Brief History of Barry

Barry as we now see it only really began to grow with the building of the docks in 1884. However, people had been living in this part of Wales long before that, as Bronze Age burial mounds, found at Cold Knap and Friars Point, prove. In later years the Romans took an interest in the area and at the Knap built what is thought to have been a supply depot for their Bristol Channel fleet, the remains of which can still be seen.

It is thought that the name Barry possibly derives from Saint Baruc who was drowned in the Bristol Channel and buried on Barry Island. The ruins of the chapel dedicated to him can be seen on Friars Road. Cadoxton, too, takes its name from an early saint, Sant Cadoc, and it is around the medieval church of Saint Cadoc that the old village grew up. The church still survives, as do some of the older village houses.