Bonvilston

History

It is named after Simon de Bonville, a Norman nobleman; hence the name of the village, though different in English and Welsh, translates as "Simon's town" or "Bonville's town" and refers to the same person. Simon de Bonville lived here in the 12th century. In 1291, "Margam conveyed to Thomas le Spudur of Bonvilston an acre of arable land with a house and curtilage in the vill of 'Tudekistowe', which Thomas, son of Robert had previously leased from the abbey; in exchange, Thomas gave the abbey two acres of land in Bonvilston." The manor subsequently became increasingly under the power of Margam Abbey.

In the 19th century, Richard Bassett, a prominent figure in Glamorgan resided at Bonvilston House and owned the manor. The 1811 A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales by Nicholas Carlisle said of the village:

Notable landmarks

The village has two pubs, The Red Lion, and The Aubrey Arms. A Third pub, The Old Post, closed in 2019 and in 2021, permission was granted to convert this into a hotel. There is a corner shop called the old village shop. St Mary's parish church, rebuilt in 1860 in the Victorian era style retains a late mediaeval Sanctus bell.

References

References

1. "Custom report - Nomis - Official Labour Market Statistics".
2. Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales. (May 1991). "An inventory of the ancient monuments in Glamorgan: Medieval secular monuments. The early castles, from the Norman Conquest to 1217". H.M.S.O..
3. Mills, Anthony David. (6 November 2003). "A Dictionary of British Place-Names". Oxford University Press.
4. (July 1975). "South Glamorgan, a county history". Stewart Williams, Publishers.
5. Spurgeon, Clifford. (April 2000). "An inventory of the ancient monuments in Glamorgan". Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales, H.M.S.O..
6. Glamorgan History Society. (1 January 2001). "Morgannwg: transactions of the Glamorgan History Society".
7. Nicholas, Thomas. (1991). "Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales". Genealogical Publishing Com.
8. Carlisle, Nicholas. (1811). "A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales". accessed via Genuki.org.