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Llanmaes or Llanfaes is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan near the market town of Llantwit Major. == Amenities == Llanmaes has a long history for such a humble village. In fields adjacent to the coast road lie remains of a Roman fort. Much restoration work has been carried out on the church which also holds a pre-reformation mural that has almost escaped damage but is now very faint. There may have been a church at Llanmaes as early as the 5th or 6th century, but the church we see today (St Cattwg's) was built in the 13th century (1234, an easy date to remember) and comprehensively rebuilt in the late Victorian period. The first written record of a church here comes from 1254, and the tower was rebuilt in 1632. Today St Cattwg's is one of the nine churches making up the Rectorial Benefice of Llantwit Major within the Church in Wales. It is a lovely, tranquil place with enough interesting medieval features to make it well worth a visit. Historic highlights include a beautifully carved Norman tub font, probably of 12th century date, with a decorated rim. The lower part of the chancel screen is Victorian but the upper part is late medieval and incorporates part of the original 15th century rood screen. On the north wall of the church is a mysterious faded wall painting depicting what appears to be a dragon. Some claim that the medieval picture depicts a Biblical scene from the Book of Revelation. Others have speculated that it represents St George, the dragon and a princess with long blonde hair. The dragon figure is quite worn but you can make out its forked tongue. The princess's parents appear to look down from the upper right of the scene while the knight is at the upper left, with flowing yellow hair and a red cross on either shoulder. How and why such a colourful and dramatic image came to be painted on the wall of the parish church is still a mystery. Outside in the churchyard is the base of an old preaching cross, used as a pulpit by John Wesley when he visited Llanmaes on Tuesday April 4, 1749. He wrote in his journal; "At twelve I preached at Lanmais, to a loving earnest people, who do not desire to be any wiser than God" More recently, both the interior and exterior of St Cattwg's Church was used as the location for the fictional wedding of Gavin Shipman and Stacey West in the hit BBC TV comedy show "Gavin and Stacey". The church has welcomed fans of the series from all over the world who continue to travel to the village to see where the wedding scenes were filmed. Llanmaes has an old attractive public house called the Blacksmith's Arms. It has one long road going through the middle of the village, linking Llantwit with Cowbridge and passing through the village of St Mary Church. Also, along this section of the village which has the oldest, most picturesque cottages and houses lie the remains of the keep to the Norman Malefant Castle, which is now a ruin and lies behind a modern house. Much of the village now consists of relatively modern detached housing along the main Llanmaes road. Thankfully the Village green has been preserved, across from the Village's only remaining pub, "The Blacksmiths Arms" - the old forge lies opposite the pub, hence the name. The original Brown Lion pub and quaint post-office/village shop building, now both private dwellings, can be seen in the older part of the village. What ties the whole village, with its village hall and strong community spirit together, is the winding Llanmaes Brook, which flows through the heart of the village before bending East and draining away towards Eglwys Brewis. Finally, Llanmaes House is a large, lime washed Elizabethan building sited opposite the church, communal playing fields and children's playground and is of much historical interest. The village has won the Vale of Glamorgan Best Kept Village competition on many occasions, including 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2009. In 1997 it also won the National Village of the Year Award (Community Life category). In early 2014 Sainsbury's proposed building a large supermarket in Llanmaes. Planning permission, if granted, would effectively join the village of Llanmaes to the larger neighbouring town of Llantwit Major and destroy forever the rural tranquility of this picturesque village that has lasted for centuries. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Llanmaes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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