Editing Colwinston (section)

===Archaeological and early historical evidence===
[[Bronze Age]] axe heads discovered on land at Highfield Farm<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-22397280|title=Bronze age axes from the Vale of Glamorgan declared treasure|date=3 May 2013|website=BBC News Wales|access-date=15 February 2018}}</ref> and Iron Age kilns suggest that the area was settled during prehistoric times. The impetus for the development of an agrarian village may have been the local geography: a gentle valley going east to west towards the village, providing a water supply and creating a natural bowl, with a present-day exit leading down Church Lane.

Steep slopes in the central part of the village make it unlike other Vale of Glamorgan villages in its topography.  The watercourse is now underground but rises to the surface in prolonged wet weather. The older village houses are situated on the higher ground overlooking meadows, possibly built on the sites of older simple dwellings. It is thought the area between Garden and Penlan Cottages and Church Cottage provided protection and water for livestock. Title Deeds and old census records call this area "The Square".<ref name="hawkerp7">{{cite book|author=Chris Hawker|title=Colwinston: a historical journey|publisher=Cowbridge History Society|year=2018|isbn=9781999687403}} p. 7</ref> A village well is present near Ty Draw Farm, and it is likely that watercress was harvested from the open water course there.<ref name="hawkerp7"/>

There is evidence of Roman activity in the Vale of Glamorgan, and their link to [[West Wales]] was along what would become the route of the A48. [[Llantwit Major Roman Villa]], for example, is thought to have been built on a site occupied since the [[British Iron Age]].<ref name="coflein">{{Coflein|num=301356 |desc=Caermead Roman Villa ;llantwit Major Roman Villa |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref> (There was another excavation in 1971.<ref name="coflein"/><ref name="rb">[http://www.roman-britain.org/places/llantwit.htm Llantwit Major Roman villa on Roman Britain] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010135735/http://www.roman-britain.org/places/llantwit.htm |date=2008-10-10 }}</ref>) Following the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]], the area was ruled by the medieval "princes" of [[Glywysing#Morgannwg|Morgannwg]]; their kingdom included the area later known as Glamorgan. During this period the settlement came to be called "Colwinstūn", possibly from an old English name "Colwine" linked with "tūn", meaning farm or settlement.
<ref>Morgan, R. Place-Names of Glamorgan. Welsh Academic Press, Cardiff 2018 p. 48.</ref>