St Athan

Coordinates: 51°24′07″N 3°24′58″W / 51.402°N 3.416°W / 51.402; -3.416

St Athan (Welsh: Sain Tathan) is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated to the Norman period. The village and the adjacent dormitory village of Eglwys Brewis are known primarily for the MOD St Athan RAF base. There are three pubs in the village, as well as a football team and the RAF St Athan Golf Club.

Geography

Located in the Vale of Glamorgan, St Athan lies off the B4265 road, roughly 8 miles (13 km) by road northwest of downtown Barry. A 1632 survey defined the boundaries of the manor of St Athan by Eglwys Brewis and Castleton to the north; South Orchard, West Orchard and Llantwit Major to the west, Gileston and the Bristol Channel to the south; and East Orchard and the River Thaw to the east.

History

Origins

Legend holds that Tathan was an Irish monk who was in a boat which ran aground at Portskewett, after being blown across the Bristol Channel, around 540 AD. He founded a monastery and school and is said to have been buried in the orchard of the vicarage at Caerwent. However, somewhat confusingly, a Tathan the Younger is said to be buried at St Athan Parish Church, although the exact location of the grave is unknown. Others say the village obtained its name from Tathana, granddaughter of Meuric ap Tewdric of Trebeferad (Boverton), who lived a humble life as a nun in a mud hut on the River Thaw, near the Old Mill; she was associated with the monastic school of nearby Llantwit Major, and was buried at the church.Iolo Morgannwg claimed that the name of the village was a corruption of the Welsh female Saint Tathan, who he said was the daughter of the King of Gwent.