The Heritage Hiker’s Guide to Marcross

Marcross – Marcroes is a very small village in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. It consists of a public house  – The Horseshoe Inn – and a few scattered houses, farms, and a small Medieval church in the centre of the village. Marcross lies close to the Glamorgan Heritage Coastline and Nash Point Lighthouse and beach.

Church of the Holy Trinity

The Church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 12th century. The church retains many of its Norman features, including a large font, chancel arch and a pair of intriguing corbels. A small leper’s window can be found on the south wall of the chancel. The west tower was most likely added during the 14th century.

In the graveyard the former churchyard cross has been modified for use as a sun dial at some point in the past.

Nash Point Lighthouse and Beach

Nash Point Lighthouse refers to a pair of lighthouses and a huge foghorn stand proudly along the coastline. In 1830 an application for a lighthouse station to be built here was successful following a number of shipwrecks along this stretch of coastline. In 1832 lighthouse engineer and builder Joseph Nelson built both the east and west lighthouse.

In 1977 a rare Thistle was discovered growing within the station. The grounds were subsequently declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

As with all lighthouses in the United Kingdom, Nash Point is no longer manned, the last lighthouse keepers left on the 5th August 1998. It was the last light in Wales to be automated and the penultimate in the UK to be de-manned.

East Lighthouse

The original illumination consisted of double rows of reflectors and the original lanterns were glazed with rectangular panes. These were replaced in 1867 by a helical lantern since removed. A cottage was added to the east tower after 1851 consisting of four heated rooms surrounding a central chimney. The front elevation of the east keeper’s house retains its original three panes wide sash windows.

West Lighthouse

One of a pair of lighthouses built in 1832 by the prolific lighthouse engineer, Joseph Nelson. It was decommissioned in the 1920s and the top tower and its lantern removed during the 1950s. Similar keepers’ houses are attached to both the lighthouses. Here the original 1832 cottage stands alongside the lower/western light tower, and is connected to it by a secondary flat-roofed linking corridor. The lighthouses and keeper’s cottages stand within a complex of enclosing walls and a stone stile.

Nash Foghorn

The single storey building was built in 1906 between the east and west lighthouse towers as an audible warning in bad weather. The building formerly contained a fog horn compressor and associated machinery. The horn remains insitu on the roof, the fog-signal compressor and Ruston Hornsby generator dating to around 1903 were taken to Leicester Industrial Museum in 1966.

Getting to the beach at Nash Point.

A drive through Marcross will take you to the Cliff Top Car Park at Nash Point. There is Car park and a small café – Cliff Top Cafe (seasonal – check ahead for opening times). There is a charge for car parking, payable in the Cliff Top Cafe, and public toilets (seasonal).

You can easily access the lighthouses and foghorn from Nash Point with a short walk along the coast path. The lighthouse is not open for tours or visits inside at the present time.

Walks

The lighthouse found along the coast between Marcross and St Donats. This stretch of coastline forms part of the Wales Coast Path and makes for a lovely walk along the coast.

Vale Trail 2A takes in both Marcross and Monknash in a circular walk that includes a visit to the Lighthouse complex.

For articles related to areas near Marcross see St Donats or Llantwit Major