History of Porthkerry Country Park
The area now known as Porthkerry Country Park has been mixed
meadow, farmland and woodland since medieval times. Once split
between the ancient manors of Barry, Porthkerry and Penmark, the
area was bought by the Romilly family in 1412, which worked the
site on similar lines to an English country estate.
The Romillys produced a ‘model’ farm and
buildings using the most modern farming techniques of the time such
as crop rotation. The family built the cottages for estate workers
and foresters, established stables and a sawmill together with
extensive mill leats and drained woods and fields.
Porthkerry Park was purchased from the Romilly
estates in 1929 by Barry Urban District Council, after which it was
used as a large public open park and then even played a role in the
build up to the invasion of Normandy in World War II.