Cheap Hotels in Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan used to be part of the much larger county of Glamorganshire, and now covers an area of 337 sq km (130 sq miles). Although called a 'vale', the county is actually a fertile plateau area that varies in height from 60 to 120 m (200 to 400 feet). The landscape comprises of rolling farmland with many small villages centred around churches. The Vale of Glamorgan abruptly ends at the coast in cliffs averaging 30 m (100 feet) high.

First settled in prehistoric times, Glamorgan was later occupied by the Romans who built the Via Julia Maritima, a military road from Gloucester in England to St David's in Pembrokeshire, with a way station within the Vale of Glamorgan. The area was later invaded by the Normans in the 11th century, when many castles were built throughout South Wales. The Vale of Glamorgan was largely an agricultural county, but recently manufacturing and service industries have grown rapidly.

Some 6 km (4 miles) north of Barry, and not far from the 20 hectare (50 acre) Dyffryn Gardens, is St Lythans, where there are two Neolithic burial sites, believed to be 2,500 years old. Porthkerry Country Park, a short distance west of Barry, is a valley with wooded hills and cliffs. At Llantwit Major a church with a 1,000-year-old font stands on the site of an earlier monastery.