Cogan
Encyclopedia
Cogan is a suburb of Penarth
in the Vale of Glamorgan
, Wales
4.5 miles (7.2 km) south west from the Welsh capital city
of Cardiff
. Cogan contains one of the vale's four major leisure centre
s.
Cogan Pill House is the oldest still standing house in the Penarth area having been built in 1554. It is now known as the Baron's Court Restaurant.
Just two hundred years ago Cogan was a small village of a few scattered houses and farms within the Hundred of Dinas Powys. In 1875 Cogan was reallocated to the new Penarth Local Board in a major administrative reorganisation. The building of Penarth Docks in 1865 and the town's rapid growth prompted an explosion of house building in Cogan providing mostly terraced housing, local shops and public houses for dock workers. Most of the building in the village took place over the ten years between 1859 and 1869 and Cogan contained two busy brickworks, making the local marl bricks still seen today all over Cogan and Penarth.
The majority of the many small local Cogan shops, butcher, baker, greengrocer, hardware store, chemist, barbers, newsagents and general grocery shops located on Windsor Road, down Pill Street and on almost all of the street corners in the village had been closed by the early 1950s and converted to residential housing, these ex shops being identified by the angled corner facings where the shop entrance doors used to be. Since Cogan's Post Office on Pill Street closed in April 2008, only a taxi control office, a ladies hairdressers, a Chinese fast food takeaway and a sole surviving general store, and in March 2011 a new addition of a sandwich bar remain.
Cogan railway station
is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line
and provides services to Barry
, Rhoose, Bridgend
and Cardiff
. Until 1968 Cogan had two further platforms across the other side of the main Windsor Road and located on the Penarth and Sully branch line, from the Cogan Junction points down the coastline to where it rejoined the main line at Cadoxton
. The through link was closed under the effects of the Beeching Axe
and the rail spur now terminates at Penarth. Dingle Road Halt
and Penarth station
remain open but the platforms at Cogan were closed when the line was reduced to a single track branchline. Most of the station buildings still stand and have been used by several private businesses including a shooting range
, a garden centre
, a second hand car lot and a marine chandlers
. The area originally covered by the Cogan and Penarth Dock's railway sidings and engine maintenance sheds now contains a large Tesco supermarket.
Cogan used to be connected to Llandough by Andrew Road which is now closed off to all but public buses. Conversely Pill Street was a dead end until the 1970s when a connection was driven through, up the slope to the newly built Cowslip Estate housing development. Apart from the addition of a street to the garden village in the 90's, no new housing built in the village since the early 1970s when the Cogan Garden Village was completed, on the site of the main Penarth brickmakers and any further housebuilding is prevented through lack of space to develop; The village is bounded on two sides by the railway tracks, by the Cowslip slope on another and by the Poets Estate on the fourth side. The only land now not built on is the sports fields attached to the Penarth Leisure Centre, land that originally formed the common land of the village green where small holders grazed their animals in medieval times.
The only school in Cogan is Cogan Primary School in Pill Street, administered by the Vale of Glamorgan Local Education Authority. It is a Mixed school of non-denominational religion. The school building is a well maintained Victorian structure.
Cogan Leisure Centre, serving the community of Penarth is located within the village.
Penarth
Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
in the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
4.5 miles (7.2 km) south west from the Welsh capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. Cogan contains one of the vale's four major leisure centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
s.
History
Just two hundred years ago Cogan was a small village of a few scattered houses and farms within the Hundred of Dinas Powys. In 1875 Cogan was reallocated to the new Penarth Local Board in a major administrative reorganisation. The building of Penarth Docks in 1865 and the town's rapid growth prompted an explosion of house building in Cogan providing mostly terraced housing, local shops and public houses for dock workers. Most of the building in the village took place over the ten years between 1859 and 1869 and Cogan contained two busy brickworks, making the local marl bricks still seen today all over Cogan and Penarth.
The majority of the many small local Cogan shops, butcher, baker, greengrocer, hardware store, chemist, barbers, newsagents and general grocery shops located on Windsor Road, down Pill Street and on almost all of the street corners in the village had been closed by the early 1950s and converted to residential housing, these ex shops being identified by the angled corner facings where the shop entrance doors used to be. Since Cogan's Post Office on Pill Street closed in April 2008, only a taxi control office, a ladies hairdressers, a Chinese fast food takeaway and a sole surviving general store, and in March 2011 a new addition of a sandwich bar remain.
Cogan railway station
Cogan railway station
Cogan railway station is a railway station serving Cogan in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. It is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line 2¾ miles south of Cardiff Central on the way to Barry Island and Bridgend....
is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line
Vale of Glamorgan Line
The Vale of Glamorgan Line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from Cardiff to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose and Llantwit Major. There are also branch lines to Penarth and Barry Island. As its names suggests, the line runs through the Vale of Glamorgan....
and provides services to Barry
Barry railway station
Barry railway station is one of 3 stations in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. It is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line, which runs from Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose, and Llantwit Major...
, Rhoose, Bridgend
Bridgend railway station
Bridgend railway station is a mainline railway station serving the town of Bridgend, South Wales. It is located approximately halfway between Cardiff Central and Swansea at the point where the Maesteg Line diverges from the South Wales Main Line, and is the western terminus of the Vale of...
and Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. Until 1968 Cogan had two further platforms across the other side of the main Windsor Road and located on the Penarth and Sully branch line, from the Cogan Junction points down the coastline to where it rejoined the main line at Cadoxton
Cadoxton, Vale of Glamorgan
Cadoxton is a district of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Cadoxton was once originally its own village, separate from Barry. It grew up around Saint Cadoc's parish church, which survives.The area is served by Cadoxton railway station- History :...
. The through link was closed under the effects of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
and the rail spur now terminates at Penarth. Dingle Road Halt
Dingle Road railway station
Dingle Road railway station is a railway station serving the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. It is located on the Penarth branch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line 4 miles south of Cardiff Central towards Penarth....
and Penarth station
Penarth railway station
Penarth railway station is the railway station serving the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is the terminus of the Penarth branch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line 4¼ miles south of Cardiff Central.-The busy years:...
remain open but the platforms at Cogan were closed when the line was reduced to a single track branchline. Most of the station buildings still stand and have been used by several private businesses including a shooting range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
, a garden centre
Garden centre
A garden centre is a retail firm that sells plants and products related to gardens as its primary business. It is open to the public, with facilities to care for and display plants.- UK :...
, a second hand car lot and a marine chandlers
Ship chandler
A ship chandler is a retail dealer in special supplies or equipment for ships.For traditional sailing ships items that could be found in a chandler might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch , linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools A ship...
. The area originally covered by the Cogan and Penarth Dock's railway sidings and engine maintenance sheds now contains a large Tesco supermarket.
Cogan used to be connected to Llandough by Andrew Road which is now closed off to all but public buses. Conversely Pill Street was a dead end until the 1970s when a connection was driven through, up the slope to the newly built Cowslip Estate housing development. Apart from the addition of a street to the garden village in the 90's, no new housing built in the village since the early 1970s when the Cogan Garden Village was completed, on the site of the main Penarth brickmakers and any further housebuilding is prevented through lack of space to develop; The village is bounded on two sides by the railway tracks, by the Cowslip slope on another and by the Poets Estate on the fourth side. The only land now not built on is the sports fields attached to the Penarth Leisure Centre, land that originally formed the common land of the village green where small holders grazed their animals in medieval times.
Education
Sport
Penarth's premier football club is located in Cogan and forms part of Cogan Coronation Sports Club, playing their games at the Leisure Centre's playing fields. Cogan Coronation AFC's first team, known locally as "The Coro" plays in the South Wales F.A. Senior League 1st Division and the club fielded eighteen teams of all ages during the 2007/2008 season.Cogan Leisure Centre, serving the community of Penarth is located within the village.
