Origins Legend holds that Tathan was an Irish monk who was in a boat which ran aground at
Portskewett, after being blown across the Bristol Channel, around 540 AD. He founded a monastery and school and is said to have been buried in the orchard of the vicarage at
Caerwent. However, somewhat confusingly, a Tathan the Younger is said to be buried at St Athan Parish Church, although the exact location of the grave is unknown. The early history of the parish of
Eglwys Brewis records that it was situated in the manor of St Athan and was held by the same lordship as that of Castleton. The Castleton manor existed in St Athan from the Norman period under the lordship of the Nerber family. Norman castles were later constructed in West Orchard and East Orchard as manorial residences. In 1320, a
Richard de Nerber was said to have "retained only half a knight's fee at St Athan." However, from around 1240, the Berkerolles family appear to have received entitlements to the manorial estates of West and East Orchard and built a new manor house in West Orchard and later at East Orchard in 1377. The earlier Norman castles appear to have been destroyed by
Ifor Bach. The Berkerolles family's influence grew stronger in the 14th century. Sir
Roger Berkerolles died in 1351; a tomb is dedicated to him in the parish church, which also contains his parents' remains. The current church is mainly dated to the 14th century and it is thought the Norman church originally here was ordered to be rebuilt by the Berkerolles. Later, the manor fell under the Stradling family. In 1847, the village had a population of about 379 people. The village was served by
St Athan Road railway station between 1892 and 1930. There is no longer any local rail connection. Although a settlement has existed at St Athan for over a thousand years, St Athan and its dormitory village of Eglwys Brewis significantly enlarged around the nearby
MOD St Athan RAF base. This unit is home to the
Special Forces Support Group, the
DSG large aircraft maintenance unit and an element of the
Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering. In 2010 it was announced that a proposed £14 billion defence training academy, which would have created 2,000 jobs, had been cancelled by the government as part of the 8% cut in the
Strategic Defence and Security Review. On 11 February 2009 two
Air Experience Flights by the
Air Training Corps left RAF St Athan and collided in mid-air, killing the pilots and two female Cadets. An investigation was launched. On 23 February 2016
Aston Martin announced that their new factory to build its
DBX crossover model would be located on the airfield at St Athan. Construction of the 90-acre site would commence in 2017, with a total investment of $280 million and the creation of 750 jobs. The factory would be located in the existing buildings on the site. The U.S. state of Alabama, along with two UK sites and a Middle Eastern location, had been on Aston's shortlist for the factory. Aston unveiled the DBX at the 2015 Geneva Auto Show; DBX production will start in 2020 with an output of up to 5,000 units a year envisaged. ==Politics and administration==