Merthyr Mawr Kenfig Margam Burrows

Accumulations of wind blown sand have formed considerable areas of littoral dunes at a number of points along the South Wales coast. Historical evidence indicates that the processes of be-sandment were very active in the later medieval period, during the 13th to 15th centuries.

Summary

_{Crown copyright: RCAHMW}

Ref number: HLW (MGl) 1

OS map: Landranger 170

Unitary authority: Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan

Merthyr Mawr, Kenfig and Margam Burrows are two discrete areas of dunes situated on the west coast of Glamorgan and they present the supreme examples in South Wales of these natural and uncontrollable forces, and the significant impact they had on earlier societies. Inevitably, two landscapes are represented, the one at Margam and Kenfig as the be-sanded landscape that essentially derived from adverse weather conditions and tidal phenomena in the Middle Ages and perhaps earlier, and the other at Merthyr Mawr as a generally more ancient landscape with archaeological sites completely buried by these natural forces.

A full published description for this landscape area is available as a pdf download within the Related Articles section below.

Principal area designations:

Merthyr Mawr includes: Merthyr Mawr Warren Site of Special Scientific Interest; Merthyr Warren Scheduled Ancient Monument. Kenfig includes: Kenfig Pool and Dunes National Nature Reserve; Ogmore Castle Guardianship Site; Kenfig Castle and Kenfig town Scheduled Ancient Monuments; Merthyr Mawr Conservation Area.

Criteria: 4

Contents and significance:

Two discrete, but extensive areas of littoral, wind blown sand dunes situated on the west Glamorgan coast, containing buried remains of immense archaeological and historic potential from the prehistoric, Roman and medieval periods, and including Candleston and Ogmore Castles near Merthyr Mawr.