Pyle came into being when the sands engulfed the town of Kenfig in the 15th century. The main highway linking Cardiff and Swansea had previously descended from Stormy Down to North Cornelly along Heol y Sheet lane. From here it ran to Kenfig and then to Margam along Water Street - there was no by-pass running the short distance inland from the town following roughly the present Margam to North Cornelly road.

The abandonment of Kenfig took place c.1439. The King, acting in his capacity as the feudal overlord of the under-age Lord of Glamorgan postponed making a decision concerning its future until the lad became of age. All he did was to extend the original borough boundaries to embrace those areas where the former burgesses had taken refuge - this enabled them to retain the rights and privileges conferred upon them by their charter which they could only enjoy as long as they were resident within the borough confines.

The new lord, Henry de Beauchamp achieved the age of 21 and died and was succeeded by a baby daughter who survived him only by a few years. Eventually the succession to the Beauchamp estates and the Earldom of Warwick was settled upon Richard Neville (Warwick the Kingmaker) and only then could a decision be made as to Kenfig's future. It was decided the site at Pyle offered several advantages although there appears no evidence of a settlement here prior to this.

The medieval charters of Margam Abbey suggest that the main feature was a road (possibly of Roman descent) descending from the summit of Cefn Cribbwr ridge down to the coastal plain. At Pyle it passed roughly down the centre of a spur of land formed by the river Kenfig on the north and its tributary the Avan Vach with its marshes to the south. The same source mentions fields and enclosures bordering the road as it passed along this isthmus but no houses other than passing references of Marlas Farm possibly being in existence. In the 13th century most of this land was owned by a family called Grammas who possibly lived at Marlas where the area was consequently known as Grammes or Grammas Hill.

These early records do not mention any settlement nor any record of any road following the route of the present main highway A48 that passes through the village of Pyle. To the north a road from Margam Abbey crossed the river Kenfig in the vicinity of the present bridge then headed up the slope to Pwllygath in Kenfig Hill and onto the abbey properties at Stormy, Haregrove and Llangewydd.

To the south there was a track descending Stormy Down along the line of the later highway. This suggests that part of the A48 on Pyle Hill marks the parish boundary possibly with a road or track already in existence when this boundary was set out early in the medieval period. Indications are that it was of only local importance and gives access to adjoining fields - a 12th century document mentions a ford called 'Redesice' (Rhyd y Sais - The English Ford) that crossed the Avan Vach somewhere in the vicinity of the present railway bridge.

Towards the end of the 15th century the present main highway from the top of Stormy Down to Margam was created. Descending from the summit of the down it forded the Afon Fach and crossed the neck of the Pyle isthmus and onto Margam. Once the route was established it soon became the main road for its shortened the road distance between Stormy Down and Margam. Its creation sounded the death knell for any prospects of re-establishing a town at Kenfig as the traffic upon which the old borough had relied for much of its trade was now completely removed from its area.

There are several indications that under Earl Richard a determined attempt was made to transfer the Borough to Pyle. The land here was part of the manor of Kenfig of which the Borough itself had merely been an element but sometime during this period a manor of Pyle was created.

Surveys made in the 17th century state that technically it was another Kenfig sub-manor like those at North and South Cornelly but unlike these its owners never paid even a token fee to the Lord of the principal manor.

The most obvious and tangible evidence of creating a town at pyle is the fact that a new parish church was built here prior to 1485 to replace the one lost to the sand at the old town of Kenfig. This church was built despite the fact there was already a church at Maudlam which had been brought within the boundaries of the Kenfig Borough when these were enlarged.

The new church at Pyle was dedicated to St James and material from the old St James church at Kenfig was incorporated into its construction. [ St James Church, Pyle ]

St James church at Pyle was erected at the side of the new main road leading out of Pyle towards Margam and was somewhat more isolated from the community it was designed to serve than appears at first glance today. The main body of the original village of Pyle was strung out along the road between the Afon Fach and the crossroads formed by the junction with the Cefn Cribbwr to Maudlam road. There were other houses on Ffald Road leading towards Cefn Cribbwr but north of the cross old maps and photographs show nothing but fields and open land bewteen it, the church and the present 'Ye Olde Winehouse'.

For nearly two centuries after its construction the church seems to have stood in isolation as the only building on the main road north of the cross. It is well documented that the burgesses of Kenfig totally refused to accept this new church - in 1485 the inhabitants of Pyle obtained an order from the diocesan court compelling the burgesses to accept the new church.

The proposed transfer of the borough had been halted following the summary execution of Richard Neville at the battle of Barnet in 1471.

The date 1471 has been crudely carved on a shield high in the roof of the nave of St James church in Pyle.

The manor of Pyle continued to appoint Aletasters (Original Weights & Measures officers of medieval towns until 1669). [ Weights & Measures Act ]

The Pyle community never achieved borough status and the practice stopped - Pyle now stood on the main east-west highway through South Wales whilst Kenfig was merely a rural backwater. The latter, for all its trappings of a chartered town, quietly faded away into obscurity while Pyle prospered. Pyle never developed into a town but prior to the industrial development of the area in the mid 19th century it was the principal settlement of the district.

Bibliography:

(1) Bridgend Library & Information Servces, Coed Parc, Bridgend

(2) Mr Rob Bowen, personal local historical knowledge

(3) Kenfig Society - The Inn at Pyle, Barrie Griffiths

Webpage Author:

Mr Rob Bowen, Kenfig.org Local Community Group,2008.