The Parish of Penllyn sits in one of the most beautiful parts of The Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales and contains the villages of Penllyn and Craig Penllyn, together with Pentre Meyrick. It was largely untouched by the industrialisation of the 19th and 20th centuries, instead depending on its farming. Affluence and demographic trends have altered the community and now agriculture is concentrated on a small number of farms.

The parish contains a number of notable buildings including Penllyn Castle which dominates the moors over which it looks, the churches of Llanfrynach and St John’s and a pub each for Penllyn and Craig Penllyn.