History Kenfig History

Home / History / Maudlam Church

St Mary Magdalene Church, Maudlam c.1907 view from South

Kenfig History & Community / Religion / Churches / Maudlam Church

Maudlam Church (Parish of Pyle & Kenfig)

Maudlam Church dedicated to St.Mary Magdalene (Built c.1255)

History of the Church

The Building

Maudlam Church building layout

The Church Tower The church has a squat perpendicular tower with a crenellated top and is decorated with gorbels on two sides. It houses a single bell cast in 1664 and embossed with the names of Edward Hopkins and Jenkin Howell, Church Wardens - it was re-hung in 1908. The clock was installed in 1955 as a memorial to the fallen of the two world wars and was originally powered by a weight system. This has now been replaced by an electronically controlled drive. A tablet in the baptistry below the tower records the names of the fallen. The church tower is clearly visible from the sea and has served as a navigation landmark for mariners throughout the centuries and the church graveyard appears to house the village cross. Some Parish Facts... Maudlam Church isn't the parish church due to a consistory court, which met at Margam in 1485, deciding that this status be accorded to St.James' church, Pyle; even though the church of St.Mary Magdelen is some 200 years older. Its dedication to St.Mary Magdelen was due to her festival date, July 22nd approximating that of St.James, patron saint of kenfig, which falls on July 25th. Source: Bridgend County Borough Council Library & Information Services / Parish of Pyle & Kenfig

The Church Font The font in St Mary Magdalene Church, Maudlam is of early Norman origin with a distinctive fish-scale pattern all over and rope rim to its upper edge. The font occupies more than its fair share of space in the church with a theory that it was brought to Maudlam Church from the original St James' Church at Kenfig when that became inundated with sand. A similar but smaller font can be seen in Llantwit Major church. The Village Cross It was customary in medieval times for a cross to be erected in every village as it reminded the people of the Christian faith. The village cross enhanced the power and prestige of the church, the monks and the clergy. It was a symbol of salvation and divine guidance and was expected when decisions were made within its shadow. The tithe map of 1841 indicates that a field located at the junction of the present Kenfig road and the old Y Lane Fach, was known as Cae'r Groes (The field of the cross).

Consistory Court Case - 1485

The surviving Kenfig burgesses bitterly opposed the construction of the new church at Pyle, claiming that the one at Maudlam was older, stood within the enlarged boundary of the Borough and should therefore be accorded the status of being the parish church.

Local Treasures

Maudlam Church houses some important artefacts

• Two pre-reformation mensae (altar slabs) reputedly from the old church of St.James, Kenfig.
• The baptismal font constructed in Norman style with a fish scale and rope pattern, again reported to have come from St.James' church, Kenfig.
• A stained glass window in memory of those who gave their lives in the Great 1914-18 War.
• A memorial set into the south wall commemorates the earliest members of the Williams family to settle in the locality - Isaac Williams was the father of Elizabeth Williams (The Maid of Sker).

Incumbents - Pyle & Kenfig Parish (1154 AD to Present)