COWBRIDGE

"COWBRIDGE, a parish, sessions and market town in the hundred of Cowbridge, in the county of Glamorgan, 12½ miles W. of Cardiff. It is situated near the South Wales railway, from which a junction line is no win course of formation. The river Ddaw passes at a short distance, falling into the sea at Aberthaw. It is a contributory borough to Cardiff, and is governed under a charter of Charles II. by a mayor, who holds the office as constable of St. Quintin's Castle, 2 bailiffs, 12 aldermen, and 12 burgesses. The town is neatly built, with broad paved streets, and possesses a townhall, bank, and a stone bridge. The figures of a cow and a bridge are the town arms. In the year 1091, the town was encompassed with a atone wall by Robert St. Quintin, who afterwards erected the castle of Llanbleddian. One of the gates remaining, in good condition, is a Gothic structure. Near the church is a large tumulus, and the remains of a druidical temple. It is the seat of a Poor-law Union, and gives name to a deanery. The living is a curacy annexed to the vicarage of Llanbleddian, in the diocese of Llandaff, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester. The church is an ancient structure, and contains several handsome monuments. The charities amount to £60 per annum, exclusive of pensioners in the grammar school, which would make them £50 more. The Baptists, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists have each a chapel. There is a grammar school for mathematics and classics, which was founded and endowed by Sir Leoline Jenkins in 1685. It has a revenue from endowment of £20, with two fellowships, two scholarships, and one exhibition at Jesus College, Oxford. The Llanharran hounds and Cowbridge harriers hunt here. Tuesday and Saturday are market days, and fairs are held the first Tuesday in February, the Tuesday before the 25th March, 4th May, 24th June, and 29th September."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018