St Athan Boys Village was opened in 1930 by the Ocean Coal Company as a summer holiday camp for the sons of families in the south Wales coalfield. The facilities included dormitories, a dining hall, concert hall, games hall/gym, swimming pool, tennis court, putting green, cricket pitch and pavilion; a chapel was opened in July 1937. In the centre of a small formal garden a war memorial was erected. With the decline of the coal industry, the village closed in the 1990s and is currently derelict; some of the buildings have since been demolished due to vandalism.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 30 July 2010.