Marcross

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Marcross Church

Marcross (Welsh: Marcroes) is a small village in the rural community of St Donats 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.

Holy Trinity Church

The Church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 12th century and is a Grade I listed building. There are a number of distinctive Norman features to be seen within the church, including a large font, an excellent chancel arch and a pair of intriguing corbels who guard the south doorway. A small window hides among the ivy on the south wall of the chancel, a lepers' window from where the afflicted could partake in services. Holy Trinity was restored at the turn of the twentieth century, with work including a new roof, pulpit and altar, but the whole building still retains traces of the whitewash that once covered many local churches. Possibly the most interesting feature is the huge Norman font, decorated with roll-moulding. The saddle-back, west, tower was probably added during the 14th century

Nash Point Lighthouse

Nash Point Lighthouse is a Grade II listed building and was the last manned lighthouse in Wales; the last keepers leaving on 6 August 1998. The lighthouse's automatic operation is monitored by Trinity House's control centre at Harwich in Essex. The station was built between 1831 and 1832 of blue lias stone winched up from the beach below. The foundations for both the low (west) tower and the high (east) tower, were laid in September 1831 with the whole station ready for operation just eleven months later- an amazing achievement. The engineering chief was Joseph Nelson and both towers exhibited a light, giving a clear set of leading lights for vessels sailing eastwards up the Bristol Channel, guiding them through the narrow channel between the rocky shore and the dangerous Nash Sands. During the 1920s the use of the low tower was discontinued and a red sector placed in the lamp of the east tower, shining red over the sandbank. The Keepers' cottages are now available for hire as holiday cottages and the lighthouse is regularly open to visitors during the summer season. The lighthouse itself is also a popular and unique venue for weddings.