Llansannor

Llansannor (Llan-Sannwr), otherwise Thaw - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
LLANSANNOR (LLAN-SANNWR), otherwise THAW, a parish, in the union of Bridgend and Cowbridge, hundred of Cowbridge, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 4 miles (N.) from Cowbridge; containing 204 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ddaw or Thaw, which rises in the parish, and, proceeding by Cowbridge, which it occasionally separates from this parish in its course, falls into the Bristol Channel, about six miles distant, where it forms the little harbour of Aberthaw. Llansannor is bounded on the north by Llanhary, on the south by Llanblethian, on the east by Ystrad-Owen, and on the west by Penllyne; and comprises by computation about 1100 acres, of which 500 are arable, 40 woodland, and the remainder pasture: the soil is chiefly of a sandy quality. The surface, for the most part level, is diversified in some places with hill and dale, and the scenery is particularly pleasing where interspersed with plantations of various kinds of fir. There are some quarries of limestone. Llansannor House, formerly the residence of the lord of the manor, and Brigam, are both now in a greatly dilapidated condition, and in the occupation of tenants; near the latter are the remains of an old castle, which was of some note in this part of the county. The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £7. 15. 7½.; present net income, £120, of which £10 are paid as a modus for Llansannor House demesne; patron, J. Bailey, Esq., M.P., who is chief proprietor in the parish, by purchase from J. F. Gwyn, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Senewyr, is a small ancient edifice; at the south end of the chancel is a recumbent effigy of a warrior clad in armour, with a sword and shield, the head resting on a lion, and at the feet a dog. A Sunday school is held in the church. Mr. Edward Thomas, of Argoed, in the parish, in 1778, bequeathed to the poor half the rent of a house and croft, now producing £4 per annum. At a farmhouse called Pantlewydd, in the parish, still owned and occupied by the family, resided Mr. Thomas Trueman, a great collector of antiquities of the county, and whose MS. volume of pedigrees is extant in several copies: his ancestor came from Nottinghamshire, and was an officer on the Cromwellian side in the civil war.