DONATT'S-ST, a parish, in the hundred of OGMORE, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 6. miles (S. W.) from Cowbridge,
containing 151 inhabitants. This place is distinguished as the site of an ancient castle, formerly of great strength and
magnificence, which was one of the twelve fortresses erected by the Norman knights who attended Fitz-Hamm in his conquest
of this part of the principality. The lordship of St. Donatt's was given by Fitz-Haman to Sir William le Esterling, or
Stradling, in the possession of whose descendants it continued without interruption for more than seven hundred years, and
on the decease of Sir Edward Stradling, Bart., who died at Montpellier, in 1738, it passed, with the castle, to Mr.
Fontaine Tyrwhitt, and both are now the property of Thomas Tyrwhitt Drake, Esq., grandnephew of that gentleman. The castle
is situated on the sea-coast, and is an extensive pile of building, occupying a spacious quadrangle, over the gate leading
into which are the arms of the Stradlings: part of it is now habitable, and in the later style of English architecture.
The park lies to the west of it, and the gardens are on the south, between the walls of the castle and the sea, and are
constructed on terraces descending to the shore of the Bristol channel, of which they command a fine view. Within the park
is a quadrangular watchtower of lofty elevation and picturesque appearance, which, according to local tradition, was
erected for observing vessels in distress, not for the purpose of rendering assistance, but with a view to take immediate
possession of the wreck, which became the property of the lord of the manor. In the neighbourhood there is a cave of
considerable extent and grandeur, accessible only at low water, which in the summer time is much visited by parties, who,
after having been gratified with a view of the romantic beauties of the place, usually dine upon the rocks. The living is
a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaf, rated in the king's books at £3. 14. q., endowed with
£200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of Thomas Tyrwhitt Drake, Esq. The church is beautifully situated beneath the
castle, in a romantic dell, abounding with valuable timber, and contains, in a small sepulchral chapel belonging to the
owner of the castle, some handsome monuments of the Stradlings, and an elegant sarcophagus of white marble to the memory
of the last of that name, who died abroad; there are also several paintings of the fifteenth century, commemorating
different members cif that family. In the churchyard stands an elegant cross, of elaborate design and execution. The
average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £90.3.