St Brides Major (Welsh: Sant-y-Brid) is a community on the western edge of the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

This is an SSSI and part of the Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coast, with rocky limestone cliffs, broad sandy beaches and deeply fissured wave-cut platforms.

The southern part of the community includes the village of St Brides Major, the Dunraven estate and Clemenstone Meadow SSSI.

[5] The 153 hectares (380 acres) stretch of shore, cliff, cliff-top, and several short, steep valleys, reveal the local geological strata.

[5] A new deposition phase created more sedimentary rocks, including a red Triassic conglomerate, and a creamy white Jurassic limestone known as Sutton Stone, a freestone much sought-after for carved stonework, and so widely quarried where it occurs.

[8] The outflow from the pool enters a crevice in the limestone to join the Afon Dawel (Silent River), an underground stream.

[9] Ogmore Down occupies the northern part of the community, and is a large area of common grazing land.

[11] The steep valley sides above the River Ewenny are wooded, but most of the unenclosed common is limestone heath grassland, notable for high brown fritillary butterflies.

[7] Old Castle Down is a 79-hectare (200-acre) SSSI, designated for both its Carboniferous limestone geology and the range of grassland habitats that support rare wildflowers and invertebrates.

The Carboniferous limestone acquired deep cracks and fissures, which then filled up with Jurassic sediments in which are found fossilised remains of reptiles and primitive mammals.

[15] The slopes west of the River Alun include the Coed y Bwl Nature Reserve, a SSSI known locally as Wild Daffodil Wood after its most distinctive feature, a large area of wild daffodils planted in the 19th century, although wood anemone and bluebells are also abundant, with a tree cover of ash woodland.

It is open to public, with a main entrance near Castle-upon-Alun at (51°27′46″N 3°34′22″W / 51.4628°N 3.57279°W / 51.4628; -3.57279 (Coed y Bwl nature reserve), OS grid Ref.

[16] Download coordinates as: Prehistoric settlement A stone axe from the early Neolithic period was found near Ogmore-by-Sea, suggesting human activity some 6,000 years ago.

[17] However the earliest direct evidence of habitation within the community is of two burial mounds from the Bronze Age, on the limestone hills of Beacons Down (51°27′51″N 3°36′28″W / 51.4641°N 3.6078°W / 51.4641; -3.6078 (Heol y Mynydd Round Barrow), SS884751).

The best preserved, a scheduled monument, is a low bracken-covered mound on common land near the road at Heol y Mynydd.

[18][19] A group of 5 ploughed-out barrows is also tentatively identified in a field south of St Brides Major village.

The following are medieval Scheduled Monuments:- St Bridget's Church itself, a grade II* listed building, is first documented in 1141, with a Norman chancel arch as its earliest remaining feature.

Its expansion was due to seaside holiday makers, although it only acquired official recognition as a name in 1920, when St Brides Major parish was divided into three wards, by which time Ogmore-by-Sea was a small but thriving resort.

Ogmore-by-Sea and Southerndown have had hotels, inns and restaurants since the mid-19th century, due to the popularity of the rugged coastline, and continue to provide guest houses, holiday cottages, and even tipi accommodation within the community.

Heol-y-Milwyr (The Soldiers' Way) ran from Merthyr Mawr to St Brides Major via Ogmore Castle and Croes Antoni.

[50] The Vale of Glamorgan Line railway runs through the northern edge of the community, travelling between Cardiff and Bridgend.

[53] The Valeways Millennium Heritage Trail includes a section of the coast path, and also takes in the village of St Brides Major and Castle-upon-Alun, crossing the Alun via the Clapper bridge.

[54] The 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) Bridgend Circular Walk enters the community (if travelling clockwise) over the Stepsau Duon stepping stones, and takes a route over the Downs, descending along Heol-y-Milwyr to Ogmore.

The tin hall lasted until 1968 when a road widening scheme required its demolition, and a replacement Church was built.