Editing Llantwit Major (section)

==History==
===Prehistory===
Llantwit Major has been inhabited for over 3,000 years: archaeological evidence has shown that it was occupied in [[Neolithic]] times. The remains of an [[Iron Age]] fort are in its beach area.

===Roman villa===
{{Main|Llantwit Major Roman Villa}}
The [[Llantwit Major Roman Villa|Roman villa]] at Caermead ({{Coord|51.4192|-3.4989|type:landmark}}) remains as faint earthworks in a field, near the 13th-century [[parish church]] of St Illtud. The L-shaped [[courtyard]] villa was discovered in 1888. Records from 1893 suggest that one room was used as a [[praetorium]], another as a workshop; and there was a 5th-century adjoining [[sacristy]], simple in style, which featured a chancel, nave, and stone altar. Found remains included [[Brachycephaly|brachycephalic]] and [[Cephalic index|dolichocephalic]] skulls, as well as horse bones.<ref name="Fryer1893">{{cite book|last=Fryer|first=Alfred Cooper|title=Llantwit Major: a fifth century university|url=https://archive.org/details/llantwitmajoraf00fryegoog|access-date=25 January 2012|edition=Public domain|year=1893|publisher=E. Stock|pages=[https://archive.org/details/llantwitmajoraf00fryegoog/page/n113 87]–}}</ref> Fine [[mosaic]] floors are a notable feature of the villa. The [[tessera]]e included blue and crystalline limestone, green volcanic stones, brown sandstone, and red-brick cuttings, encircled with a red, white, blue and brown border. A record from 1907 described the relics as [[Samian ware]] pieces; bronze coins of [[Maximinus Thrax]], [[Victorinus]], and [[Constantius Chlorus]]; as well as roofing materials.<ref name="Morris1907">{{cite book|last=Morris|first=A.|title=Glamorgan: being an outline of its geography, history, and antiquities with maps and illustrations|url=https://archive.org/details/glamorgan00unkngoog|access-date=25 January 2012|edition=Public domain|year=1907|publisher=J.E. Southall|pages=[https://archive.org/details/glamorgan00unkngoog/page/n178 157]–}}</ref>

The site was again excavated between 1938 and 1948. It may have been first settled in the 1st century, but the first stone structure was not erected until a hundred years later. The site developed slowly and, it has been suggested, was even abandoned for a while during the 3rd century. By the 4th century, there was an L-shaped villa with a large, aisled building possibly for farm workers, and a number of smaller agricultural structures almost enclosing a central courtyard. The [[Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales]] has associated collection records of the site, including drawings of other remains such as statues and a tessellated pavement, as well as documentation of a 1971 excavation. An early-medieval-period cemetery is in evidence,<ref name="peoplescollection.org.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.peoplescollection.org.uk/Item/30337|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121225003925/http://www.peoplescollection.org.uk/Item/30337|url-status=usurped|archive-date=25 December 2012|title=Drawing of a mosaic at Caermead Roman Villa |year=2011|publisher=Casgliad y Werin Cymru, The People's Collection Wales |access-date=25 January 2012}}</ref> as are earthworks, traces of walling, a bank and a ditch. Pieces of pottery have been found.<ref name="coflein.gov.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301356/collection/CAERMEAD+ROMAN+SITE%3BLLANTWIT+MAJOR+ROMAN+VILLA/?show=all|title=CAERMEAD ROMAN SITE;LLANTWIT MAJOR ROMAN Villa|publisher=RCAHMW|access-date=25 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222105653/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301356/collection/CAERMEAD+ROMAN+SITE%3BLLANTWIT+MAJOR+ROMAN+VILLA/?show=all|archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref>

===Côr Tewdws===
{{Main|Côr Tewdws}}

According to the 18th-century historian of ill-repute, [[Iolo Morganwg]], the Côr Tewdws or 'College of Theodosius' was established in the late 4th century at a place at or near Llantwit Major called Caer Worgorn by co-founders Emperor Theodosius and [[Constantine III (Western Roman emperor)|Custennin Fendigaid]], but was later burnt to the ground by Irish pirates and abandoned.<ref name=Iolo>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Taliesin |date=1888 |title=Iolo Manuscripts |url=https://archive.org/details/iolomanuscriptss00willuoft |location=Liverpool |publisher=I Foulkes |page=}}</ref> Morganwg's works have since been discredited.<ref name=DWB>{{Cite web |url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-WILL-JOH-1892 |title=WILLIAMS, GRIFFITH JOHN (1892–1963), University professor and Welsh scholar |first=Aneirin |last=Lewis |website=Dictionary of Welsh Biography |access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref>

===Saint Illtud's College===
{{Main|Illtud}}
[[File:St Illtyd in Holy Trinity Church, Abergavenny.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Saint Illtud]], who gives his name to the town]]
[[Germanus of Auxerre]] and [[Lupus of Troyes]] made at least one visit to Britain in AD 429 and founded or refounded a number of ecclesiastic establishments across South Wales. It was at this time that [[Saint Illtud]] came to the Hodnant valley. Although he is said to have been born in [[Brittany]], Illtud had fought as a soldier in Wales before renouncing his former life at the behest of [[Saint Cadoc]]. What is certain is that Illtud oversaw the growth of a pioneering monastery and associated college called Bangor Illtyd, on the Ogney Brook, close to the current [[St Illtyd's Church, Llantwit Major|St Illtyd's Church]]. Together these institutions became the first great hub of [[Celtic Christianity]] and teaching.<ref name="St. Illtud">{{cite web|title=St. Illtud|url=http://www.illtudsgalileechapel.org.uk/britains-earliest-centre-of-learning/saint-illtud/|work=Lent with the Celtic Saints|access-date=19 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924033649/http://www.illtudsgalileechapel.org.uk/britains-earliest-centre-of-learning/saint-illtud/|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="LMH">{{cite web|url=http://www.llantwitmajorhistory.org.uk/townhistory.html |title=Town history |publisher=Llantwit Major History.org.uk |access-date=22 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222222150/http://www.llantwitmajorhistory.org.uk/townhistory.html |archive-date=22 February 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Jones2002">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Andrew|title=Every pilgrim's guide to Celtic Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkdgnMv3D2QC&pg=PA70|year=2002|publisher=Canterbury|isbn=978-1-85311-453-3|page=70}}</ref><ref name="PalmerPalmer2000"/>

Under Illtud and his successors, Bangor Illtyd and the monastery grew in reputation both as the origin of many prominent Celtic evangelists and as a major centre of scholarly education. As such, it began to attract scholars from across the Celtic and wider world.<ref name="BarberPykitt1997">{{cite book|last1=Barber|first1=Chris|last2=Pykitt|first2=David|title=Journey to Avalon: The Final Discovery of King Arthur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkcY3BalVb4C&pg=PA114|year=1997|publisher=Weiser Books|isbn=978-1-57863-024-0|page=114}}</ref> The college itself was said to be the oldest in the world, consisting of seven halls, 400 houses and more than 2,000 students at its peak,<ref name="Society1908">{{cite book|author=Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society|title=Transactions – Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_aYKAQAAIAAJ|year=1908|publisher=The Society.|page=33}}</ref> including seven sons of British princes, and scholars such as [[St. Patrick]], [[St. Paul Aurelian]], the bard [[Taliesin]], [[Gildas]] the historian, [[Samson of Dol]], and [[St. David]] are believed to have spent some time there.<ref name="Hall1861">{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Mrs. Samuel Carter|title=The book of south Wales, the Wye, and the coast|publisher=Virtue & Company|url=https://archive.org/details/booksouthwalesw00hallgoog|access-date=22 January 2012|year=1861|pages=[https://archive.org/details/booksouthwalesw00hallgoog/page/n269 252]–}}</ref><ref name="Williams2001"/> Samson was known to have been summoned by [[Dyfrig]] to join the monastery in 521 and he was briefly elected abbot before leaving for Cornwall.<ref name="(Brother.)2003">{{cite book|author=Tristam (Brother.)|title=Exciting holiness: collects and readings for the festivals and lesser festivals of the calendars of the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1svVTs6uEsC&pg=PA305|date=July 2003|publisher=Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd|isbn=978-1-85311-479-3|page=305}}</ref> King [[Hywel ap Rhys (Glywysing)|Hywel ap Rhys]] (d. 886) was buried at the monastery.

===Norman and early modern eras===
The college suffered during the invasions of the [[Saxons]] and the [[Danes]], and was destroyed by the [[Vikings]] in 987 and again by the [[Normans]] in the late 11th century.<ref name="Jones2002"/><ref name="PalmerPalmer2000">{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Martin|last2=Palmer|first2=Nigel|title=The spiritual traveler: England, Scotland, Wales : the guide to sacred sites and pilgrim routes in Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ApJdpga6_LsC&pg=PA232|year=2000|publisher=Hidden Spring|isbn=978-1-58768-002-1|page=232}}</ref> In 1111 it is documented as being restored, but likely in a lesser state than the original. It is known to have continued to function as a monastic school until the 16th-century [[Reformation]]. The ruins of the original school house are located in a garden on the northern end of the churchyard and the monastic halls were located in a place called Hill-head on the north side of the [[Tithe barns in Europe|tithe-barn]].<ref name="Hall1861"/> Although nothing of the original monastery remains, the present church was originally built between 950 and 1400 and its earliest existing secular buildings date from the 15th century.<ref name="LMH"/> The church and school became the property of [[Tewkesbury Abbey]] around 1130 after becoming part of the Norman kingdom of Glamorgan.

After the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] by [[Henry VIII]] during the Reformation, it became independent from Tewkesbury in 1539.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illtudsgalileechapel.org.uk/2011/04/spring-lecture-history-recalled-at-st-illtuds/|title=St Illtud's Galilee Chapel, St Illtud's Church, Llantwit Major|publisher=Illtuds Galilee Chapel|access-date=22 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107113456/http://www.illtudsgalileechapel.org.uk/2011/04/spring-lecture-history-recalled-at-st-illtuds/|archive-date=7 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[St Donat's Castle]], {{convert|1+1/2|mi}} to the west, was built in the 13th century.<ref name="Murray1860" /><ref name="Fry2005">{{cite book|author=Plantagenet Somerset Fry|title=Castles: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland : the Definitive Guide to the Most Impressive Buildings and Intriguing Sites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5C-PawQ0tjcC&pg=PA205|year=2005|publisher=David & Charles|isbn=978-0-7153-2212-3|page=205}}</ref>

===Modern era===
In the 20th century, Llantwit developed into a dormitory town and grew about 15 times in size to accommodate the [[Royal Air Force]] at [[MOD St Athan|St Athan]].<ref name="LMH"/> Despite its modernization and rapid growth, it retains its pre-modern feel with its narrow winding streets, high walls, old town hall and gatehouse, and several inns and houses dated to the 16th century.<ref name="Commons1963">{{cite book|author=Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons|title=Parliamentary papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5oMAQAAIAAJ|year=1963|publisher=HMSO|page=170}}</ref> [[Llantwit Major railway station]] on the [[Vale of Glamorgan Line]] was reopened in June 2005. In 2014, it was rated one of the most attractive [[Postcodes in the United Kingdom|postcode]] areas to live in Wales.<ref>{{cite news|title=UK's 'most desirable' postcodes revealed|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28918709|work=BBC News}}</ref>