page_title: Bridgend
section_title: Norman invasion
hierarchical_section_title: Bridgend / History / Norman invasion
caption_attribution_description: English: A front view of Newcastle Castle Bridgend South Wales.
context_page_description: Bridgend is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, 20 miles west of the capital Cardiff and 20 miles east of Swansea. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore, but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town.
  Historically a part of Glamorgan, Bridgend has greatly expanded in size since the early 1980s – the 2001 census recorded a population of 39,429 for the town and the 2011 census reported that the Bridgend Local Authority had a population of 139,200 – up from 128,700 in 2001. This 8.2% increase was the largest increase in Wales except for Cardiff. The town is undergoing a redevelopment project, with the town centre mainly pedestrianised and ongoing works including Brackla Street Centre redevelopment to Bridgend Shopping Centre, Rhiw Car Park redevelopment, ongoing public realm improvements and the upgrade of the Bridgend Life Centre and demolition of Sunnyside offices to accommodate a large retirement complex.
context_section_description: In the decades after the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066, the Normans looked westwards to create new seats for lords loyal to William the Conqueror. Groups of Norman barons arrived in Wales, and in the south and east created what would later become the Welsh Marches, while the north and west remained largely unconquered.
  At Coity, the local Welsh chieftain Morgan Gam already had a stronghold. Sometime in the 11th century, Norman Lord Payn de Turberville approached Morgan to turn over control of Coity Castle to Turberville. Morgan Gam agreed, on condition that Turberville either fought Morgan for the land, or took Gam's daughter Sybil's hand in marriage. Turberville married Sybil and became Lord of Coity, and rebuilt the castle.
  Newcastle Castle (on Newcastle Hill, overlooking the town centre, 1106) and Ogmore Castle (1116) were built by Robert Fitzhamon and William de Londres, respectively. About 2 miles (3 km) north-east of Ogmore Castle, Maurice de Londres founded the fortified Benedictine Ewenny Priory in 1141.
  These three castles provided a "defensive triangle" for the area – a quadrilateral if Ewenny Priory is included.
caption: Front view of Newcastle Castle Bridgend
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