Wick, Vale of Glamorgan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wick is a small 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...

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 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...

, situated about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the coast. The closest town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

s are Llantwit Major

Llantwit Major

Llantwit Major is a small coastal town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the Bristol Channel coast. A small stream, the Afon Col-huw, runs through the town.-Local government:...

, Cowbridge

Cowbridge

Cowbridge is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, approximately west of Cardiff. Cowbridge is twinned with Clisson in the Loire-Atlantique department in northwestern France.-Roman times:...

and Bridgend

Bridgend

Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

Amenities

The village has two pubs, a village shop and a primary school. There are several footpaths and bridleways linking Wick with the surrounding countryside and the village is popular with cyclists. Walks from Wick include those to the local beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

es, Traeth Bach and Traeth Mawr, via the Cwm Nash footpath at Monknash or from Dunraven Bay at Southerndown

Southerndown

Southerndown is a village in South Wales to the southwest of Bridgend, close to St Brides Major, Llantwit Major and Ogmore-by-Sea. It is mostly known for its beach , which is a popular tourist destination during the summer months and since 1972 has been designated a Heritage Coast and is part of...

. The cliffs here form part of the Glamorgan

Glamorgan

Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...

Heritage Coast

A Heritage Coast is a strip of UK coastline designated by the Countryside Agency in England and the Countryside Council for Wales as having notable natural beauty or scientific significance.- Designated coastline :...

(SSSI).

History

Archaeological evidence (such as the earthworks associated with burial mounds

Round barrow

Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....

, settlements and enclosures)

Enclosure (archaeology)

In archaeology, an enclosure is one of the most common types of archaeological site. It is any area of land separated from surrounding land by earthworks, walls or fencing. Such a simple feature is found all over the world and during almost all archaeological periods...

suggests that there was settlement in Wick from around 1600BC when a small proto-Celtic

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

community may have developed, probably farming the surrounding land on a subsistence basis. The site of an ancient beacon tower lies just north-west of the village and to the south-west, on the cliff edge at Whitmore Stairs, is the earthworks of an Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

univallate hillfort, part of an ancient monument known as the Cwm Bach Camps. It is thought probable that the larger of the forts that make up this monument, situated approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away on the Trwyn y Witch (Witches Point) headland, was at one time occupied by Caratacus

Caratacus

Caratacus was a first century British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest....

(who led the Silures

Silures

The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire of present day South Wales; and possibly Gloucestershire and Herefordshire of present day England...

in resistance to the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

occupation). Given its proximity to Tusker Rock

Tusker Rock

Tusker Rock is a rock in the Bristol Channel, situated about 2 miles west of Ogmore-by-Sea, Bridgend, Wales. It takes its name from Tuska the Viking, a Dane whose fellow Vikings semi-colonised the Vale of Glamorgan....

, a small island named after Tuska (a Danish Viking), it is likely that Wick was a focus for Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

attacks on the south Wales coast. Local folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

suggests that beacons were lit on high ground around the village to warn of such raids and that attacks were fiercely resisted. It is thought that the village eventually came under Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

control in around 1097AD. Scheduled ancient monuments in Wick include Buarth Mawr Barn and Rhyle round barrow

Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

. Various archaeological finds have been made in Wick, including the discovery of a hoard of five Late Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

socketed axes by Mr. Adrian Jones in 2005.

In later times it is likely that Wick formed part of an medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

drovers route, by-passing the toll road

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

through nearby Cowbridge

Cowbridge

. A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales by Nicholas Carlisle, published 1811, recorded that in 1801 the population of Wick was 259. From 1822 parts of the village and areas of the surrounding land became part of the Dunraven Estate under the 1st Earl of Dunraven

Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl

Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 5 February 1822 for Valentine Quin, 1st Viscount Mount-Earl. Quin was created a Baronet, of Adare in County Limerick, in the Baronetage of Ireland, in 1781, Baron Adare in 1800 and Viscount Mount-Earl in 1816...

. By 1833 the population had risen to 349 according to A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, published 1833, and in 1861 the population had reached 432 according to the 1880 Slaters Commercial Directory. This then decreased to 384 by 1871 (according to the same source) and decreased further to 327 by the time of the 1891 census (the current population is 694 according to the 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

). The Slaters Commercial Directory also recorded that there were once 6 public houses in the village (The Carpenter Arms

Carpenter Arms

Carpenters Arms is a common British pub name.The Carpenters Arms are today an unrelated series of public houses informally referred to as "Pubs" within the United Kingdom. Historically the first such named "Carpenter Arms" was based on a forfeit Carpenter Coat of Arms patent and supported by the...

, The Lamb and Flag, The Royal Oak

Royal Oak

The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was located in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. Charles confirmed to Samuel Pepys in 1680 that while he was...

, The Star, The Steady Pointer and The Swan) of which only The Lamb and Flag and The Star remain as public houses today. There are some interesting historical features in the village, the most obvious being the windmill

Windmill

A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...

tower, 'Melin Du', built in 1825, and the single storey remnants of a much earlier stone windmill

Windmill

, 'Wick Old Windmill', near to the school. At nearby Broughton there are former brewery malthouse

Malthouse

A malt house, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foods. The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the...

s, used from the 1930s to the 1960s by the Quakers as holiday accommodation for children and the elderly, now converted into private flats. Some of the buildings in the village are known to be several hundred years old and 34 are now listed as 'County Treasures'.

The coastline to the south and west of Wick is formed of rocks of the Lower Lias

Early Jurassic

The Early Jurassic epoch is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic period...

series that display horizontal stratification and are fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

bearing. It is from the top of these cliffs that, according to local folklore

Folklore

, the 'Wreckers

Wrecking (shipwreck)

Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...

of Wick' would, in the times before modern navigation, lure ships onto the rocks by showing false lights and then plunder the cargo. It is recorded that the bodies of drowned sailors were recovered from the beaches by Monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s from the monastic grange at nearby Monknash and taken to what is now the Plough & Harrow Inn where they were prepared for burial. Historically this stretch of coastline has one of the highest instances of shipwrecks in Wales, its exposure to the Atlantic swell, south-westerly winds, shallow reefs and the Nash sands bar

Shoal

Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

making it treacherous to shipping. Recorded wrecks on the 5 km stretch of coastline between Trwyn y Witch and Nash Point include: the Royal Hunter (1747), the Indian Prince (1752), the Elizabeth (1753), the Prince (1764), the George (1770), the Industry (1786), the Thomas (1806), the Bee (1820), the Harriet (1827), the Jessie Orasie (1831), the Frolic (1831), the Providence (1832), the Mayflower (1841), the New Felicity (1841), the Vigo (1842), the Betsey (1849), the Lucie (1854), the Williams (1854), the Mary & Deffus (1861), the Gillies (1862), the Elphis (1865), the Amelie (1870), the New Dominian (1872), the Bessie (1872), the John & Eliza (1876), the Jane & Susan (1882), the Ben-y-gloe (1886), the Malleny (1886), the Caterina Camogle (1887), the Denbigh (1888), the Tilburnia (1888), the Claymore (1892), the Lizzie (1892), the Elizabeth Couch (1913), the Narcissus (1916), the Pollensa (1919) and the Cato (1951).

The 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....

of Wick is dedicated to Saint James the Great

Saint James the Great

James, son of Zebedee was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was a son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John the Apostle...

, and like many of the other churches in the parish dates from the twelfth century. It began as a chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

, but was later gifted to Ewenny

Ewenny

Ewenny is a village on the River Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.Over the years the village has grown into the neighbouring village of Corntown to such an extent that there is no longer a clear boundary between the two. The nearest town of significant size is Bridgend, away.-Ewenny...

Priory. It is a Grade 2* listed building and consists of a chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

, nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

, south porch and western 'saddle back' tower. The church is built in the Early English Period style, although the oldest parts of the structure such as the chancel arch, the south door and a small window in the chancel, all date from the 12th century. The church has a medieval stone mensa (rectangular) altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

, views of which are provided through the 'squints' (hagioscope

Hagioscope

A hagioscope or squint, in architecture, is an opening through the wall of a church in an oblique direction, to enable the worshippers in the transepts or other parts of the church, from which the altar was not visible, to see the elevation of the host.Hagioscopes were also sometimes known as...

s) from the nave. The altar has unusual niches on either side, which probably contained statues of St James and the Blessed Virgin in centuries past. St James' was the subject of a major Victorian restoration

Victorian restoration

Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...

125 years ago and further additions have been made since then. The registers date from 1813. Wick also has a Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

and General Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

Chapel that has held regular services since 1792.

Approximately 1 miles (1.6 km) to the west of the village is Monks Wood, a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) plantation of mixed native woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

species managed by the Woodland Trust

Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.-History:...

and the Monks Wood Committee. The wood was planted with native broadleaved trees and shrubs by villagers from Wick in November 2000. A wide mown path follows a circular route through the site and there is an information display for visitors. Another area of ecological importance is Clemenstone Meadows, directly to the north of the village, comprising 2 traditionally managed meadows on either side of a brook that support a number of rare plant species.

The village was the birthplace of Sir Keith Thomas

Keith Thomas (historian)

Sir Keith Vivian Thomas is a Welsh historian, best known as the author of Religion and the Decline of Magic and Man and the Natural World.-Biography:...

in 1933 and is currently home to the family of the Olympic gold medallist and World Champion cyclist Nicole Cooke

Nicole Cooke

Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE is a Welsh professional road bicycle racer for the Mario Cipollini - Giordana Team team, and is the current Olympic road race champion.-Early life:...

.

Sports clubs in the village include Wick Rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

Club and the Wick & District Cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

Club.

On November 28, 2006, the village of Wick became the first community in the UK to be switched over to British Telecom's "21st Century Network" (21CN

BT 21CN

The 21st Century Network programme is the network transformation project of the UK telecommunications company BT Group plc for data and voice. It had been intended to move BT's telephone network from the present AXE/System X Public Switched Telephone Network to an Internet Protocol system...

); an advanced high-speed broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

network that will be rolled out throughout the UK over the coming years, replacing all of BT's existing networks. Laura Wess, 11, made the first call using the system from Wick and Marcross Primary School to the Right Reverend John Stewart Davies, bishop of St Asaph

Bishop of St Asaph

The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph.The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of St Asaph in the town of...

, in North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

.

The village won the South Wales Region Award for the 2008 Calor Village of the Year.

External links

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