Penmark is a rural

Rural

Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 south-west of Barry near Rhoose

Rhoose

Rhoose is a village and community located near the sea in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, near Barry.The village is the location of Cardiff International Airport, formerly RAF Rhoose, a Holiday Park , some shops, two public houses , Rhoose Social Club, and an active Surf Life Saving Club Rhoose is...

 in the Vale of Glamorgan

Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...

, in South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

. The village is a parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 and is of a distinct narrow shape. It has a parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 along the main road running through the village. It is also home to the Penmark United Under 15's football team who are a lot better than Cowbridge. Goalkeeper, Arron Bowman is an absolute don. Left back, Gabe Shires is an absolute dribbler. Right back, Dan Evans has an afro. Captain, Tom Pubprick, has a funny last name. Right back/right winger Zac Summerhayes once asked a girl to sit on his head.

Penmark is located near the international airport

International airport

An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...

 for Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Cardiff International Airport

Cardiff International Airport

Cardiff Airport is an international airport serving Cardiff, and the rest of South, Mid and West Wales. Around 1.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010....

.

Penmark Castle

The village has the remains of a 13th century castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

. Overlooking the 30m deep ravine of the River Waycock north of the local church are the remains of a 13th century wall 1m thick around a court 65m long by 47m wide with a more thinly walled 16th century outer court to the west. The moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

 has been filled in but there are extensive footings on the east side of the court and on the west side are overgrown ruins of a tower 7m in diameter

Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

 with a rectangular latrine turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

 to the south and various other structures. Gilbert de Umfraville had a timber motte and bailey castle on this site in the 12th century. In the time of Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

 Oliver de St John obtained the castle when he married Elizabeth Umfraville, the young heiress.

External links

• www.penmark.org : Penmark community website