Porthkerry

Hamlet in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

The hamlet of Porthkerry (Welsh: Porthceri) lies on the Bristol Channel coast of South Wales within the community of Rhoose between that village and the town of Barry to the east. It is very close to the end of the runway of Cardiff International Airport. To the east of the hamlet is Porthkerry Country Park which occupies the valley leading down to the coast.

One of the oldest settlements in PorthKerry is the Iron Age promontory fort known as The Bulwarks, a site much of which is now wooded. The Bulwarks, which consisted of three closely spaced overgrown banks fronted by ditches with the final side facing the cliffs to the south, were occupied well into the period of Roman occupation. A little to the north of the fort site is a church dedicated to Saint Curig. Described by Newman as "a very small church", St Curig's has a single lancet window that is thought to be 13th century, but with other features, such as the east and west windows being confirmed as from the 15th century. which has similar engravings on pews and benches. On 28 November 1831 the vessel The Nepture, sailing from Newport to Wexford in Ireland, struck a rock and sank off the coast of Porthkerry. On 10 January 1898 the Porthkerry Viaduct on the Vale of Glamorgan Line operated then by the Barry Railway Company was the scene of a non fatal railway accident involving the collapse of the structure. The viaduct also featured in scenes in the Doctor Who television series in 2000. The Porthkerry Leisure Park hit the national headlines in November 2011 when a portion of the cliff collapsed at the edge of the site leaving some caravans hanging over the edge of the cliff.

Porthkerry Country Park is a large, public country park between the hamlet of Porthkerry and Barry town, in a valley accessible by car from the north eastern end at the Garden Suburb area of Barry and via a road section locally known as Fishponds Hill. The western end used to be accessible to light vehicles from Rectory Hill, north west of Porthkerry viaduct, via an unmetalled lane from the Rectory House at valley bottom (later Egerton Grey Country Guest house, opened in 1988 but closed in 2010) but later metalled as a cycle/pedestrian way to join the
metalled road near Porthkerry railway viaduct and public car park. At the south west end, a steep cliff pathway from the former Bulwarks site, east of Porthkerry Leisure Park area, leads down to Porthkerry beach skirting the Bristol Channel. Other pathways exist, one from Porthkerry Church area adjacent to Porthkerry railway viaduct and the other at the north side of the beach via the famous "Golden Stairs" from the clifftop pathway from the Garden Suburb. Fields, extensive woodland, nature trails and a pebble stone beach are included. A small golf course has recently been converted to a ponded area with boardwalk alternative access from the car park/café area near the viaduct (April 2020), and is visited by around 250,000 people a year. The park was fully landscaped by the Romilly family in the 1840s, and they sold it to Barry Urban District Council in 1929. The park was occupied by British and American forces during World War II in the approach to D Day, and earthworks and defences were built along the coast. It became Grade II listed in 1963. The former Egerton Grey Country House Hotel lies near the viaduct. The house was originally built in the 17th century and functioned as a rectory for some time. On the northern side of Porthkerry Park there was a small hamlet named Cwmciddy (meaning Valley of the Black Dog in Welsh). It first appeared in the mid 13th century and by 1622 had five houses and several farm buildings, but by 1812, only three cottages and a farmhouse remained. The cottages were demolished in the 1840s by the Romilly family when Porthkerry Park was landscaped. Cwm Barry Cottage was built in around 1845 to house the park ranger but was demolished in 1972; all that remained was a low boundary wall and fruit trees in the woodland which were once part of the cottage garden but no evidence of this now exists.