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Evidence
has been found of domestic seaside settlement at Llantwit Major,
dating as far back as the Neolithic period. For 350 years, the
area was ruled by the Romans, Roman villas have been found,
with bathrooms
and the mosaic pavements dating from the mid 2nd
century. However, Llantwit came to the prominence after the Romans
had left, with the foundation of a monastery by St Illtud in
the late 5th century. This rapidly became as a seat of
learning as much as religion, attracting students from all
over the world, and was reputed to have had seven halls, 400
houses and 2000 pupils.
It
attracted royalty as well as St David himself, and is named
as a royal burial place. It was also a busy mission centre
for founding new churches, yet nothing solid remains to
show where the monastery was sited or what it looked
like.
The Church Halls and
individual cells were probably made of timber, and this
would account for the lack of remains. Traditionally, the
site of the monastery is supposed to be just north of the
present church of St Illtud, and maybe the ancient
foundations still lie buried beneath later houses.
Nothingcan now be seen of the monastery apart from a small
collection of 9th century in St illtud's church.
St Illtud's
church is a mixture of different periods of building strung
out, in line, one behind the other. The Western (or
old) church was the original parish church built on
pre-Norman foundations. A tall, slim tower
was built onto the eastern end in the 13th century and was followed
by a new Eastern (or monastic) church and chancel at
the far western end of the original building. The
now ruined Lady chapel (or Galilee), was added later.
There are traces of a number of medieval wall paintaings,
and in the Western Church, a remarkable collection of carved
Celtic crosses and carved memorial stones, bear moving
testimony to the renown of this hallowed centre of Welsh
Christianity.
Llantwit
has grown considerably in recent years, but the winding narrow
and high-walled streets of the town centre still
preserve its ancient
character. The town also retains a number of fine old buildings,
including a 15th century town hall, a medieval gatehouse
and a circular
dovecote near the church, and some 16th century inns and
houses. A mile to the south, near Colhugh Beach, there are ditches
and earthworks belonging to an early Iron Age fort.
St Donat's
Castle, a couple of miles to the west of Llantwit, is
a 13th century fortress which has been lived in since
the time it was built.
To
meet the needs of its inhabitants, the castle has
continually undergone alteration and extension, most
notably in the early part of this century when it was
bought by Randolph Hearst, an American newspaper
magnate, and completely modernized. The castle is now
the home of
Atlantic College, an international sixth form school.
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