| Cefn Hirgoed | |
| Elevation M: | 142 |
| Translation: | back (ridge) of the long wood |
| Language: | Welsh |
| Location: | Bridgend, Wales |
| Coordinates: | 51.536°N -3.532°W |
| Grid Ref Uk: | SS939829 |
| Topo: | OS Landranger 170 / Explorer 151 |
Cefn Hirgoed is a ridge in Bridgend county borough in South Wales. The ridge extends for about 5 km east from the village of Sarn just north of Bridgend to Pen-prysg north of Pencoed. At the point where it reaches its highest elevation of 142m, are a couple of covered reservoirs. Towards the west the M4 motorway runs along the hill’s southern edge.
The hill is formed from relatively hard-wearing sandstones of the South Wales Lower Coal Measures with mudstone layers between the sandstones which here dip steeply northwards into the South Wales Coalfield syncline.[1]
Almost the entire hill is mapped as open country under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 giving a general right of access on foot to the public. It and the adjacent Hirwaun Common are also crossed by several public footpaths. A couple of minor roads, Heol Spencer and Heol Llan/Heol-Las, run north-south across the ridge.[2]
Early records refer to Robert Thomas who is 1661 was charged at the Great Sessions of Glamorgan with the murder of Edmund Thomas in a duel fought on Cefn Hirgoed on the 4th February 1660.
He was outlawed and his lands and possessions taken from him. In 1669 he was pardoned with a restitution of lands and possessions, including Tregroes House in Pencoed[3] .