England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Peterston super Montem St Peter

The Parish

The chapelry of Peterston super Montem, its mother parish being Coychurch, lies in the southern portion of central Glamorgam roughly 8 miles northeast of the industrial town of Bridgend. Peterston super Montem covers an area, as its Latin suffix suggests, of largely hill country around 3 miles north of the A473 road which links Bridgend with Pontypridd. There is no village at all within the parish, the main settlements being the tiny hamlet of Llanbad and farmsteads dotted across the hillsides. The parish is dominated by the heights of Mynydd Maendy and the rough grazing that it permits is the basis for the chapelry's economy. Peterston super Montem is drained southward by the brook of Nant Ciwc which merges to become the Ewenny River in lower stages before merging with Afon Ogwr just before reaching the outer Bristol Channel. St Peter's church sits at an elevation of 245 metres above the sea with land still rising to the summit of Mynydd Maendy which tops out at 301 metres and is crowned by extensive wind farms. Some 2,100 acres of Coychurch parish are assigned to Peterston super Montem chapelry and that acreage would have supported a population of around 150 parishioners. Like most od Wales Peterston super Montem is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

The former church of St Peter is nowadays a mere pile of stones, aerial photography reveals the characteristic oblong of the church with a prominent southern porch and all standing within the circular "llan" of an early Christian site. The ruin is perhaps the most isolated church site in the land requiring a strenuous hike from the nearest road-head above Brynna to reach it. The presence of the "llan" indicates an early site, some believe it to be traceable to the end of the Roman period and others associate the site with Arthurian stories. The church that now lies in ruins dates from the 12th century. In the early 19th century dissatisfaction with the trek to the church built such that a new St Peter was built in 1833 in Brynna which now is the parish church. Parking should be sought in Brynna and tracks followed northeast to reach the ruin, driving closer in inadvisable given the track which rise onto the mountain are narrow and have no turning points.