LLANMAES, or LLANVAES (LLANMAES), a parish, in the union of BRIDGEND-AND-COWBRIDGE, hundred of COWBRIDGE, county of
GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 1 mile (N. W.) from Lantwit-Major, and 5 miles (S.) from Cowbridge; containing 196 inhabitants.
This place was anciently divided into two parts; one belonged to the lordship of Glamorgan, and is called Bedford, from
Jasper, Duke of Bedford, who was once its possessor; the other is called Malefant, from Edmund Malefant, who, in the reign
of Henry IV., married the heiress of the Flemings of St. George's, in this county; but it was long ago purchased by the
Herbert family, who bought it of the Vychans of Dun-raven, to whom it had come from the Buttlers by marriage, and to them
by marriage with the Malefants; the whole is now in the possession of the Marquess of Bute, and forms the lordship of
Bedford and Malefant. The parish is situated in a most fertile and salubrious part of the Vale of Glamorgan, within two
miles of the Bristol Channel, which is on the south; and is bounded on the north by Llanmihangel and 'St. Mary Church, on
the south-west by Lantwit-Major, and on the east by EglwysBrewis and Flemingston. The lands, which are almost entirely
inclosed and in a high state of cultivation, are fertile and productive, and comprise by computation 967 acres, of which
the proportions of arable and pasture are nearly equal; but the arable land of one year is usually converted into pasture
the next, and vice versa. The soil is a stiff yellow clay, resting on a blue lias limestone, and where richly manured,
produces wheat, barley, and oats in abundant crops; the surface, which is almost level, has a gentle descent to the sea;
and the environs abound with varied and pleasing scenery. The road from Cardiff to Lantwit-Major intersects the parish,
which is watered by a small rivulet that turns a mill, and, passing by the churchyard, discharges itself into the Bristol
Channel, about three miles below it. A handsome mansion, which belonged to the ancient family of Nicholls, is now
possessed by a younger branch of that family. The salubrity of the air is attested by , several entries in the parish
register of the burial of persons whose lives had been extended to an almost incredibly protracted period: among these,
the most remarkable are the following, which have been extracted verbatim:-.-"Ivan Yorath buried a Saterdaye the XVII day
of July anno doiii 1621 et anno regni regis vicessimo primo annoque Eetatis circa 180: he was a Sowdiar in the fights of
Boswoorthe, and lived at Lantwit Major, and he lived much by fishing. John Sherry was buried 8th of December 1624, aged
104 years. Thomas Watkin sepultus fuit octavo die Martii 1624, a3tatis circa 100. Elizabeth Yorath wife of Edmund Thomas
was buried the 13th of February, 1668, aged 177." The living is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £10. 2. 4.;
present net income, £294; patron, Marquess of Bute: attached to it are seventy-two acres of glebe land. The church,
dedicated to St. Cadocus, is an ancient structure, of the style of architecture which prevailed in the time of Henry VI.;
the present tower was erected in 1632, in lieu of one that stood on the north-side. A Sunday school is attended by all the
poor children of the parish, and is supported by the incumbent, who has erected a building for the purpose. Mrs. Susannah
Thomas, in 1747, bequeathed a rent-charge of £1, and Mrs. Jane Thomas, in 1761, a charge of one bushel of wheat, Cowbridge
measure; both which charities are annually distributed among the poor to the extent of upwards of two bushels, by the
present owner of the property. Owing to emigration and the removal of many families to the manufacturing districts of the
north, where better wages are obtained, a considerable decrease has taken place in the population since the census of
1831. Near the church are the remains, now inconsiderable, of the ancient castellated mansion of the Malefants, which is
noticed by Leland, in his Itinerary, as belonging to the Crown, and at that time in a state of great dilapidation.