Bridgend
Locator map for the Welsh administrative region of Bridgend.
Unitary authority in south Wales created in 1996 from part of the former county of Mid Glamorgan.
Area
40 sq km/15 sq mi
Physical
most of the authority consists of the western end of a lowland plateau, Bro Morgannwg, a rich agricultural area of mixed farming and large villages; in the north is the Cymer Forest and Mynydd Caerau (556 m/1,824 ft)
Industries
civil engineering; chocolate manufacture
Features
Ewenny Priory and Church (1141); Ewenny Pottery (1610), one of the oldest working potteries in Wales; Cefn Cribwr, a well-preserved 18th-century industrial ironworks; Bryngarw Country Park, with 46 ha/113 acres of woodland, wetland, and gardens
Population
(2001) 128,700
Bridgend
| Industrial and market town in Bridgend unitary authority, south Wales, situated on the River Ogmore 31 km/19 mi west of Cardiff; population (2001) 39,400. A Royal Ordnance factory, established here in 1936, was turned into an industrial estate for a wide variety of light industries in 1945. |
| The nearby castles of Newcastle, Ogmore, and Coity were established at the western limit of the Norman invasion of southern Wales. Coity, 3.2 km/2 mi northeast of the town was largely rebuilt in the 14th century. Newcastle, first mentioned in 1106, underwent some rebuilding in the late 16th century. |
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