A St Hilary Hike, Guided by Locals

On 4th August, we met up with Terry Dennis along with his wife Monica, and Neil, for a guided tour of St Hilary, The Garn, Llantrithyd &  Llancarfan. 

At 10.30am, we met outside the Bush Inn, St Hilary. After introductions and sharing our love of the outdoors we headed in to the church of St. Hilary, where we were welcomed by locals, preparing for the morning service at 11am, luckily we had time to take a peek around the church and gain some further local knowledge. Heavily but sympathetically restored by the eminent architect Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1862, this large church retains a number of medieval features. In the north wall of the nave are five steps which in pre-Reformation times led to the rood loft which was illuminated by two (surviving) windows. The font is of early Norman design and is carved from a single block of local Sutton stone. A medieval holy water stoup is set into a recess close to the entrance door. Lancet windows in the north and south walls of the chancel and the square headed priest’s door in the south wall are medieval survivals. The effigy of a layman lies in a recess in the north wall of the nave. He is believed to be a member of the De Cardiff family, lords of the manor of St Hilary in the 12th and 13th centuries. Another effigy lies on a chest tomb in the south aisle. The figure wears full plate armour, and the inscription on the tomb reveals that this is Thomas Basset of Beaupre who died in December 1423. Most of the stained glass in the church is Victorian, some of it designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. St Hilary is depicted in the glass of the west window.

Leaving the St.Hilary community, we take the narrow country road, passing Coed Hills, a rural artspace and venue with some lovely outdoorsy features. We then pass The Garn, where Monica, Terry and Neil, share more information of the local residents and some deeper history, (I am not able to retain all the names and all the local knowledge) but conversation was flowing and we all enjoyed hearing about the history of locals and thier families in the area. We then head towards Llantrithyd, we were so impressed with St Illtyd Church and Llantrithyd Place Manor Ruins. A plain country church with some striking family memorials. The Bassett, Mansel and Aubrey families lived in the great house next door. A huge triple decker memorial in the chancel commemorates three generations of the family. Also in the chancel floor are some touching memorials to children of the family. Remarkably, even after the Reformation, the grieving parents asked for prayer for their souls. The Manor house, which is now a ruin, built of local lias linestone with sandstone dressings. It has three ranges, but only parts stand to their full height. 

Next we head out to Llancarfan which is a lovely little rural village in the Vale of Glamorgan. But firstly we had to pass some cattle, and Terry kindly ushered them to allow us to pass with ease. Llancarfan is home to an Iron Age Hillfort, called Castle Ditches. Here we stop at the Fox and Hounds for a drink, a toilet break, and we ate our packed lunch in the glorious sunshine. After Lunch and we visit the Church of St Cadoc’s – St Cattwg’s is linked with the Early Christian monastic site of Lann Gharban, later granted to Tewksbury Abbey. The church first appears in the sources in 1106 and is 12th century in origin. The church retains many of its medieval features. As we stood inside the church admiring the wall paintings, Monica kindly read out all the seven sins as we stood around admiring it's offering; George and the Dragon is one of the finest paintings of its kind anywhere in Great Britain if not Europe, but we also have the most marvellous ‘Death and the Gallant’ which I understand is unique, coupled with this the Seven Deadly Sins in most excellent condition and then on the opposite wall the Several Acts of Mercy, which whilst not in good condition are certainly worth seeing. 

From here, we turn and head towards an uphill route heading back to st Hilary. The hot afternoon sun, is starting feel pretty hot on our backs now, as we head out into the wide open space. Some of the paths and stiles here are pretty tough, the terrain underfoot in these fields are quite sketchy, the ground is solid though, and we were able to avoid falling into the cattle hoof potholes, but we did have to walk with a lot of care. Next we encounter a few fields with horses and young ponies, who were quite curious, following us as we headed across the paths. 

The next few fields also had cattle, at one point, it felt a little scary as there were young Calf's, Bull's and Heffa's all watching us corner and edge around the field. I must admit, as we clambered around the broken gate and electric fences, we all gave a sigh of relief.  Homeward bound, we were now on the last leg of the hike, back onto the road where we started, we stopped along here to see the ponies, keeping ourselves well watered along the way, we hit the last 3/4 mile stretch to get back to our start. The Bush Inn - St Hilary, where we stopped for a well earned pint and reflected on the day, chatted about new and old routes, before heading back home for a nice evening of rest. 

Thanks to Terry, Monica and Neil, and our Trek Yourself Members, a great day was had by all 🥾