In an article in the South Wales Echo in July 1973 Aberthin was described as follows: “Aberthin is a village of considerable antiquity and is presumed to be the site of Villa Fratus mentioned in the earliest of local records, the Book of Llandaff, though no remains of this early religious house have been positively identified”.
The present Village Hall, an old Calvanistic Methodist Chapel, is the site of the second oldest Methodist place of worship in Glamorgan although it is widely acknowledged that there had been a society of members there for some years before that.
The South Wales Echo article continues: “Village buildings are predominately colour-washed with slate roofs and illustrate a range of vernacular domestic design since Tudor times. The village is set in a picturesque steep-sided valley at the foot of Stalling Down. From the valley mouth where it opens on to Newton Moor, the village was first developed along a stream, Nant Aberthin, and later on the lower slopes of Stalling Down. The stream, flowing in an open green before a terrace of late 18th century houses, is an attractive element in the village scene” The 1973 article concludes: “Aberthin is a typical example of a Vale of Glamorgan settlement retaining a pleasant village character within its older parts”.