Cowbridge

The Church of the Holy Cross is a medieval church in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. Initially a chapel of ease to Church of St John the Baptist, Llanblethian of Cowbridge as a medieval market town. Believed to have been built in the 13th century, the church has an unusual tower design. It has undergone several restorations including one by John Prichard in 1850–52. The Church of the Holy Cross was listed as a Grade I building on 12 May 1963.

Cowbridge with Llanblethian is a community (civil parish) in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, which incorporates Llanblethian and the town of Cowbridge. It also covers the village of Aberthin to the northeast of Cowbridge. The population was 4,063 in 2011.Cowbridge was granted a Royal Charter in 1886 which allowed the population of the community to elect its own councillors and mayor. The first Mayor was Alderman Thomas Rees, in 1887. Currently (2016) the Mayor of Cowbridge and Llanblethian is Councillor David Morris.The community elects Cowbridge Town Council (full name Cowbridge (Ancient Borough) with Llanblethian Town Council) with a total of 15 councillors. The Council meets in the Council Chamber of Cowbridge Town Hall. The community is covered by the Cowbridge electoral ward for elections to the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

Cowbridge was a small castra in Roman Wales within the Roman province of Britannia Superior. Today the contemporary settlement, Cowbridge, has a population of roughly 3,600. Its name in Latin is unknown, although it is the strongest candidate for Bovium (corrected from the ablative Bomio) of the Antonine Itinerary. Its remains have been discovered beneath Cowbridge in the Welsh county of Vale of Glamorgan, previously Glamorganshire. A Roman bath house or Thermae, abandoned by the early 2nd century, has been discovered which had bricks stamped by the 2nd Legion, suggesting perhaps some kind of early military establishment on the site. There were certainly funerary monuments of persons of status at this early period, including a fine sculpted lion. The settlement later became a ribbon development of typical timber and stone strip buildings within ditched enclosures fronting a north-south Roman road. Industry included agricultural processing and large scale iron working. Occupation continued into the 4th century.

Cowbridge Town Hall (Welsh: Neuadd y Dref Y Bont-faen) is a public building in the High Street of Cowbridge in South Wales. The town hall, which is the meeting place for Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town Council, and also houses the town clerk's office, the committee rooms and the Cowbridge Museum, is a Grade II* listed building.

Cowbridge Grammar School was one of the best-known schools in Wales until its closure in 1974. It was replaced by Cowbridge Comprehensive School. Founded in the 17th century by Sir John Stradling and refounded by Sir Leoline Jenkins, it had close links with Jesus College, Oxford. The school took both boarders and day boys. Famous old boys include actor Anthony Hopkins, poet Alun Lewis and TV presenter Patrick Hannan.The main school buildings were located in Church Street, Cowbridge. Derelict for some years, they have now been converted into residential accommodation. The school also occupied part of Old Hall, now an adult education centre.

The Bear Inn, today known as The Bear Hotel, is an inn on Cowbridge High Street in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. The block stone building has a blue plaque on the front, marking its historical significance. It became a Grade II listed building on 12 May 1963.The inn is dated to the medieval period, around the 12th century. It was once probably a three-unit, lateral chimney, hall-house, later converted into a storeyed house. It has undergone much alteration over the years, and little remains of the original except the fireplaces, one of which is in poor condition. The fireplace lintels of carved stone are notable. The hall fireplace has two shields, one bearing a reversed lion rampant and the other a trefoil. The hall contains heavy ceiling beams, dated to the late 16th century. The plastered ceiling in the inner room is dated to the early 18th century. On the first floor there are plain-chamfered ceiling beams and roof trusses, although this is obscured. In the 18th century the first floor was converted into an assembly room, and subsequently the High Sheriff for the county often met with noblemen of the county at the Bear Inn. The Glamorganshire Agricultural Society was established in 1772 at the inn. In this era, the inn served as a stopping point for those in need of changing horses, while other similar establishments, such as the Cowbridge Arms, Royal Oak, and Spread Eagle did not offer such a service. The northern side of the house once had wing attached to it during the medieval period but this no longer exists. In the early 19th century, Christopher Bradley was succeeded by Michael Glover as inn host. In the early 20th century, the county Court occasionally sat at the Bear Inn when it had such needs in Cowbridge. Nearby is the Cowbridge Grammar School.

The Cowbridge Physic Garden is located in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) physic garden was created by the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust in 2004, and was opened in June 2008 by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. who is its patron. Surrounded by high stone walls, parts of which date to the 13th century, the physic garden is situated within a former 18th century formal garden which belonged to the Edmondes family of Old Hall. The garden was designed to replicate the styles of its 18th century predecessor, and only plants found in Britain before 1800 are included in the garden.

Cowbridge is the name of an electoral ward in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, which covers its namesake town of Cowbridge as well as the neighbouring villages of Llanblethian and Aberthin and the communities of Llanfair and Penllyn. The ward elects three county councillors to the Vale of Glamorgan Council. According to the 2011 census the population of the ward was 6,180.Cowbridge is also the name of a community ward (covering the town itself) for elections to Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town Council.

Cowbridge town wall is a Grade II*-listed medieval wall in the small market town of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. The walls were built by about 1300. It is believed that the purpose of the wall was to protect the Lord of Glamorgan's burgage plots and to provide a way of collecting tolls from the town's market, held twice-weekly. The wall has been altered several times throughout its existence.

Cowbridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Cowbridge, Glamorgan. The first recorded match held on the ground came in 1895 when the creator of the ground, E H Ebsworth's XI played The Rev'd Owen Jones' XI.

Cowbridge railway station served the town of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales between 1865 and 1965. It opened along with the line on 30 January 1865 after multiple delays, which the engineer of the line blamed on bad weather. It was the biggest station on the Llantrisant-Aberthaw line by quite a considerable margin.

Cowbridge Girls School is a former school in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Designed by Robert Williams and built in 1896, it was the first school for girls built under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 and has been described as the first secondary school for girls in England and Wales. Unusually for a girls' school of the period it was built with a laboratory to allow the girls to study science. The school merged with Cowbridge Comprehensive School in 1974 and the building was used to house the combined school's sixth form until 2010. The building was sold to Hafod housing association in 2018 and in 2022 the Vale of Glamorgan Council granted permission for it to be demolished and replaced with a development of flats and houses, despite a local campaign to preserve it.