The largest Roman villa in Wales was discovered in 2025 in Margam Country Park, which has transformed the understanding of Roman Wales which now is shown to be more sophisticated than only a border province as previously thought. Margam was an ancient Welsh community, formerly part of the
cwmwd of
Tir Iarll, initially dominated by
Margam Abbey, a wealthy house of the
Cistercians founded in 1147. (Margam is believed to have played a significant role in the early transmission of the work of
St. Bernard of Clairvaux.) At the
dissolution of the monasteries, it came into the possession of the
Mansel family who were eventually succeeded by their descendants in the female line, the Talbot family, a cadet branch of the family of the Earls of Shrewsbury. The
parish church continued to operate from the
nave of
Margam Abbey, as it still does. Margam Castle grounds contain the ruins of the Chapter House and major 17th century and 18th century monuments. The Stones Museum contains important evidence for the advent of early
Christianity in the area. With the coming of the
Industrial Revolution, the parish of Margam became important for two reasons. First, it had a good
harbour which was ultimately developed into
Port Talbot, named in honour of the squires of Margam. Second, it had
coal deposits, and
coal mining in the parish took off in the late 18th century. The combination of local fuel and good transport links from the harbour made Margam an important part of the industrial landscape of the
South Wales Coalfield. At first, the coal workers lived away from the village of Margam itself, notably in a settlement at
Taibach. However, eventually, the whole of the parish was submerged by the community of industrial workers. Margam then assumed its modern form as a suburb of
Port Talbot. Not included in the urbanisation and industrialisation of Margam, however, were the grounds of
Margam Abbey, which were incorporated by the Talbot family into the grounds of their nearby 19th century
mansion,
Margam Castle (badly damaged by fire in the late 20th century but now in process of restoration). The Talbot family had previously, in the 18th century constructed at Margam the longest
orangery in
Europe, which still stands. All the land was sold out of the Talbot family in the mid 20th century but it has been preserved as
Margam Country Park, an estate of some owned and administered by the local council which is a major local attraction. The collection of early Christian Celtic crosses and inscribed stones which the Talbot family had collected from the locality, were moved in 1932 into the nearby Church Schoolroom, to become the
Margam Stones Museum, now managed by
Cadw. In the early 20th century, Margam became the site of an important
British Steel plc works. ==Government and politics==