the opposite side of the valley from Mynydd y Castell. It is crossed by an upland section of the Wales Coast Path. Margam Abbey In 1147, Margam Abbey was built. When the abbey was dissolved in 1536 the Abbey Church nave was retained as Margam Parish Church, whilst the ruins of various other of the abbey buildings stand in the park today, including a spectacular twelve-sided Chapter House. A small chapel known as Hen Eglwys, also called Cryke Chapel and dated to 1470, was a grange of the Abbey on the hillside of Craig-y-capel. The gable-ends, with window tracery are the principle survivals, and provided a gothic landmark and viewpoint for the 19th-century parkland of Margam Castle. There was a burial ground and a nearby holy well known as Ffynnon Mair. Margam Stones During the 19th Century the Talbot family gathered together a collection of early Christian memorial stones from the locality, and placed them in and around the Abbey Chapter House, within what is now the Park. In 1892 they were put in the care of the Commissioners for Public works, and in 1932 they were moved into the nearby Church schoolroom, to become the Margam Stones Museum, now managed by Cadw. Margam Castle The Park also houses Margam Castle, a Tudor Gothic mansion house built by Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot in the early nineteenth century. Sculptures and artwork are placed at different places along the paths which connect the house with the Orangery. Early warning radar On the escarpment above the motorway is one of a network of early warning radar stations that were built around the coast of Britain from 1941, to detect German bombers and shipping during World War II. Earlier Chain Home stations were able to spot aircraft at higher altitudes, so a second network, the Chain Home Low stations, of which Margam was one, were built to detect low-flying planes and shipping. The Margam station, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, has the inland route of the Wales Coast Path running past it. Three flat-topped buildings stand high on the escarpment, overlooking Port Talbot and Swansea Bay. They would have housed generators and control equipment, with a large antenna on the roof. See also List of gardens in Wales List of Scheduled Monuments in Neath Port Talbot Notes Bibliography Newman, J. The Buildings of Wales: Glamorgan (2001) Penguin Books External links Margam Country Park