Kenfig

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Village in Bridgend, Wales

title: "Kenfig" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-bridgend-county-borough", "former-populated-places-in-wales", "nude-beaches", "12th-century-establishments-in-wales"] description: "Village in Bridgend, Wales" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenfig" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in Bridgend, Wales ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/The_Prince_of_Wales,Kenfig-geograph.org.uk-_2314180.jpg" caption="The [[Prince of Wales Inn"] ::

Kenfig () is a village and former borough in Bridgend, Wales. It is situated 1 mi inland on the north bank of the Bristol Channel, and just south-west of the M4 motorway. To the east is the town of Bridgend, at approximately 6 mi, and the capital city of Cardiff, at 24 mi. To the west lies Port Talbot, at approximately 7 mi, and Swansea at approximately 18 mi.

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Kenfig_Burrows_-geograph.org.uk-_161888.jpg" caption="Kenfig Burrows"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Kenfig_Pool,_Bridgend.jpg" caption="Kenfig Pool"] ::

The area of sand dunes and the pool at Kenfig are managed by Bridgend County Borough Council as Kenfig Pool National Nature Reserve, the area designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The reserve has a visitor and interpretation centre, and a car park. The dunes are home to a variety of rare and endangered species of plants and animals, including a high concentration of fen orchid (or Liparis loeselii). The current village, built further inland, is a continuation of the mediaeval one. Landmarks include ruins of Kenfig Castle.

The Kenfig Burrows beach is used by naturists.

History

The village was established in the 12th century and was situated around Kenfig Castle. The encroaching sand caused by intensive cattle grazing and increasing temperatures due to the Medieval Warm Period made habitation of the area difficult and by the 14th century most of the fields and buildings were unusable. The village was abandoned by 1650.

The borough contributed with other Glamorgan towns to sending a member of parliament to Westminster until the Reform Act 1832. The municipal ceremonial mace is in the National Museum of Wales, but a pewter copy is held in the Prince of Wales Inn, a pub and Grade II-listed inn, which was built in the 17th century and over the years has served as town hall, courthouse, and a mortuary for sailors whose bodies washed ashore on nearby beaches.

In 1940, work commenced on a calcium carbide plant at Kenfig, built for the Ministry of Supply and operated by British Industrial Solvents, a subsidiary of the Distillers Company. Calcium carbide was a vital raw material for acetylene production. The Kenfig plant closed in 1966, overtaken by cheaper methods of producing acetylene from the catalytic cracking of oil and foreign competitors lower electricity costs.

In 1968, BorgWarner opened a plant at Kenfig for the manufacture of automatic transmissions. In January 1976 the plant completed its two millionth gearbox, which was 'presented' to A B Volvo.

In 2009, two Grob Tutor T1 aircraft collided in mid-air and crashed in the nature reserve, killing both pilots and two teenage air cadets.

In literature

Kenfig local legend, folklore, and Sker House inspired the novel The Maid of Sker by R. D. Blackmore.

References

References

  1. Thomas, Jeffrey L.. (2009). "Kenfig Castle". Castles of Wales.
  2. Mears, Tyler. (20 July 2016). "The nudist beaches where people are really cooling off this summer". walesonline.
  3. (2022). "Shadowlands : a journey through lost Britain". Faber & Faber Limited.
  4. (15 October 2009). "Wales A Historical Companion". Amberley Publishing Limited.
  5. (17 February 2012). "Digging with the Time Team".
  6. "Mace". National Museum of Wales.
  7. (31 October 2018). "Halloween: Haunted house 'reduced a rugby player to tears'". BBC News.
  8. "KenfigCarbideFactory1940-66".
  9. (24 January 1976). "News: Two million Borg-Warner boxes".
  10. Kia]]. In December 2008 Borg-Warner announced that the plant would finally close by mid-2010 with the loss of all 110 jobs at the site; a statement from the company blamed the [[Late-2000s recession. economic downturn]] for the decision.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7773706.stm "110 jobs to go as car plant shuts"], [[BBC News]]
  11. Thomas, Gavin. (1 December 2011). "RAF completes safety upgrade after Kenfig crash tragedy". [[BBC News]].
  12. "Halloween: Haunted house 'reduced a rugby player to tears'". BBC Wales.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

villages-in-bridgend-county-boroughformer-populated-places-in-walesnude-beaches12th-century-establishments-in-wales