St Donat's Church, Welsh St Donats, is a
Grade I listed building. It was described by
Nikolaus Pevsner as "a simple late mediaeval church" despite being mentioned in 1173. However there are no architectural remains in the present structure from that period. The 16th century arched brace truss roof timbers and other features, such as the 13th century font to the south door, are of interest and note and therefore contribute to it being a
Grade I listed building. The church sits to the north end of a knot of houses, mostly recent, and within the middle of these lies the Great House. The Great House, is a two-storey 18th-century building of modest features consisting of three, three-bay units, the centre of which is higher than the sides. There is some speculation that it was built to replace the motte castle at
Ystradowen, but was never completed. By the middle of the 13th century, the castle had passed from the Siwards to the ownership of Richard de Clare, Lord of Glamorgan. The Lords of Glamorgan held onto the castle the late 15th century when it reverted to the monarchy after the death of
Jasper Tudor. It was bought by John Thomas Bassett of
Llantrithyrd in 1545 and remained in private hands since. Today the remains of the castle stand on the lands of Talyfan Farm, though there is little left to see. The original protective ditch can be observed along with a length of the outer embankment. A jumble of ruined walls mark the remains of the castle itself along with those of the farm house that superseded it. It is presently under the ownership of
CADW. ==Notable people==