THE KENFIG SOCIETY - CYMDEITHAS CYNFFIG

Updated  March 2008

The Kenfig Society was founded in 1989 and has a membership of about 80. Its objects are to encourage the study of the history and natural history of the locality.

 

The present-day village of Kenfig (Cynffig in Welsh), dates from the 17th century but its history goes back at least to the 12th century when a castle was built nearby. Subsequently a substantial town grew-up around the Kenfig Castle, which flourished until the 15th century, when the continual influx of sand eventually caused the town to be abandoned.

 

More pictures and information on some of the main historical attractions of the area, click on the Places option on the menu bar.

About The Society

Society Activities

• Meetings are held monthly, on the third Tuesday in month at the Pyle Life Centre, which is the new designation of the old Pyle Library/Welfare. At each meeting, a talk is arranged on some relevant aspect of local history or natural history. In addition, trips and walks are arranged to various sites of interest.
• The Society publishes a Newsletter, entitled Kenfig News, several times each year and also from time to time, it publishes booklets on various aspects of local history.
• Until recently, an archaeological dig has been carried out near the site of the medieval town of Kenfig and currently other local history projects are also in hand
• The Society is also building an archive of material of relevance to the history of the area, which is available for reference to members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cattle drinking at the edge of Kenfig Pool

Membership Fees are as follows:  

Full  £10         Concessionary £6         Family £12  

Click here to get a downloadable application form

Membership Fees

Tangwstyl

The Society is pleased to publicise a new novel by local author Mansel Jones. Tangwstyl is set in Kenfig in the year 1399. This an excellent read and paints a vivid picture of life in our locality at the close of the Middle Ages. Click Here to see a review of the book in the current Society newsletter. Books can be purchased from the author at

goylake@live.co.uk

Or visit the Mansel’s web site at www.mansel-jones.com

 

 

 

 

 

‘

NEW! Just published by the Kenfig

 

THE FIRST BOROUGH OF

KENFIG

1147 —1439

 

 

 

£11.95 post free world-wide

To buy your copy

Go to BookIndex You can pay using Paypal.

Or you can send a cheque payable to ‘Kenfig Society’, to

Kenfig Society Publications, 3 Cwm Cadno, Margam SA13 2TP UK.

Either way, your copy of The First Borough of Kenfig 114-1439 will soon arrive by first post!

ISBN 978-0-9567701-0-3 Published: May 2011

More information? Contact Kenfig Society Publications Secretary (Conall Boyle)

Phone (+44)(0)1656 741487. Email: conall@fsmail.net

 

swallowed up by the sand. This book also digs deeper to uncover some of the mysteries buried in the sand: Why did the town and castle of Kenfig become such a focus for Welsh resentment? How did it survive despite being the target of at least nine attacks upon it in less than two centuries? Most important of all perhaps—how, why and when, having survived these repeated attempts to obliterate it, was it subsequently abandoned beneath the sand dunes? ISBN 978-0-9567701-0-3 Published: May 2011

Barrie Griffiths (1942-2009) was a prolific local historian, who published many titles relating to local history around Kenfig. In this series Kenfig Folk he gathers together the accumulated fruits of more than 20 years of research. Those who remember Barrie will find both his keen wit and no-nonsense approach to some of the more fanciful theories on vivid display in this book, as well as in later titles in Kenfig Folk.

In the dunes of Kenfig you will find the forlorn remains of a castle poking out of the sand. This is all that is left of the once thriving town of Kenfig. In this book, the first in the series of Kenfig Folk Barrie Griffiths tells the story of how the town was founded by Anglo-Norman invaders, how it (mostly) withstood the attacks of the local Welsh, and how it was eventually swallowed up by the sand. This book also digs deeper to uncover some of the mysteries buried in the sand: Why did the town and castle of Kenfig become such a focus for Welsh resentment? How did it survive despite being the target of at least nine attacks upon it in less than two centuries? Most important of all perhaps—how, why and when, having survived these repeated attempts to obliterate it, was it subsequently abandoned beneath the sand dunes? ISBN 978-0-9567701-0-3 Published: May 2011

Barrie Griffiths (1942-2009) was a prolific local historian, who published many titles relating to local history around Kenfig. In this series Kenfig Folk he gathers together the accumulated fruits of more than 20 years of research. Those who remember Barrie will find both his keen wit and no-nonsense approach to some of the more fanciful theories on vivid display in this book, as well as in later titles in Kenfig Folk.