Abandoned Town of Kenfig - Cornelly, Bridgend, Wales.
N 51° 30.953 W 003° 43.738
30U E 449418 N 5707447
The Abandoned Village of Kenfig - Lies beneath the sand dunes. Now known as Kenfig Pool National Nature Reserve, the area designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Located near Bridgend, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMTFNV
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/17/2016
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"For two hundred years between the middle of the twelfth century and the middle of the fourteenth century the town of Kenfig was a thriving community. Then the sand started to arrive. By the time another hundred years had passed nearly everyone living in Kenfig had moved out. When John Leland, sometimes described as the first English antiquary, travelled through South Wales in 1539 he saw a village on the east side of the River Kenfig and a castle, both in ruins and almost choked and devoured with the sands that the Severn Sea casteth up.
I will talk later about the fate inflicted on Kenfig by the Severn Sea. First I want to give you an impression of what sort of place it was and the way of life of the people living there.
We cannot be certain how Kenfig was created, but it appears to have been founded around 1140 by Robert, Earl of Gloucester. At that time the Norman conquest of England was more or less complete, but the Normans were meeting much stiffer resistance in Wales. Robert, Earl of Gloucester was a son, albeit illegitimate, of King Henry I. Among his possessions he held the Lordship of Glamorgan. While Glamorgan had been largely subdued its western end was far from peaceful. The castle and town of Kenfig were therefore founded in order to establish greater control over the local people and in particular to secure the crossing of the River Kenfig. The town began as a small community within the outer defences of the castle, but soon developed outside the castle towards the south west, the direction of the sea.: Text source: (
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Background:
"The Welsh lord Iestyn ap Gwrgant had been the owner of this land but was defeated by the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan, Robert Fitzhamon who built a motte and bailey castle here to defend the area. The town of Kenfig was then developed by the Normans with the deliberate intention of making it a trading centre of Mid Glamorgan - 'A towne for merchandize upon the sea bankes of Kynfege'. Kenfig had an outlet to the sea most probably via the Kenfig River.
The Town:
Kenfig suffered badly from the raids of the disinherited Welsh Lords of Afon especially Morgan Gam. It was burned down so often that the inhabitants built a stockade around the perimeter of the town only to have it struck by lightening and burnt down again.
Even the great Llewelyn had a go at it leaving the place in ruins and later Ownain Glyndwr destroyed it. Each time the town was rebuilt but as time went by the enemy became not the Welsh but sand. A series of great storms beginning about the year 1300 followed by long periods of drifting sand slowly made life impossible for the inhabitants and by the end of the 15th century it was a ghost town. In the 16th century it was nothing more than 'a little village on the east side of Kenfik and a castel booth in ruine and almost shokid and devourid with the sandes that the Severn Se there castith up'." Text Source: (
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