The Ancient History Of Barry, South Wales: Part Two

Barry Castle belonged to William de Barri in the 12th. Century, but was destroyed by Llewellyn Bren in 1316. Some say it was later rebuilt and used by the Cavaliers only to be destroyed again by the Roundheads, never to be reconstructed.

The Norman interlopers were thoroughly hated by the local people and they had to build large mansions to defend themselves from the not infrequent raids on them by the people of the valleys and the mountains. During the time of the reign of Henry III, there were 12 castles within six miles of Barry; in Glamorgan, there were 30 castles and in South Wales as a whole there were 150 of those symbols of oppression.

Porthkerry and its church which lies on the wooded hill to the west of it are said to have taken their name from Ceri, who, in turn, is said to have founded a port there, ie ‘Port Ceri’. People say that Ceri ap Caid, the King of Essyllwg, lived in Porthkerry before the Christian era and that his bard, Corvinor, was the first to build a ship with sails and a rudder for the ‘race of Cymru’. Some believe that Ceri was a nephew or grandson of Caractacus (Caradog) and that he took over the leadership of the government in South Wales when Caractacus had to journey to Rome.

John Wesley later preached from the Porthkerry Church pulpit, and sometimes outside, in 1741, 1742 and 1743. There are two very old churches still in use today St. Cadocs Church in Cadoxton and Merthyr Dyfan Church in Merthyr Dyfan. 150 years ago, Cadoxton was the largest village in the area: eg in 1844 the Parliamentary register contained 25 names: 20 from Cadoxton and five from Barry. The church was dedicated to St. Cadoc, who used to spend Lent on Flat Holm and Barry Island. The village took its name from the church, which was founded in 800 AD.

Merthyr Dyfan Church, which is situated in the north of Barry, was founded in 600 AD and the name means Dyfan The Martyr. There were two saints of this name. The one travelled to Barry to convert the local people to Christianity and the other lived in the sixth century. He was the son of a Welsh chieftain. His sister was also martyred and the town of Merthyr Tydfil is named in her memory.

The Christian faith grew exponentially in the Vale of Glamorgan and in the middle of the 2nd. Century, Llewrwg, Prince of Siluria, became the first king, anywhere in the world of all time, to be baptized into the Christian faith. He sent to Rome for more Chritian teachers and was sent Dyfan and Fagan. The former was martyred near the site of the church and the latter was canonized. St. Fagan’s just outside Cardiff was named after him.

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The Traditional Use Of Dairy Produce: Part 4 - Eggs (cont.).

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