ABSTRACT
The story of the Norman occupation of Wales and the March is a very particular one whose beginning can be traced back to before the Norman Conquest of England. It is arguable that in the long term the Norman impact on Wales and the Welsh people was greater than upon England and the English. By 1200 the conquest of Wales was still far from complete, but the Normans had left their imprint both on the society and on the landscape. The other major area of life affected by the Norman Conquest was the Welsh church. Welsh religious organization was dominated by the das or community churches, originally based upon Welsh tribal structure. Despite the fact that the urban geography of the borderland can largely be dated to the early Middle Ages, there were some failures: some towns which refused to grow and some which declined as they outlived their original strategic function.
