Llantwit Major (Llantwit Major)
Llantwit Major (Llanilltud Fawr) is a town and community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry and Penarth, and ahead of Cowbridge. It is 4+1/2 mi from Cowbridge, 9 mi from Bridgend, 10 mi from Barry, and 15 mi from Cardiff. It had a population of 9,486 in 2011.
Llanilltud Fawr, named for the Llan of Saint Illtud, was home to the Monastery of Illtud and the college known as Bangor Illtyd. It became one of the most esteemed centres of Christian culture in the Celtic world. At its peak it had over 2000 students, including princes, eminent clergymen, and revered saints. The institutions were destroyed by the raiding Vikings in 987, but Normans rebuilt the monastery in 1111 and it continued to be a centre of learning until it was disbanded in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The 13th-century St Illtyd's Church, near the ancient monastery, is a Grade I listed building and one of Wales' oldest parish churches.
In the 20th century, the modern town developed rapidly to accommodate Royal Air Force personnel from the St Athan base. The medieval cobbled streets and buildings of the 15th and 16th centuries remain.
Colhugh Beach is a popular surfing venue and has the remnants of an Iron Age fort and some of Wales' finest examples of Jurassic Period fossils. The pebble beach and its clifftops are protected by the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, which stretches for 14 mi from Gileston to the east to Southerndown and Newton Point to the west.
The parish church accurately glosses the Welsh name of the town rather literally as "Illtud's Great Church". However, the name used in English means "Greater". The epithet fawr distinguishes this Llantwit from Llantwit Fardre (Llanilltud Faerdref) near Pontypridd and Llantwit Minor (Llanilltud Fach; also known as Llantwit-juxta-Neath and Lower Llantwit) near Neath. The Welsh place-name element llan referred to the sanctified community around early Christian settlements in Wales and its parish rather than merely the church itself (eglwys).
Llanilltud Fawr, named for the Llan of Saint Illtud, was home to the Monastery of Illtud and the college known as Bangor Illtyd. It became one of the most esteemed centres of Christian culture in the Celtic world. At its peak it had over 2000 students, including princes, eminent clergymen, and revered saints. The institutions were destroyed by the raiding Vikings in 987, but Normans rebuilt the monastery in 1111 and it continued to be a centre of learning until it was disbanded in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The 13th-century St Illtyd's Church, near the ancient monastery, is a Grade I listed building and one of Wales' oldest parish churches.
In the 20th century, the modern town developed rapidly to accommodate Royal Air Force personnel from the St Athan base. The medieval cobbled streets and buildings of the 15th and 16th centuries remain.
Colhugh Beach is a popular surfing venue and has the remnants of an Iron Age fort and some of Wales' finest examples of Jurassic Period fossils. The pebble beach and its clifftops are protected by the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, which stretches for 14 mi from Gileston to the east to Southerndown and Newton Point to the west.
The parish church accurately glosses the Welsh name of the town rather literally as "Illtud's Great Church". However, the name used in English means "Greater". The epithet fawr distinguishes this Llantwit from Llantwit Fardre (Llanilltud Faerdref) near Pontypridd and Llantwit Minor (Llanilltud Fach; also known as Llantwit-juxta-Neath and Lower Llantwit) near Neath. The Welsh place-name element llan referred to the sanctified community around early Christian settlements in Wales and its parish rather than merely the church itself (eglwys).
Map - Llantwit Major (Llantwit Major)
Map
Country - United_Kingdom
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| Flag of the United Kingdom | |
The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927. The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP | Pound sterling | £ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| EN | English language |
| GD | Gaelic language |
| CY | Welsh language |