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University St John's College, Cardiff | ||
Old St Mellons (Welsh: Pentre Llaneirwg) is a village and community (civil parish) on the eastern edge of Cardiff, Wales. It is separated from what is now the modern St Mellons suburb by the B4487 main road to Newport.
Contents
Map of Old St. Mellons, UK
Government
Old St Mellons elects a community council, currently (2016) comprising eleven councillors. The village is part of the Cardiff Council ward of Pontprennau & Old St. Mellons, which in turn is part of the UK Parliament/National Assembly for Wales constituences of Cardiff North. The new St Mellons to the south is part of a different ward and parliamentary constituencies.
Known variously as St Melans or Llaneurwg, St Mellons was part of Monmouthshire prior to 1974. It had been governed by the St Mellons Rural District Council from 1894, which included other villages and settlements as far as the edge of Newport.
History and description
Old St Mellons is made up largely of 19th-century housing, a village hall and several pubs and shops. The village had a school, converted in 1854 from the 17th-century Poor House, but this was demolished after it closed in the 1980s. There are 15 nationally listed buildings and structures in the village, including St John's College, St Julian's Manor and two public houses. As of 2007 there were four pubs, indicating the importance of St Mellons as a resting point on the route to London. Because St Mellons lay in Monmouthshire until 1974, it also avoided having to abide by the Welsh Sunday Closing Act.
St Mellons Church is the Church in Wales parish church and dates from the 14th-century, noted for its unusual plan and double arch to the chancel. It is Grade I listed, while the lychgate to the churchyard is listed Grade II. Bethany Presbyterian Church and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses are also located in the village.
Old St Mellons was designated a Conservation Area in 1976, giving Cardiff Council statutory powers to prevent certain changes, while preserving and improving the historical character of the village.
Recent events
Plans were unveiled in 2014 to build yet more modern housing on open fields adjacent to Old St Mellons. As part of Cardiff's Local Development Plan a new village of over 1000 homes was due to be created.