Bettws, Bridgend

 Libraries in Bettws:
 Bettws Library
       Bettws Life Centre
       Bettws
       Bridgend
       Mid Glamorgan
       CF32 8TB
 01656 725696

 Pubs/Bars in Bettws:
 The Oddfellows Arms
       Rose Terrace
       Bettws
       Bridgend
       Mid Glamorgan
       CF32 8TA
 01656 725618

 Other in Bettws:
 Bettws Social Club & Institute Ltd
       Bettws
       Bridgend
       Mid Glamorgan
       CF32 8TA
 01656 720043

Bettws - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
BETTWS, a parish, in the union of Bridgend and Cowbridge, hundred of Newcastle, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 4 miles (N.) from Bridgend; containing 438 inhabitants. This parish is pleasantly situated on the river Ogmore, not far from its confluence with the Severn, and is watered also by the rivulets Llynvi and Garw, which bound it on two sides. On the north and north-east lies the parish of Llangeinor, on the south that of St. Bride's Minor, and on the west the parish of Llangonoyd. The lands consist of well-cultivated fields, good pastures, woods, and mountains; the scenery, which is plentifully interspersed with oak, is rich and beautiful, and the views from different parts of the parish diversified and extensive, especially that from the lofty eminence of More-gila, which embraces among many other interesting objects, the fine vale of Glamorgan. In the immediate neighbourhood are some handsome seats. Coytrehŷn, the seat of Morgan Popkin Traherne, Esq., is a handsome mansion, occupying a retired and agreeable situation on the declivity of a hill, surrounded with luxuriant plantations, with the river Ogmore flowing at the base. It commands a beautiful view of the surrounding country, and of the confluence of the Ogmore with the Severn in the distance. This estate was anciently the property of the Powells, from whom it passed by marriage to the families of Popkin and Traherne. Within half a mile of Coytreh�n, a small but elegant residence has been erected, in the Elizabethan style of architecture, under the direction of Mr. Traherne, for his sister, the widow of the late George Jenner, Esq., of Doctors' Commons.

Iron is wrought, and the parish abounds with excellent coal. The coal, till lately, was procured only for the supply of the inhabitants of the district; but a vein was opened about twenty years ago by John Edwards Vaughan, Esq., of Rheola in the Vale of Neath, who worked the coal on a larger scale, and for its readier conveyance laid down a tramroad, communicating with the Porthcawl tramroad. For several years past, the collieries have been extensively wrought by Sir Robert Price, M.P. for Hereford, large quantities being required for sale at Bridgend, and for exportation at Porthcawl harbour, in addition to what is used at the Tondu iron-works, in the parish of Newcastle. The coal is conveyed to the lastmentioned place along a tramway two miles in length, constructed at the expense of Sir Robert Price, and to Bridgend and Porthcawl along the Porthcawl railway. Some veins of coal are worked also by other individuals, and the produce disposed of to the country people.

The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Newcastle, which is endowed with the whole tithes of this parish, lately commuted for a rent-charge of �140. The church, dedicated to St. David, is not distinguished for its architectural features; it is fifty-nine feet in length, and eighteen feet in breadth. There is a place of worship for Unitarians, which has a small endowment; also one or two Sunday schools. The Coytreh�n estate is charged with an annual payment of �2, arising from a bequest by Anthony Powell, in 1786; and �1. 10. per annum is secured by a deed-poll on the Bridgend turnpike-trust: both sums are distributed at Christmas, among about eighteen poor persons who do not receive parochial relief. Dr. Richard Price, an eminent nonconformist divine, and moral and political writer, was born at Ty'nton, in this parish, in February, 1723; he died at Hackney, in Middlesex, on the 19th of April, 1791, and was interred in the burial-ground in Bunhill-Fields. His publications on the events of the American and French Revolutions acquired for him a high reputation as a political writer, and distinguished him for a power of observation and reflection, which was equally conspicuous in his metaphysical productions.