Cefn Hirgoed is a ridge in Bridgend county borough in South Wales.
The ridge extends for about 5 km east from the village of Sarn just north of Bridgend to Pen-prysg north of Pencoed. At the point where it reaches its highest elevation of 142m, are a couple of covered reservoirs. Towards the west the M4 motorway runs along the hill's southern edge.
Geology
The hill is formed from relatively hard-wearing
of the
Coal Measures with
mudstone layers between the sandstones which here dip steeply northwards into the South Wales Coalfield
syncline.
[British Geological Survey 1:50,000 map sheet 248 Pontypridd & accompanying memoir]
Access
Almost the entire hill is mapped as open country under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 giving a general right of access on foot to the public. It and the adjacent Hirwaun Common are also crossed by several public footpaths. A couple of minor roads, Heol Spencer and Heol Llan/Heol-Las, run north–south across the ridge.
[Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale Explorer map 151 Cardiff & Bridgend]
Duel
Early records refer to Robert Thomas who in 1661 was charged at the Great Sessions of
Glamorgan with the murder of Edmund Thomas in a duel fought on Cefn Hirgoed on the 4th February 1660.
He was outlawed and his lands and possessions taken from him. In 1669 he was pardoned with a restitution of lands and possessions, including Tregroes House in Pencoed.
External links
