Bonvilston is a village situated approximately 8 miles west of Cardiff and 9.5 miles east of Bridgend. It has been a conservation area since 1973 in recognition of the village's ‘special architectural and historic interest.’

Bonvilston is a ‘linear rural village with scattered development along the A48.’ Although there is ‘no village centre as such’, the Red Lion Inn serves ‘as a focal point.’ The dwellings are a mix of larger houses, worker’s cottages and agricultural buildings which have been converted for residential use, with roofs of either slate or thatch and walls ‘of the local lias limestone, often faced with painted lime render or occasionally dressed with red brick.’

Notable buildings include the Grade II listed St Mary’s Church, Bonvilston Cottage, Ty Mawr and the Thatched Cottage, as well as the Red Lion Inn, Church Cottage and two terraces of workers cottages – nos 1-4 Red Lion Cottages and 1-4 Sheep Court Cottages – all built in the nineteenth century.

The first edition of the 25-inch Ordnance Survey maps, published in 1878, shows St Mary’s church roughly at the centre of the settlement, with the Red Lion Inn to the east and a school for girls and boys to the west. The school is not recorded on the second edition, published in 1900, although there is a reading room in a similar location, a little to the north of where the schoolhouse stood.

The Red Lion Inn and St Mary’s church are still open today, and the reading room also serves as a village hall. Other amenities include a village shop and café.

Sources: modern and historic Ordnance Survey maps; Google Maps; 'Conservation Area - Bonvilston: Appraisal and Managment Plan' (Vale of Glamorgan Council, 2009)

M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 15 September 2023