply of the immediate vicinity : limestone is found in great quantities, and lead and iron ores have been discovered : on the estate of R. H. Jenkins, Esq., magnesian limestone in one place lies above the coal, which rises again beyond it to the south.

The living is a perpetual curacy, consolidated with the rectory of Llanilid, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaf. The church is dedicated to St. Julius and St. Aaron.

Mrs. Thomas, early in the last century, bequeathed £ 60 to the poor of this parish, of which only £ 15 is now available : £ 10 has been recently bequeathed by the late Mr. Gibbon, of Newton House, near Cowbridge, and £ 120 by the late Dr. Hoare, now producing £ 6 per annum, paid by R. H. Jenkins, Esq: the produce arising from these bequests is annually distributed among the poor.

At Llan-haran House is a valuable collection of Welsh manuscripts, formed by Llewelyn Sion, an eminent bard of Glamorgan, illustrative of the system of bardism, preserved in the Gorsedd Morganwg, in which he presided in 1580.

The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £ 106.7."

Llanharran - Lewis 1833 [Last Updated : 11 Oct 2002 - Gareth Hicks]