IN ANCIENT TIMES
period between the end of resistance to the Normans and the upheavals of the Reformation can only be considered as an interlude in our story.
Gone were the days of the native Celtic priests and De Staunton was to be the first of a long line of Norman-appointed rectors of the parish.
The stewardship of the lordship of Senghenydd, however, was still retained by a Welshman, named Griffith ap David, although he was probably appointed.
The erection of stocks in all parishes throughout the land was decreed by Edward III in 1376. They were generally put up outside the parish church and it became customary to place a culprit therein after he had been taken to Matins, where he admitted his wrongdoing, and then to secure him for the remainder of the day as an example to others. The parish stocks were removed in recent times into the nave of the Church, where they are still preserved.
Among the few extant documents which throw any further light on local institutions and government prior to the 1535 Statute of Henry VIII (which abolished the old jurisdictions and introduced the English laws) are some Coroners' Accounts for the years 1425-1426. Although the coroner held a county, rather than a parish appointment, much of his reports touch on parish matters. He was one who discharged duties which resemble those of the under-sheriff of modern times rather than those now associated with the office of coroner.
Occupations in the district were largely confined to agriculture, culminating with the milling of corn, but some time ago some castings were discovered in a mound of rubbish a few miles away, having markings to prove the existence of an ironworks at Llancaiach as early as 1478.
The beginning of modern history is generally associated with the opening of the sixteenth century. This is due to the fact that at that period nationalism was being established in many of the countries of Europe and an interest in the new learning was sweeping across the continent. In addition it was a time when the Protestants were about to challenge the Roman Catholic Church while commerce was beginning to flourish and new lands were being discovered.
In England a Welsh dynasty had just come to the throne. Henry VIII, the second of the Tudor monarchs, took steps towards establishing the United Kingdom by joining Wales to England The union, which was the result of a series of acts passed by Parliament between 1536 and 1542, was to have momentous consequences for Wales, as it determined the course of its history down to the present day.
Morgannwg, the former lordship of Glamorgan, now became the County of Glamorgan.
Henceforth this region, together with the rest of the county, was to be ruled "After no Welshe Lawes" but according to the "Lawes customes and statutes of this realm of Englande". English became the official language and customs which had governed the social life for centuries were swept into the abyss of things past.