thriving and complex society. complex and thriving farmhouses, you realise that these empty hills were once home to a a to home once were hills empty these that realise you farmhouses, Rodger 1911. Rodger the little platforms that are all that’s left of peasant cottages and bigger bigger and cottages peasant of left that’s all are that platforms little the Llangynwyd by John John by Llangynwyd St Donats St from the Holy Rood of of Rood Holy the from at the hollow trails worn into the hillside on Mynydd Ty-talwrn, and and Ty-talwrn, Mynydd on hillside the into worn trails hollow the at Penmark church probably copied copied probably church resonance from all those footsteps of people travelling in hope. Looking Looking hope. in travelling people of footsteps those all from resonance Marcross tombstone in Laleston Laleston in tombstone St Athan St Old pilgrimage routes still make good walking. They have a sort of of sort a have They walking. good make still routes pilgrimage Old Llantwit Major Llantwit Illustration of a medieval medieval a of Illustration Llanmaes Abbey’s Llangewydd Grange. Llangewydd Abbey’s Monknash Llancarfan Wick marks where the line of the road was diverted to go round Margam Margam round go to diverted was road the of line the where marks St Mary Church Mary St the Ffordd y Gyfraith crosses the main road at Laleston, and one which which one and Laleston, at road main the crosses Gyfraith y Ffordd the St Nicholas St track. There is one called Croes Antoni on Ogmore Down, one where where one Down, Ogmore on Antoni Croes called one is There track. St Hilary St crosses which would have shown travellers they were on the right right the on were they travellers shown have would which crosses Colwinston Major Brides St (possible) The line of the Ffordd y Gyfraith is also marked by the bases of wayside wayside of bases the by marked also is Gyfraith y Ffordd the of line The roman road road roman CARDIFF COWBRIDGE of hollow trails, worn into the hillsides by generations of travellers. travellers. of generations by hillsides the into worn trails, hollow of You can still trace these routes on the ground. They are marked by lines lines by marked are They ground. the on routes these trace still can You Merthyr Mawr Merthyr roman road (A48) road roman offi cials took, travelling from the lowlands to the wild hill country. hill wild the to lowlands the from travelling took, cials offi Llanda y Gyfraith, the ‘Road of the Law’, because it was also the route that that route the also was it because Law’, the of ‘Road the Gyfraith, y farmland of the Vale of Glamorgan. This was the route called the Ffordd Ffordd the called route the was This Glamorgan. of Vale the of farmland BRIDGEND get to Llangynwyd. One route came from the south, from the rich rich the from south, the from came route One Llangynwyd. to get Laleston We can still trace many of the routes pilgrims would have taken to to taken have would pilgrims routes the of many trace still can We Place of worship of Place miracles. People went there on pilgrimage; the poets wrote in its praise. its in wrote poets the pilgrimage; on there went People miracles. Llangewydd (The Green Way) Green (The Las Heol the Crucifi xion that was so vivid it was believed to be able to perform perform to able be to believed was it vivid so was that xion Crucifi the (The Soldiers’ Way) Soldiers’ (The Milwyr y Heol famous as the shrine of the Holy Rood of Llangynwyd, a carving of of carving a Llangynwyd, of Rood Holy the of shrine the as famous L Thomas, the ‘Maid of Cefn Ydfa’, but in the Middle Ages it was was it Ages Middle the in but Ydfa’, Cefn of ‘Maid the Thomas, (The Way of the Law) the of Way (The Gyfraith y Ffordd is famous as the burial place of Ann Ann of place burial the as famous is Key LANGYNWYD Cardiff. Cardiff. the National Museum of Wales in in Wales of Museum National the based on the fragments. the on based at Cae’r Heneglwys now kept in in kept now Heneglwys Cae’r at Llangynwyd Computerised reconstruction reconstruction Computerised Fragments of ‘Celtic’ cross found found cross ‘Celtic’ of Fragments were found near here. near found were crosses, fragments of which which of fragments crosses, Museum of Wales in Cardiff. Cardiff. in Wales of Museum ‘Celtic’ the see can you church cross now kept in the National National the in kept now cross the of front In Heneglwys. Fragment of the smaller ‘Celtic’ ‘Celtic’ smaller the of Fragment Cae’r at church The The Ffordd y Gyfraith crosses the main Bridgend road at How To Get There 881799, at the east end of Laleston village. In medieval times there was a wayside cross, or pilgrims’ marker Medieval pilgrims wore stout boots or sandals, cloaks and broad-brimmed hats. Like them, you will need boots and Laleston standing here. You can still see the socketed base of this almost buried in the roadside verge. waterproof clothing. You will fi nd plenty of refreshments in Laleston but you should carry some water. The route is about 10 km (6 miles) with a possible Left: Sunken base extension of 3 km (2 miles) and takes about 4 hours, Stones stone of pilgrims although you should allow time to explore the historical marker at Laleston. sites along the way and have coff ee, lunch or tea in Right: Pilgrim marker post, Laleston. Grosmont, near You can also cut the walk short at Laleston. If you take Trail Monmouth similar the longer route to Candleston you can walk back along to the marker post the coast path to Merthyr Mawr or continue on the Coast at Laleston. Path towards Porthcawl. From Laleston you can also take the longer Llangynwyd Trail which continues along the route medieval pilgrims would have taken up to the hills. Llangynwyd A4063 Llangeinor Blackmill J38 A4093 M4 Lalestonlocation Stones map Trailshowing how to get to there from Brynmenyn further afi eld Tondu Bryncethin A48 Aberkenfig Kenfig Hill Cefn Cribwr M4 Pyle J36 Pen-y-fai Laleston Stones Trail J37 South A48 Laleston A473 Cornelly Bridgend A473 A48 A4106 A48 Porthcawl Merthyr Mawr Ogmore by Sea St Brides Major Acknowledgements Illustrations: Chris Jones Jenkins FSA Historical Research and Advisor: Madeleine Gray PhD, FRHistS, FSA Graphic Design: Jonathan Hurley Laleston Community Council To Llangynwyd At the top right corner of the The Grange Farm that replaced the field, go over a stile by a gate settlement at Caer Heneglwys. and walk along the hedge to your 8 left. A double stile takes you out Llangewydd to the Bridgend bypass road. Turn right and walk along the pavement for a few 7 metres. Cross the road (carefully! — this is a fast and busy road) 9 and go through the Cae’r Heneglwys waymarked gate. 6 Walk diagonally to the Llangewydd Road right across the next Our route starts at Ogmore Castle. This is now 1. two fields. Go through a romantic ruin but it was built by the lords of Rogers Lane the gate at the top right Ogmore as a military stronghold to defend the corner, turn left and walk frontier against the wild Welsh over the river. You up a long narrow field can still see the massively fortified twelfth-century between hedges, through the tower, the gatehouse and the footings for the gate at the far right corner and Ffordd y Gyfraith drawbridge, and the thirteenth-century hall. up to the main road. Cross the river by the stepping-stones and follow the Cardiff. There are some more plain standing stones in the hedge You are now in Laleston Coast Path over a footbridge to Merthyr Mawr. 4. to the left of the field. The two stones in the middle of the village. There is a shop where BRIDGEND field were probably the gateposts of the churchyard. In the 2. Merthyr Mawr takes its name from the Public Footpath you can buy snacks, several twelfth century, Llangewydd was given to the Cistercian monks Welsh saint Myfor — the name means ‘Myfor’s pubs where you can get LALESTON 5 A473 of Margam. They wanted to farm the land themselves so they burial place’. The village is worth exploring. It refreshments, and some St Davids Ch. 4 got rid of the village and its church, and built a grange farm to the has picturesque thatched cottages and larger lovely old houses. farmhouses. The delicate Victorian church with its A473 north-west. The church has some wedding-cake spire is always open during daylight 5. On the roadside at the corner of Cae’r Hen Eglwys is the base of a quaint wall memorials. hours. It replaced a bigger medieval building - you waymarking cross. These were put up in the Middle Ages to show pilgrims Between the choir stalls is can still see the and travellers that they were on the right road. a medieval tombstone with A48 KEY foundations in the three crosses. This could show Ffordd y Gyfraith Turn left on a slightly wider country road then keep straight on to the churchyard, and Alternative Route the design of the Holy Rood old village pound. the remains of the of Llangynwyd, with Christ This is where stray animals would have been held for collection. churchyard cross. 7. crucified between two thieves. It gives you an idea of how busy these roads once were.