Margam Country Park: Monastic Trail

Margam Country Park is an excellent place to visit, offering several waymarked walking, mountain biking, and family-cycle routes. It encompasses 1000 acres of parkland set around a Tudor Gothic Mansion, which is a Grade I listed building built between 1830 and 1840.

The park includes gardens, an 18th-century orangery, a narrow gauge railway, and a children’s play area, with a cafe, gift shop and toilet facilities at the visitor centre.

There are several waymarked trails through the park. This is the Monastic Trail, which follows the purple waymarkers and leads you across the grassland and along the wooded hillslope, atop which is the site of an Iron Age hillfort. Follow the stream to Morgan Lake and continue the pond to enjoy the beautiful views along the waterside.

Follow the roads and paths to an old chapel, Hen Eglwys, located atop the hill and overlooking Abbey Church and the Orangery. The path leads you to visit the Monastic Bath, which dates back to the 15th century before returning to the trailhead.

There is also plenty of wildlife to be spotted, such as squirrels, foxes, hares, and several herds of deer that call this place home, including fallow, red, Pere David Deer, and the Margam Deer Herd.