History lesson: Lann Gharban was a name mentioned in the 9th and 10th century writings "Irish Life of St Finnian" for what we now know as Llancarfan. Similarly a 100 or so years later in "Life of St Cadoc" St Cadoc was refered to as the 'abbot of Nantcarfan'. The Welsh prefixes, Llan- and Nant-, pops up throughout the history of Llancarfan as with a great deal of many names in Wales. In place-names, Llan- is usually translated as “church” or, by adoption, “village”. Llan- formerly meant “an enclosure” and, because the early Celtic monks fenced or walled their religious settlements the word became associated with “church” or “village”. Nant- is less complicated, meaning “valley” and, again by adoption, “stream”. Llancarfan church is dedicated to St Cadoc, better known in Welsh as Cattwg so it was considered that the village might have been called Llancattwg or Llangattock. Equally, it might have been Nantcattwg, if coupled with the 'Nant' prefix. However, as it is none of these, it is somewhat of a puzzle.

Back in present day, for those interested, Llancarfan is approximately 15 miles from Cardiff, 5 miles from the coast and 7 miles from the pretty market town of Cowbridge. Situated in a valley around the river Carfan, Llancarfan is a picturesque village nestled in heart of the Vale of Glamorgan about 15 minutes from where I live. With just over 60 houses the village has a wide range of social events and clubs in which many residents enjoy. We parked the car outside the village hall, and proceded to walk through the church yard, and through the village and up into the countryside!