The village of Kenfig is situated about two and a half miles north of Bridgend town centre. The eastern edge of the village is bordered by the river Llynfi, which meets the larger river Ogwr on the south eastern edge of Kenfig. The first edition of the 25inch OS maps, published in 1877, shows that in the last quarter of the nineteenth century Kenfig had developed primarily around the point where the Ogwr and the Llyfni met. A number of workers houses had been built, such as 'Alma Terrace,' 'Railway Terrace,' and 'Dunraven Terrace.' The village also had several amenities including a post office, a reading room and the Angel Inn. There was also a school further to the north, on the near the village of Tondu. Aberkenfig had four places of worship - Ebenezer Welsh Independent chapel (NPRN 10012); St. John's Church (NPRN 420770); Trinity Calvinistic Methodist chapel (NPRN 3510) and two Wesleyan Methodist chapels (NPRN 10018 and to the north, NPRN 10019). Local employment came from establishments such as the woollen mill (NPRN 40895), Cribwr Colliery and the nearby Tondu Brewery.
By the time the second edition of the 25inch OS maps was published in 1899, Cribwr Colliery was disused, and the Evanstown Brickworks had been built on its site. Two new chapels had been built near the brickworks, on the northern edge of Kenffig - Jerusalem Baptist chapel (NPRN 10014) and Carey English Baptist chapel (NPRN 10013). Several new rows of workers housing had been built, connecting the northern part of the village to the area where the Ogmore and the Llyfni met. Although the reading room was no longer recorded, Kenfig did now have a police station and another school. There were also allotment gardens on the western edge of the village.
The fourth edition of the 25inch OS maps was published in 1942, and it depicts Aberkenfig in the twentieth century as a fairly large, established community. More schools had been built on the southern edge of the village to replace the one shown by the police station in the second edition of the map, and the school to the north remained open. Several new allotments gardens were recorded, and they now covered some half a mile north to south along the western edge of Aberkenfig, as well as a smaller area to the east. The woollen mill had closed but the brickworks remained open, and a significant number of new workers terraces had been built including Coronation Street, St. Bridge's Road, and Sandfields. The police station had now been joined by a fire station and the village had acquired a number of recreational facilities including two cinemas (NPRN 416684 and NPRN 416939), a Welfare Hall and Institute (NPRN 415246) and an associated bowling green, tennis court and children's playground. Both Wesleyan chapels had remained open, as had the two Baptist chapels, the church, the Independent chapel and the Calvinistic Methodist chapel. These had been joined by two new places of worship - St. Robert of Newminster Catholic Church (NPRN 13705) and the Spiritualist church (NPRN 13709).
In the twenty-first century, the brickworks has been replaced by the Pentre Felin retail park. The police station has remained open and there is a library nearby. There are several small, independent shops and eateries along Bridgend Road - the village's high street. These include a mattress specialist, which now occupies the former Ebenezer Independent chapel. The Catholic Church, St. John's Church, the Spiritualist Church and the Wesleyan Methodist chapel to the north remain open as places of worship. There are two primary schools in Aberkenfig - St Robert's Primary Catholic School, which educates approximately 180 pupils, and Tondu Primary School, which 'serves the village of Aberkenfig and the surrounding area north of Bridgend, including Tondu, Coytrahen and Sarn. It is located on two sites about a quarter of a mile apart, following amalgamation with Pandy Infants School in September 2011, where the nursery and reception classes are accommodated.'
Sources: modern and historic OS maps; google maps; Estyn report on St Robert's Primary Catholic School published in April 2015, and on Tondu Primary School
published in January 2013
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 22nd February 2019