St Fagans Community Council

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Welcome to the web site of St Fagans Community Council. We hope you find it useful in keeping you informed about what is happening in the community. Ideas and suggestions for improving the site are always welcome - if you have any please contact us.

St Fagans Family Fun Day - Saturday 21st September - See News & Events

What's happening at the Village Hall? See the separate page for details.

Local Development Plan -

Will you support our opposition? Click here

St Fagans (Welsh: Sain Ffagan) is a small rural village in the west of the City of Cardiff, Capital of Wales. The community area reaches north to the M4, incorporating the residential estate of Parc Rhydlafar, and south of the River Ely, incorporating the residential estate of Westfield Park. On it's eastern edge it borders the suburb of Fairwater and to the west borders the community of St George's and St Bride's in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The Village itself and immediate surrounding area is a designated Conservation Area.

St Fagans lies on the River Ely, and previously had a railway station on the South Wales Main Line. St. Fagans is home to St. Fagans Cricket Club and St Fagans Bowls Club.

It is also home to Wales National History Museum (formerly called the Museum of Welsh Life), St Fagans Castle, St Fagans Old Rectory and St Mary's Church.

In 1648, the Battle of St Fagans took place close by.

A brief history of St Fagans.

St Fagan was one of 4 missionaries sent by the Bishop of Rome to bring Christianity to the area – having been invited to do so by the local chieftain, Lleurwg, in the year 180 AD.

We then enter the Dark Ages, to reappear in 1091 when the Normans came to this part of Wales. A long period of lordship of the manors followed, with feuding, marrying, and inheriting, transferring ownership of the land (and for centuries its people!) until the present day when substantial land and property is retained by the Plymouth family. The ‘Glamorgan Historian’ by Stewart Williams is an excellent book covering the history of the village, although I suspect it may no longer be in print.

As a community we made the news headlines in 1648, when one of the last battles of the ‘English’ Civil War was fought here. The royalists (in reality a ragbag army of chancers and no-hopers) were soundly defeated by the well equipped New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell did not make it on time to join in the fighting, because by midday on the 8^th of May what was left of the Royalist army was in retreat.

St Fagans became the site of major rail sidings in the nineteenth century, when coal was king. Wagons from the valleys were shunted (for many years by horsepower) ready for transport to the ports of Barry and Cardiff. The line from the valleys to Barry crossed the main line linking Cardiff and West Wales a mile from the site of the present level crossing. The viaduct carrying the line across the river Ely was blown up in the 70s to make way for the ‘link road’ – an act of vandalism that would not be permitted today!

The Barry line continued as a passenger line until the axe fell in the Beeching era. It passed through a 1.1 mile long tunnel, which still survives – passing below TESCO at Culverhouse Cross.

St Mary’s church was originally built around 1300 AD, but was extensively renovated and extended in 1860. However a much older church was originally built in the village within the site of what is now the castle grounds.

The Council

St Fagans Council currently has 9 councillors representing the community. These councillors do not get paid and they kindly give up their free time to help local people and the community. They represent the local residents by campaigning for and against local issues. Together they run the community council.

The Council holds a meeting each month, usually on the first Monday of each month (unless that is a Bank Holiday, in which case it will be the second Monday) in the Village Hall, starting at 7.00pm. Members of the public are welcome to come along.

The council is financed by levying a precept on Cardiff Council each year which is collected as part of the Council Tax. The precept is used to run the council, for the general up-keep of the community area and for helping with the costs of maintaining the Village Hall. (More information is available on the Finance pages.)

Elections to the Council are normally held every 4 years though because of recent legislation to fix terms of office, the new Council that came into place on 8th May 2012 will serve for 5 years.